By Francine Black and Howard Walker, Staff ReportersTHE CRISIS in the education sector deepened yesterday with several school principals dismissing as flawed, the study of the 2003 CXC results by Dr. Dennis Minott, member of the Government-commissioned Task Force on Education.
The document gave more than three-quarters of the island's schools a failing grade.
Dr. Minott placed the blame of the failing institutions squarely at the feet of their leadership.
"I believe the principal problem is leadership and vision, that is what is lacking," Dr. Minott told The Gleaner.
However, Branford Gayle, president of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools, said the heads of the institutions must not be blamed for the schools' poor performance.
"It is not as clear-cut as Dr. Minott wants to put it. A lack of vision doesn't happen overnight," he said.
He also noted that there were certain variables that should have been taken into consideration during the study and that he would have preferred if the research was done over a three-year period which, he said, would give a better reflection of the schools' performances.
"The study is a snapshot in time because it deals with one aspect," Mr. Gayle added.
RESOURCES NEEDED
But, Stanley Skeene, president of the Association of Principals and Vice-principals, which represents upgraded schools, said that principals have a responsibility to ensure that resources are sought to do their jobs properly.
"Anything that will militate against them (the schools) performing well must be brought to the attention of authorities before you give them a bad rating," Mr. Skeene said.
Gregory Shirley, chairman of the school board at Munro College, is of the view that principals should be held responsible for whatever happens in the school.
"In the final analysis it comes down to the principal and the teachers," he said.
Mr. Shirley noted that poor resources and student selection also impacted upon the school's work.
"There are certain schools in Jamaica that get a better product to work with," he said.
Mr. Gayle, who is also principal of the Manchester High school, which was given a 'D' grade, said the researchers had not considered other variables such as students who sat their CXC exams in fourth form and hence were not sent up to fifth form. He noted that at Manchester High, some students had sat their CXC math and English exams from as early as fourth form and were now in fifth form doing CAPE level mathematics and communication studies.
In light of this, he said that the researchers' assumption that in those schools some students were excluded from sitting their CXC based upon the screening system would be flawed.
VALUE-ADDED STATUS
Mr. Gayle is charging that the researchers should also examine the 'value added' to students who leave the system. He pointed out that there were schools which didn't have high CXC passes, but there were instances where students enter the institution without being able to read and the teachers work with them and at the end of the time they are able to read up at Grade 9.
"Isn't this adding value to the students," he said, and these things should also be considered when evaluating the results of the research.
Mr. Gayle added that technical schools have been prejudiced in the research as certain subjects that are taught by those institutions were not examined.
In light of this, he is suggesting that a full study of the subjects be done and over a longer period before a rating of this nature which impacts on a school's image be done.
Meanwhile, the alarming results have not gone unnoticed by Maxine Henry-Wilson, Minister of Education, who said on Sunday that she had not had a chance to review the NCE report and would have "prefer to read them and do a little bit more inquiring into them."
"But we have noticed and are interested in finding out what are the criteria they use to determine the performances," she told The Gleaner.
According to the Education Minister, the government had an innate sense and that's why the Prime Minister had a task force working on the schools' performances. Senator Anthony Johnson, the JLP's Spokesman on Education, viewed the report as an indictment on the state of education in the country.
"This is a national crisis beyond any doubt," Senator Johnson said. "This is the most unfortunate time for the Government to be cutting back on its expenditure on education."
Johnson, a former student of Kingston College, which is ranked 14 and graded 'C+', lashed the Government for its 10 per cent cutback on the amount of money to be spent on compensation of employees mainly teachers.
"We are way behind... students need to be properly prepared," he said.
He said the school system had turned out a large number of students who are now between the ages of 15 and 44 and who were not capable of being employed.
