Holness begs for new schools

Nedburn Thaffe, Gleaner Writer

The Government has called on Jamaicans to awaken their philanthropic side and help lift the country's education system from the rut.

"If we are going to create this egalitarian society in which we are building new human capital, where is the new philanthropy that is going to come and support this (educational) development," Andrew Holness, minister of education, asked as he made the call for persons to assist the Government in its plans to build 100 new high schools.

Arguing that the society relies on 46 traditional high schools to produce the intelligentsia of the society, Holness said the country must now expand the number of schools that are handling human capital.

built by charity

"These schools were built out of philanthropy, they were built by charity. They were built by wealthy colonialists who bequeathed their estates. I am encouraging Jamaicans that, if we want to make an impact on education in Jamaica, the education ministry is open for partnership to help build these schools," the education minister said.

Holness, who was speaking at the First Global annual awards ceremony at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel on the weekend, said the move was necessary in order to keep up with the yearly Grade Six Achievement Test turnout, as well as possibly debunking the bias towards traditional high schools.

the sad reality

"There are many parents who believe that if their children do not get into a traditional high school they have no life chance. That's the sad reality of the Jamaican education context, and clearly there is a space issue," he said.

The minister noted that the country's 162 high schools could only accommodate 34,000 students.

While examining the issue of some students failing to make the grades to secure their entry into high schools, the education minister said this does not offset the need for space.

"We still need to build these schools in order to accommodate those students who are of high school age and are not in high school. We also need to take some of our schools off shift, reduce the class size from its current 40 to 45 students, and put it at 30."