THE EDITOR, Sir:
RECENTLY, THE government and the Opposition agreed on new policy measures for education, but if they had considered the problems in education from a different perspective the agreement might have been for a new paradigm.
The education system we have inherited is inherently elitist. It is based on the Grammar School concept developed in England in which a small cadre of students - the supposedly brighter ones and those from the upper echelons of society - are trained for the top posts in the military, the Civil Service and the traditional professions. This system was transplanted to Jamaica (and other countries) and became the template from which the modern education system is built.
Over the years, attempts were made to expose more students to education and reduce the degree of illiteracy that the system engenders; but the problems have persisted. The failure rate of students at the secondary level is alarmingly high, many students leave without certification and there is an egregious disparity in performance levels between those in the Secondary Schools and the Traditional High Schools - the pillars of the antiquated system.
The churches have distinguished themselves in the building of the system. The Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists, Moravians et al have been the dominant architects in creating this edifice and their holy signatures can yet be found on such citadels as St. George's College, Campion College, Kingston College, Queens, Ardenne etc.
The politicians as arch-builders were not to be outdone and enjoined with a preponderance of policies and programme. For example, Minister of Education, Edwin Allen introduced the Junior High and the Comprehensive High concept in the 60's. Michael Manley as Prime Minister introduced JAMAL and a shift system in Secondary Schools in the 70's and Edward Seaga also as Prime Minister, introduced the HEART concept to meet the need of skill training. All these changes were done within an antiquated system without giving a thought to a radical reform in the philosophy upon which the system rests.
At best our education system is inefficient, at worst it rots to the core. At present a disproportionate amount of resources is allocated at the top end of the stream to support tertiary education so that graduates can continue to feed the elite pool. As this happens the pupil-teacher ratio in many Secondary and Primary Schools is averaging 50-1 (in some schools as high as 80-1). At the tertiary level there is a plethora of colleges that offer Associate Degrees, Diplomas and a myriad of certificates - whose programmes are not systematically co-ordinated. A student with a certificate from one college can seldom matriculate with it to U.W.I. and UTech.
The only ideals such a system can produce are failure and mediocrity for the majority of students; for teachers, perpetual frustration. In light of the above, therefore, education begs not new policies but a new paradigm. The proper function of an education system must be to nurture the innate talents of our children rather than condemning them to failure. As Descartes says:
"The end of study should be to direct the mind towards the enunciation of sound and correct judgements on all matters that come before it."
A new paradigm in education must rest absolutely upon this axiom.
I am, etc.,
WILLIWOOD ADAMS
Spaldings, Clarendon
