Reid examines Jamaica's poor CSEC results

Ruel Reid, Contributor

The following are excerpts of a recent paper done by Ruel Reid, chairman of the National Council on Education. Mr Reid is also principal of Jamaica College.

Education is an important agent to support the transformation of the Jamaican economy. It is also a vital factor in creating human and social capital, which is an essential ingredient for economic transformation.

Currently, the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) can be considered the major mechanism for certifying students at the secondary level within the Caribbean region. However, trend analysis, based on data from the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), has shown an inverse relationship between student registration and performance. In addition to the students who fail the examination, there is a significant number of students who register for, but do not sit the examinations.

The Task Force on Educational Reform Report, 2004, identified a target for 2015 of approximately 60 per cent of students in the age cohort passing at least five subjects in the CSEC exams inclusive of mathematics and English. There is, however, concern regarding the country's ability to meet this target considering, that at present, we are only achieving 19 per cent.

According to the Demographic Statistics (2009), the total number of persons in the 15-19 age cohort, was approximately 249,000. In 2009, approximately 73,000 candidates entered for the examinations. Of this number, approximately 34,000 students, out of the total cohort of 40,000, entered from the public-secondary institutions, enrolled in grade 11. Additionally, in the same year, approximately 16,000 candidates were entered for the Caribbean Certification of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC) and 209 candidates for the Basic Proficiency Level examinations. It is also assumed that a small percentage of these students would have enrolled for the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), as well as other examinations, while some are enrolled in tertiary institutions. The cause for concern, therefore, is the number of persons within the age cohort who have not registered for examinations and whether they are being meaningfully engaged in other activities.

The following issues were also identified by the Ministry of Education:

(i) Low performance of not only Jamaican students but also those of other Caribbean countries in the core subject areas of mathematics and English. This is of both national and regional concern.

(ii) The need to determine the relationship between the CCSLC and the Caribbean Vocational Qualification/National Vocational Qualification and their role and purpose for personal and national development.

(iii) Poor literacy and numeracy performance demonstrated by the scores attained in the Grade Four Literacy and Numeracy Tests.

(iv) The issue of social promotion, whereby students are promoted through the system without attaining the requisite skills.

Factors impacting performance

The factors impacting student performance are diverse and interrelated. These include:

Limited parental support and the impact of socio-economic status: A range of socio-economic factors inclusive of parental support and involvement impact student performance. Parents' socio-economic status can be considered an important factor which affects not only cognitive function, that is, reasoning ability, but also academic performance. Based on a study of a cohort of Jamaican preschool children, Samms-Vaughan (2004) posited that "four socio-economic factors were shown to be strongly associated with academic outcome at the pre-school level". These included "crowding, modern facilities, number of possessions and occupation of the head of the household". She noted that children of families with higher socio-economic status had higher academic and cognitive scores than those of their counterparts from families with lower socio-economic status.

Children from wealthy households attend private-preparatory schools and are, therefore, exposed to higher quality education. They are also able to pay for extra tutoring to prepare for the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT). Consequently, they are better prepared for the examination, which allows them to perform at a higher level than their poorer counterparts. As a result, they are placed in better high schools. According to Samms-Vaughan (2004), in her study Profiles of the Jamaican Preschool Child, "Children attending preparatory school had the highest scores, followed by those attending primary and infant schools. The lowest scores were obtained by children attending basic school."

It is important to note, that while socio-economic status has a greater impact at the early-childhood level it plays a less significant role in the academic achievement in subsequent years. However, the longer children live in poverty, the lower will be their academic achievement.

Parents' educational status and expectation also impact students' intrinsic desire to learn. When students develop a personal desire to learn, they usually do well and this, in turn, mitigates the devastating effects of poverty. The exposure to a quality-learning environment at home and school also contributes to the development of a positive disposition to lifelong learning. Research conducted on youth behaviour and its causes in schools in nine CARICOM countries, revealed that 'feelings of being connected to school' were reinforced by positive home and community support. Additionally, the study revealed that the youth's school attendance and learning outcomes depended, to a great extent, on their parents' interest and monitoring.

Based on the study, it was noted that the students who performed well in school felt good about themselves and their future and would not want to jeopardise it through risky behaviour. Poor students, therefore, are faced with many disadvantages, as they are often from unstable home environments. The situation is exacerbated by migration and the high incidence of households headed by single females.

Teacher involvement and support

An interactive and stimulating environment not only encourages intellectual engagement of students, but also empowers teachers and provides them with the flexibility to monitor student success (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO, 1983, p. 89). Concerns regarding the quality of the learning environment and teachers' capacity to engage students in meaningful interactions have been raised. Instructional support is weak at all levels and while there is a comprehensive curriculum at the primary level, the preparation for GSAT results in an interruption of its delivery. Consequently, there is a lack of curriculum articulation between critical levels of the system, which makes it difficult for students to consolidate prior learning experiences.

Staffing is driven by teacher-pupil ratio rather than the dictates of students' needs. The Reform of Secondary Education curriculum only applies to grades seven to nine, and is not delivered consistently throughout the system. This is despite the huge investment of public funds.

Severe budgetary constraints have also contributed to a general lack of instructional materials and teaching aids. There is also an urgent need to "upgrade the pedagogical and didactic" skills of teachers on a continuous basis. The absence of an in-service training programme, as well as provision for inspection and pedagogical supervision have not only resulted in poor student outcomes but also the "professional isolation of many teachers" (UNESCO, 1983, p. 89). Consequently, some students do not get the required attention to support effective learning. The establishment of the Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) and the National Education Inspectorate (NEI) is expected to address the foregoing issues.

Low literacy among primary-school graduates

The low level of literacy among primary school graduates is also a cause for concern. Approximately one out of every two primary school graduates can be considered illiterate. This high incidence of illiteracy is a contributory factor to the very poor performance of Jamaican students on the CSEC examinations. It also presents challenges at the secondary level, as greater emphasis has had to be placed on remedial efforts rather than the teaching of a secondary curriculum. This problem is further compounded by the teachers' inability to develop the literacy skills of their students as many have not been trained or exposed to the methodologies of teaching reading or literacy at the primary level. There is an urgent need to change the method of training teachers with greater focus on methodology, evaluation and students' outcomes. The focus at the primary level should be on building literacy, numeracy and other foundational skills.

Underachievementof boys

The poor performance of boys in the CSEC examination is also worrying and requires special intervention, as the boys are particularly at risk for participating in criminal activity. In 2009, of the 163,245 subject entries for public secondary-school students at the general and technical proficiency levels, 60.6 per cent were for females and 39.4 per cent for males. The statistics also revealed that the males sat fewer subjects and had a higher failure rate than their female counterparts.

Data disaggregated by school type demonstrated that girls out-performed boys on academic tests in public primary and all-age schools, while at high and preparatory schools, the boys performed better at academic and cognitive tests, albeit not significant. It is important to note that in the primary and all-age schools girls performed better than the boys on all academic tests even though both genders performed similarly in the cognitive tests.

According to Samms-Vaughan (2001), the similar cognitive scores but disparate academic performance could be the result of three factors operating together. These included different experiences of male and female children in primary and all-age schools, a teaching technique or approach which facilitates girls or greater vulnerability of boys when exposed to similar circumstances as girls. The teaching experience being offered at the primary and all age levels needs to be reviewed and adjusted in order to support boys in realising their fullest potential.

Strategies being implemented

A number of strategies are currently being pursued by the Ministry of Education to address the problem of low performance. These strategies span early childhood to the tertiary level of the system. Although moving in the right direction, these strategies are limited in scope. For example, since the establishment of the National Education Inspectorate only approximately 30 schools to date have been inspected. Several other strategies being pursued under the Transformation Programme.

The issue of low performance at the secondary level is a complex problem which requires a multi-disciplinary approach. The solution of student poor performance should be analysed within the context of 'a systems approach'. For that reason, the entire education system should be reviewed as a whole consisting of several parts with a view to understanding how each part impacts the other. Based on the foregoing, a holistic, profile-driven, seamless approach is being proposed. The aim is to establish a relevant, high-quality, seamless education model, which is responsive to the needs of all students. The seamless element of the model is critical to support easy transition of our students from one level of the system to the next in the pursuit of lifelong learning, while the profile-driven characteristic is geared towards achieving desired student outcomes.

Our position

While is it recognised that a number of initiatives are being pursued under the Education System Transformation Programme (ESTP), which are moving the sector in the right direction, implementation has been slow and is hindered by a number of factors. These include the poor structure of the secondary system, absence of standards and a supportive accountability framework, severe fiscal constraints, the lack of articulation among different levels of the system and teachers' capacity to stimulate learning. The low level of quality places at the secondary level and the quality of primary-school graduates continue to be areas of major concern. Greater gains could be accomplished if the initiatives are reorganised and restrategised to produce more positive student outcomes.

The challenge, therefore, is to create a system that is responsive to all students regardless of their socio-economic backgrounds. We need to urgently define the 'type of schools we need' which can be the engines of transformation. A seamless educational model driven by clearly defined student outcomes, designed to engender economic prosperity, both at a personal as well as a national level is therefore necessary.

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