Lead Stories

Nadisha Hunter, Gleaner Writer

Chronic academic and administrative failure has jolted Jamaica's education ministry into tethering some principals to a three-year performance target in a bid for them to improve school standards or risk being flushed from the system.

Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education, Audrey Sewell, told The Gleaner that weak performances were unearthed recently in a pilot assessment programme carried out in 30 schools by the National Education Inspectorate (NEI).

Some of the schools inspected ranked below sector standards, Sewell revealed, but she said she was unable to say how many institutions fell in the underperforming category.

"There are some schools that are doing very well, and there are some areas that we intend to use to benchmark as best practices," Sewell said.

"Further, there are some schools where there are challenges, the perfor-mances (are) below expec-tations, and we intend to work with those schools."

The permanent secretary said the ministry would seek to equip those schools to reasonable levels - or in her words, assist them "to get up to scratch" - before swinging the axe.

"If you have a principal who has been put on a performance-target track and he/she is not performing, then, naturally, one of the things you might have to do is change the principal," said Sewell, explaining the options available to the education ministry.

Heads of teacher groups have backed the idea of holding school managers accountable, but cautioned that more details were needed to get them fully on board.

Nadine Molloy, president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association, a union which represents more than 20,000 public-school teachers, said she supports an evaluation regime for principals if the Government sticks to its commitment to boost resources.

She warned, however, that due process should be followed in bringing under-performing principals to book.

Sharon Reid, president of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools, disclosed that an inspection was undertaken at St Andrew High School, of which she is principal.

While expressing concern about some of the ratings, Reid said it was, for the most part, a fair process.

Reid agreed that struggling principals who fail to clear the three-year, do-or-die hurdle should be dismissed, but said she would hold back absolute support until the education ministry published performance criteria and the inspection report.

Sewell said principals at the sub-par schools would face an acid test from an assessment board at the end of the three-year period.

"The schools will be getting standard, specific objectives, specific targets, and if those are not met consistently, ... considering the resources that they have had and the context, then the board will be asked to take action," the permanent secretary remarked.

Sewell also noted that the roles of education officers will be changed to focus on school improvement.

Though sketchy on the findings of the report when quizzed by reporters at an Editors' Forum last week, chief inspector at the NEI, Elaine Foster-Allen, said the inspection revealed deep-seated teaching and learning deficiencies which were endemic to schools.

She said one school had already acted on recommendations and was in the process of having professional development sessions.

The NEI programme was implemented to promote a culture of excellence in education, a system of accountability, as well as the goal of continuing institutional improvement.

The ministry is in the process of holding principals accountable for the failure of students in order to achieve its 2015 goal of full literacy for all primary-school graduates.

Some 110 schools are to be inspected, increasing the total to 150.

Allen said all public schools would be inspected over the next three and a half years.

The agency, which was established in line with one of the recommendations from the 2004 Task Force on Education, is funded by the World Bank.

nadisha.hunter@gleanerjm.com