Petrina Francis, Education Reporter
AS A part of the government's medium-term plan to transform the education system, children, by 2007, would be entering primary school at age five instead of age six, a recommendation of the task force on education.
The 14-member task force proposed that government implements a 'K (Kindergarten) to 12 system to include children aged five at the lower end of the system and an additional year at the upper end'.
This, the report said, would result in an expansion of the number of years of schooling from 11 years to 13 years.
Dr. Rae Davis, chairman of the task force, told The Gleaner that an increase in the school experience from 11 to 13 years would give students an additional year to be prepared for examinations.
Meanwhile, Senator Noel Monteith, minister of state in the Ministry of Education, said the recommendation for the expansion of the school year "is a positive move".
Like Dr. Davis, Senator Monteith feels students would benefit because they would be given an earlier start at the primary level. This, he said, would give them an extra year to prepare for the Grade Six Achievement Test.
In addition, the senator noted that after five years of secondary school, some students are still not adequately prepared for final examinations but are forced to take them anyway.
The task force also recom-mended that primary, junior high, and all-age schools be converted into primary and secondary schools.
This would make enough space available to accommodate children aged 5, at primary school, where they would be exposed to trained teachers.
NOT PRACTICAL
However, Michael Clarke, newly-installed president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association, said that while he is not against the idea of expanding the number of learning years, it is not practical at this time. "It is not workable. You would have to put in the secondary schools first then phase out the junior highs and the all-age schools," he said.
This, he said, cannot be done in the medium term (between 2005 and 2007) as was suggested by Maxine-Henry Wilson, the minister of education.
In February, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson appointed the 14-member task force, which was chaired by Dr. Davis, president of the University of Technology. It had a mandate to deliver an action plan for a 'world-class education system'. The report was made public last Tuesday.
