Editorial | Deeper obligation to Enid Bennett's name

Enid Bennett, a decent human being and earnest politician, was a Jamaica Labour Party member of parliament from St Catherine for three decades, up to 1997. She died last December, aged 88.

Last month, the Bog Walk High School in the parish was renamed in her honour, for which Ms Bennett's grand-niece, Belinda-Gae Orrett, declared the family grateful. "We, the members of the family, accept this honour with pride," she said at the formal name-changing ceremony.

That they have this pride is quite understandable. Ms Bennett's name will reside over the school's marquee in perpetuity in declaration of her achievements for the community, including her role in the establishment of the school.

But as we recalled at the changing of the name of another school nearly a decade ago, such acts too often seem to be ends in themselves, without obligation on the institutions, and those who lead them, to add value befitting of those they seek to honour. There is insufficient effort to embrace their excellence.

At that time, in 2009, the Gordon Town All-Age School was being named for the Jamaican- language poet, humorist, cultural subversive and national icon, Louise Bennett-Coverley. So, now Ms Bennett joins Mrs Bennett-Coverley among the slew of important figures, Jamaican and foreign, nearly 40, who have given their names to Jamaican high schools.

They range from Cuban independence war revolutionary General Antonio Maceo and the poet JosÈ MartÌ, to Jamaican icons such as national heroes Marcus Garvey, Paul Bogle, Alexander Bustamante and Norman Manley, as well as the writer and intellectual, Claude McKay, and sporting inspirations such as Donald Quarrie and Merlene Ottey.

Astonishingly, though, no high school named for an outstanding person, but for Bishop Gibson High School for Girls and Herbert Morrison Technical High School, makes it on to the list of 46 secondary schools ranked by research group Educate Jamaica as the best-performing in the island.

To make it on to this list, a school's students have to achieve at least five passes, including in maths and English, at the same sitting of the Caribbean Examinations Council's (CXC) Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams. Further, the percentage of passes relates to the school's entire grade-11 cohort, rather than only the students who are allowed to sit the CXC exams after exclusions. Also, a school, to be considered for the rankings, must have the requisite passes by at least half of its cohort.

In the case of Bishop Gibson High, it ranked 17th, with the required pass rate of 90 per cent. Herbert Morrison Technical High had a pass rate of 76 per cent, and is ranked 29th.

A very important fact in all of this is that of all the other high schools named for thinkers, writers, industrialists, sport stars, and politicians, none achieved the benchmark of a 50 per cent pass rate among its cohort to reach the Educate Jamaica list. But then, only around 20 per cent of all Jamaican students who do the annual CSEC exams pass five subjects at a single sitting.

Changes coming, but slowly

A decade ago, this newspaper felt compelled to call out the Clarendon high school named for Claude McKay, a great literary figure of the Harlem Renaissance of the early 20th century, where only 11 students, or 48 per cent, of who sat English at CSEC, passed the exam. Worse, only 18 per cent of the entire cohort of 190 students was allowed to do the test. Since then, things may have improved at Claude McKay High and other schools, but not as dramatically as we had hoped, or as is necessary.

At Enid Bennett High, during the name-changing ceremony, principal Patrick Phillips announced that grade-11 students would be among others wearing newly designed uniforms in the coming year, which wouldn't normally be the case. "However, with a new name, we have a new look, so we are going to change uniforms," he said.

We would prefer if he concentrated on having his school reach the benchmark for the Educate Jamaica rankings.