Paul Lofters up to the challenge
Published:Saturday | March 8, 2014 | 12:00 AM
Orantes Moore, Gleaner Writer
As the principal of Oracabessa High School in St Mary, Paul Lofters has one of the most challenging jobs in the education system.
According to a list of Jamaican high school rankings published last year by independent think tank Educate Jamaica, Oracabessa High is the second-worst performing school in the parish, and one of the worst in the country.
Lofters, who has taught at Wolmer's and held a senior lecturer post at the College of Agriculture, Science, and Education, believes the list, which measures the percentage of grade 11 students who attained at least five exam passes (including English and or mathematics), is misleading.
He told Rural Xpress: "The list has its merits and I will not discredit that, but ranking schools is not like comparing apples with apples.
"We have success stories with students who were barely able to read when they came to school in grade seven but were able to sit and pass two or three exams. That is a success story in itself, but just not to the extent that the school, the Ministry of Education (MoE), and the country is looking for."
Lofters, 55, acknowledges his school's poor track record in passes in core CXC subjects but claims a disproportionately large percentage of the students that arrive at Oracabessa High in grade seven can barely read or write.
He said: "By the time most of [our slow learners] reach grade nine, they will have learned to read, but only at grade six level, So they will still have a challenge. It takes two or three years to get most of them literate, so sometimes the success is in moving them two grades."
new literacy and numeracy programmes
During his six-year tenure as principal, Lofters has introduced new literacy and numeracy programmes and employed young and dynamic specialist staff to help improve the quality of education the school delivers.
The strategy has proved to be successful, increasing CXC passes by students in the school's top math class by almost 800 per cent between 2012 and 2013.
This year, Lofters hopes to increase the grades from students in the top math class from 43 to 89 per cent. "It's asking a lot of our teachers, but they are up to the task," he said confidently.
"Last year, we got 30 students to sit and pass a minimum of five exams, including mathematics and English, and aim to gradually increase that figure to 50 and then 100 over the next four years.
"It's going to be hard and the work is incremental, but this has to be the case because we have to do so much remedial work that should have been covered in primary or elementary school."
Oracabessa High was originally built to house 600 students but currently caters for around 1,500. Lofters believes this is a major issue that severely hampers his staff's ability to teach effectively.
He said: "It has a serious impact because the conditions are cramped and someone teaching core subjects in the upper school will be instructing, assessing, and marking the work of 50 to 60 students per class.
"That's a big challenge, very difficult, and a lot of work for one teacher who also has to give one-to-one attention to each student. But the teachers here are dedicated to the task and we are hoping for the success we need."
Understandably, the principal is anxious for the MoE to provide him with some more classrooms. He said: "For us, resources aren't really a problem, but the lack of space is. More classrooms would be great because that would help reduce the class sizes to manageable levels."