Institutions in most parishes perform poorly, says study

Information gleaned from a Johnson Survey Research study has painted a dismal picture of the overall Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) performance of schools in many parishes.

With the national average calculated at 258, only three parishes - St James, Kingston, and St Andrew - had the majority of their schools performing above average.

Trelawny, for example, with only two private schools, is the only parish in which a school did not score an average of more than 300. Only 10 of the 35 schools in the parish are performing above the national average, with Hastings Primary scoring the highest average at 291.

The two preparatory schools in that parish, Falmouth SDA and Dennis Town, placed in the top 10.

Good news for st james

Neighbouring parish, St James, fared far better. St James had 41 of its 79 schools doing better than the national average. Only 14 of the 41 were Government-owned schools, while a mere six private institutions fell below the national average.

Corinaldi Avenue Primary School was the highest-placed public school in the parish. Even so, the 265 students who sat the GSAT at the school barely cracked the top 20, with an average of 313. This is in stark contrast to St James's top-performing school, Junior Plus Kindergarten and Prep, which scored an overall average of 379.

The costs to send a child to a private institution can run from anywhere between $40,000 to more than $100,000 per term, while Government-funded schools are free of cost.

This income inequality between private and public schools is one of the explanations offered for preparatory schools vastly outclassing primary schools as more money usually redounds to more resources.

Retired educator and commentator, R. Howard Thompson, said beyond the income inequality, private schools generally have more parental involvement than public institutions.

"The students at preparatory schools not only have more means, their parents are more involved in their education, owing to the fact that they are paying for it," Thompson argued.

"They (parents) pay for more extra lessons and follow up more at school than in primary schools. You will find that the poorer students who do well also have the involvement of their parents," Thompson said.