Make ‘free education’ actually free

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Principal Linvern Wright is right to challenge parents to rethink their priorities. No child should lack a textbook, notebook, calculator, or other basic learning materials while money is being spent on less important items.

However, the conversation cannot end with parental responsibility.

As both a teacher and a parent, I know many Jamaican families struggle with the real cost of education. We often describe education as being “free”, but parents still have to find money for textbooks, uniforms, school contributions, devices, transportation, and Internet access.

Education has also changed. Students now interact with platforms such as Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, WhatsApp class groups, and school communication systems. A smartphone, tablet, or laptop can therefore be more than a luxury or status symbol. It can be an essential educational tool.

The real question is not simply whether parents should buy their children expensive phones. It is whether Jamaica has done enough to ensure that the educational content those devices access is genuinely free and accessible.

Government should make free digital textbooks a central component of education policy. Curriculum-aligned textbooks should be digitised and made freely available to students, parents, and teachers.

But we should go further. Why not place Jamaica’s curriculum on free-to-air television and radio? Imagine curriculum-specific programming featuring mathematics lessons, science programmes, literature studies, history lessons, revision sessions, and educational podcasts. Interactive elements such as quizzes, competitions, and call-in segments could make learning more engaging.

This would help address Jamaica’s digital divide. Not every household can afford reliable broadband or a monthly data plan, but radio and television broadcasts can reach thousands of students without requiring Internet access.

This is not an either-or argument. We can encourage parents to prioritise education while also demanding that the government reduce the cost of accessing it. We can promote personal responsibility while addressing the structural barriers families face.

If education is truly free, why is access to the knowledge required for that education still so expensive?

Let us move beyond the annual debate about what parents should buy and commit to making ‘free education’ actually free.

Yannick Pessoa

Montego Bay, St James