What is education?

Keith Noel, Contributor

At times like this we should focus on what education we offer to our nation's children in an effort to prepare them for life at this time and on this planet.

The determined stance of our teachers not to be cornered into playing the role of the 'patsy' again; not to be pleaded with plaintively 'for the children's sake', into accepting almost nothing, makes us stop and think. We recall the number of bright, creative, confident and competent young men and women who have left the profession because, love it as they did, it just did not pay well enough for them to be comfortable in it. We consider the number of once-competent teachers who are now not half as effective as they ought to be because they are also doing other things to supplement their earnings.

Then there is the strident call of some in society who claim that teachers are not even worth the small salaries they used to get. These regale us with stories about teachers who are not competent at the subjects they teach; or whose language skills are woeful; or who resort too easily to insults and abuse; or who are poor role models for the young. These would have us believe that, if you replaced these teachers with competent young people, all our problems would be solved.

A succession of ministers of education have listened to their constituents when making decisions. Our enthusiastic young incumbent has crafted a policy in which he calls a spade a spade, defines what he sees as the weaknesses in the system and has got technocrats to devise ways to assist in correcting these ills. This is good, but he faces two major obstacles. One of these is money, or rather, the lack of it.

The quality of education is really not likely to improve to any significant degree if teachers are not trained better and treated better. Some are not performing well, either because their leaders are not guiding them properly, their own laziness, or because although they do their best, this is actually not good enough. But some are excellent, some want to improve and can be helped to do so, and of course there are a few who require a bit of coercion.

Remuneration package

A better remuneration package and more training would give the Government the leverage it needs to remove the weak and unwilling, the loafers and the lazy. Those new methodologies and systems of teaching that are being devised would be in much better hands.

But then, of course, we still have the problem of not being able to decide exactly what it is we want to teach the children. For what are we educating them?

There are no daggers drawn, but there is major disagreement among those persons who play important roles in education policymaking at all of the many levels at which this takes place.

At all levels, there are those who feel that the education system within which we work is basically a good one. It needs constant tweaking and moulding to fit into the changing needs of our modern society but, fundamentally, it is a good system.

On the other hand, there are those who differ. Those who ask "Are our schools preparing children to be all they can be in 21st-century Jamaica?" How do we deal with the fact that our populace believes that the 'traditional' high schools offer children a better chance for success - despite the many success stories coming out of the other schools? What about the fact that so many educators still feel that it is a travesty to teach 'bright' kids subjects like agriculture and building technology and plumbing? That boys should be discouraged from doing food and nutrition and clothing and textiles? That music and dance and drama are 'extras'? That pop music and sports are not acceptable professions so we should not educate our students for them? That patois is nothing but 'broken English' and should be completely ruled out of the learning experience of our children? What of the fact that the Philosophy of Garvey is no more than a small chapter in a social studies text?

We need to have our planners ask themselves: What, pray, is education?

Keith Noel is an educator. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com