WhitemanJAMAICA HAS been listed among 57 countries who are at risk of not achieving Universal Primary Education (UPE), and one of 78 that will not achieve adult literacy, by the 2015 target date set by UNESCO (the United Nations' Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation).
The 2002 'Education For All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report: Is the World on Track?' was launched by UNESCO two days ago. It shows that some 83 countries are on track to achieve EFA by the deadline set two and a half years ago. However, on present trends, more than 70 other countries will not make it, and 41 of the 57 that won't achieve UPE have been moving backwards, according to a report on UNESCO's website.
Two years ago, at the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal, the international community promised to work together to get all the world's children into primary school by 2015, a goal known as EFA.
The Dakar Forum agreed on six goals which were essential, attainable and affordable given strong international commitment and resolve. They were to ensure, by 2015, that all children of primary school age would have more access to and complete free schooling of acceptable quality; that gender disparities in schooling would be eliminated; levels of adult illiteracy would be halved; early childhood care and education would be expanded; learning opportunities for youth and adults would be greatly increased; and all aspects of education quality would be improved.
Universal access was also a part of the People's National Party's (PNP) manifesto for the 1997 elections, which had promised UPE by 2000. Quoting from his party's manifesto then, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson said that every student leaving the school system would be literate and numerate, all high school leavers would be computer literate, and early childhood care, education and development would get priority. He also promised UPE by the year 2000, with annual attendance rate of 90 per cent.
But primary education has been plagued with problems which include overcrowding, a high pupil/teacher ratio and a high percentage of untrained teachers. The Ministry of Education has also been grappling with the absence of a significant portion of the island's children from primary school and implemented a five year study last year that aims to strengthen all aspects of the primary education system - from construction and expansion of new schools, to developing and revising curricula and tackling absenteeism. Last year primary enrolment was reported at 95 per cent though a number of schools had been plagued with a high level of absenteeism.
As for adult literacy, last year the Ministry reported that there is still a far way to go towards making Jamaica a fully literate society despite an adult literacy rate in excess of 70 per cent. Former Minister of Education Burchell Whiteman said that the direct yearly costs of illiteracy to business was estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars.
