DON ANDERSON POLL: More J’cans have poor view of local standard of education
Published:Friday | October 18, 2024 | 12:09 AMSashana Small/Staff Reporter
Almost 40 per cent of Jamaicans have a negative view of the standard of education in Jamaica’s public schools, a new national survey has revealed.
The poll was conducted by the Don Anderson-led Market Research Services Limited (MRSL) between September 27 and October 3 and has a margin of error of plus or minus three per cent at the 95 per cent confidence level. A total of 1,012 persons participated.
MRSL has indicated that non-aligned, publicly traded private sector interests assisted in financing the research, the parameters of which were determined solely by MRSL.
Asked how they would rate the standard of education in Jamaica’s schools at this time, 39 per cent of the participants shared a negative perception.
A further 28 per cent of respondents believed that the standard of education in Jamaican schools is average, while 29 per cent viewed the standard of education in Jamaican schools as being good to excellent.
Three per cent of respondents said they were unsure.
Stating that there are “challenges” in the education system that need to be addressed, Anderson said action should be taken to improve the quality of schooling of the nation’s youth.
“What this tells us is that as a country, we’re not happy with the standard of our education, and, therefore, we need to do a proper analysis to see what are the challenges, and why is it that they have this perception of education,” he said.
He pointed out, however, that the survey was conducted soon after the results of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) exams were released, which placed the academic performance of Jamaican students under a microscope.
Only 18 per cent of Jamaican students who sat this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams received five or more subjects, inclusive of mathematics and English, a three percentage point decrease when compared with last year.
Jamaican students also performed below the region’s average in CSEC mathematics and English - 33 per cent of the students obtained a passing grade in maths, while 74 per cent passed English. The averages across the Caribbean region were 36 per cent and 76 per cent for the respective subject areas.
Notably, 41 per cent of participants aged 18-24 believed the standard of education is good to excellent while only 27 per cent of this age group had a negative view of Jamaica’s standard of education.
But lamenting the “exodus” of teachers from the classrooms, Laurel Williams, president of the National Secondary Students’ Council, told The Gleaner that this has created a “negative impact” on the quality of education she and her peers are receiving.
“A lot of our veteran teachers who have been in the system, who know how it works, how to prepare us for our external examinations, have now left, and a lot of young teachers - don’t get me wrong - they come with their own skill sets, their own ability and a fresh and renewed mindset, but there is this saying that ‘experience garners wisdom’,” she said.
EDUCATION NEEDS TO EVOLVE
It is also imperative, Williams said, for the education system to be relevant to the needs of society today.
“As times have changed, I believe that what our students need to be more informed and to be educated on has also evolved,” she said. “As technology continues to increase and [with] the use of artificial intelligence, as we are moving into a digital system, I believe the education system has to also change with the world.”
However, stating that he is more keen on empirical data rather than perception, Dr Mark Smith, president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association, told The Gleaner that greater focus needs to be placed on the implementation of recommendations from the Orlando Patterson Report on Educational Transformation.
The Patterson Report sought to address the gaps and issues in Jamaica’s education system, and data from the 2021 document revealed that 59 per cent of students who had completed primary school in 2019 were failing mathematics, while 45 per cent were failing language arts.
The recommendations are being implemented over an eight-year period spanning 2023-2031 and are being led by the Education Transformation and Oversight Committee.
Recently, Dr Adrian Stokes, chairman of the committee, announced that action has been taken on 136 of the 365 recommendations from the report.
But according to Smith, the effect of this is not being felt on the ground.
“I talk to people on the ground, and they are seriously concerned about the proclamation that things are being done … but is it having the impact on the people? Is it bringing about the type of transformation [needed] in the sector?” he asked.
“My concern is that we have to start seeing some of those things having an impact on the ground. We talk to a lot of teachers, principals, and even parents, and not many people can point to actual programmes that have been implemented since the Patterson Report,” he told The Gleaner.
Smith said he wants more urgency to address the numeracy and literacy rates in schools and wants increased funding for schools, especially at the early childhood level.
In the meantime, Stewart Jacobs, president of the National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica, told The Gleaner that he believes that the island’s standard of education is “fair” but asserted that the Government should use the findings of the report to inform further actions.
“When we get data such as these, it is now time for the Ministry of Education and all stakeholders to look at the findings and to dissect it and put together a plan to arrest and address the situation,” he said.