Chang
PRESIDENT OF the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC), Anthony Chang, has called for a national consensus on education and, simultaneously, the establishment of a national task force to ensure sustainable improvement in the system.
He said that such a consensus should transcend "all sectoral considerations" so that even with the passage of time the focus would remain the same.
Speaking against the background of the need to build confidence in the island's economy, Mr. Chang said the task force would comprise the best teachers in the system based on results, business people, representatives of the church, political parties, as well as experts from countries with a track record of success in their own educational systems.
He was addressing members of the Rotary Club of St. Andrew at Le Meridien Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston yesterday.
The JCC president noted that over the past five years, the Jamaican Government has spent about 10 per cent of the national budget on education, and that the authorities, having recognised that a problem still exists, has produced a Green Paper with the hope of improving the system.
"We may debate whether or not the amount spent on the education system is at the appropriate level," said Mr. Chang, adding that "what is undeniable, to my mind, is that for many parents, the results are nowhere near satisfaction."
He said parents had spent millions of dollars on extra lessons where they could afford to do so to secure the type of education their children ought to be getting in the classrooms. However, "for those parents who can't afford the extra lessons or the various aids required to bring their children's education up to minimum levels, the reality they face is a widening gap between the outcomes of their children and the children of the more fortunate."
The JCC president said that "in these days of a globalising economy, we cannot continue to have primary schools trying to make up for deficiencies in early childhood education; for secondary schools trying to address deficiencies in the primary system, and even the tertiary institutions having to introduce basic comprehension and writing skills which should have been instilled in the secondary system."
According to Mr. Chang, "we are in a knowledge-based economy and maybe one day, instead of us exporting farm workers to North America, we'll have exportation of more knowledge workers to the world."
It was against that background that he called for a national consensus on education and the setting up of a national task force.
He said the mandate of the task force would be to examine and ensure the continuation of improvement in the island's education system, and the setting up of a timetable for implementation of a new framework within the shortest possible time.
