By Joycelin E. Clarke, Contributor
Clarke
ONCE AGAIN the issue of poor performance of secondary school leavers has surfaced and schools are indicted for the poor performance of students.
Dr. Dennis Minott in his analysis of the 2003 Caribbean Council Examinations (CXC) pointed out that many traditional high schools have been performing below expectations and many principals have been unhappy with the assumptions made. On November 14, 2004 Dr. Ralph Thompson has again brought this issue to the fore. Much of the blame has been directed at the reclassified high schools and the ability of the teachers in these schools to deliver the curriculum.
In The Sunday Gleaner of November 27, Howard Campbell said that in reclassified high schools students are more likely to be taught by inexperienced teachers and teachers who were low achievers in college. What Mr. Campbell needs to understand is that the bottom line is economics and teachers are in no way eager to incur transportation costs if employment can be found in schools in close proximity to where they reside whether or not the school is traditional or reclassified high.
He also needs to understand that many of the implied "more qualified and experienced teachers" likely to be found in traditional high schools, have no idea how to help the underachievers who are placed in reclassified high schools. Thus, the assumptions are mere speculation without any empirical data to support the assumptions. If these assumptions hold true, what accounts for the unacceptable performance of those students in the traditional high schools whose teachers are regarded as being high achievers, qualified and competent?
REMEDIATION PROGRAMME
The University of the West Indies in recent years introduced a remediation programme in English language for those students entering the university who it is believed will perform satisfactorily if given additional help. Was this decision made on the basis of students entering from reclassified high schools? Does Mr. Campbell know that the student who was first in the island in Spanish in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and two others who came in the top five in Environmental Studies and Information Technology were from reclassified schools?
It is time critics of the education system become familiar with what exists in the schools and face the challenges in an objective and practical way and stop the bias toward reclassified high schools.
It is true that many students at the secondary education level have been performing below expectation in English and mathematics but isn't there a reason for this level of performance? Has anyone stopped to think about the underlying cause and offer some reasonable solutions? Has anyone stopped to commend schools for outstanding performance in other areas in which students have excelled. We seem eager to cast blame but who should we blame for the unacceptable performance? Are the students, the teachers, the administrators the parents, the policy makers or the society at large to be blamed? Is anyone willing to accept locus of control or are we still eager to pass the buck? The problem with us as a people is our readiness to point out faults without the ability to find solutions.
Dr. Ralph Thompson, a member of the recently appointed education task force seems not to have been given the mandate of not only identifying the problems which account for poor performance in the schools but also to find solutions to the problems identified. He appeared on national television and was heard to say that if schools accept students, then they have the responsibility to ensure that the students are appropriately prepared to function in society. He is indeed correct but is passing CXC the only measure of ensuring that school leavers function?
How many holders of CXC certificates and university degrees are out there in Jamaica who have failed to make a worthwhile contribution to the economy and social well-being of the society? Probably we need to do a census to find out whether such persons hail from reclassified high schools.
BIG BUSINESS
Also The Sunday Gleaner of November 27 points to the fact that there is big business in extra classes for mathematics. If traditional high schools teachers were performing so admirably why are so many parents having to find large sums of money to ensure that their children do well in the subject? Did Mr. Campbell realise that many of these extra classes are tutored by teachers who work in reclassified high schools? And if these teachers have the competence to teach in extra classes and obtain results, what is militating against their achieving results in the schools in which they are actively employed? This may be food for thought.
My purpose is not to cast blame but to highlight some of the challenges that teachers and principals encounter in their effort to educate the nation's children and to suggest some possible solutions. There are many school personnel who will agree that much of the funds directed to task force and consultancy could be utilised more effectively. Much of what these handsomely paid persons report to the Ministry of Education Youth and Culture is what teachers and administrators have been saying a long time. The powers that be have continuously turned a deaf ear but are willing to pay consultants and task forces to find out what is already known. Such waste of limited financial resources could be channelled into making life more pleasant for the students and teachers within the schools. Funds so unwisely used could provide additional teaching/learning materials, classroom space or additional teachers in the classrooms.
Class size, especially in the reclassified high schools, need to be given serious attention. Some classes comprise as many as 45 and more students. If students are experiencing difficulty with critical areas such as mathematics and English language how humanly possible is it for teachers to reach students in such large classes? The teacher is expected to deal with the diverse problems and at the same time deliver the curriculum content effectively. The issue of class size must be given urgent attention because if left unattended, many students will continue to be left behind.
SIZE OF SCHOOLS
Also the size of schools need to be addressed. Too many schools are operating above their capacity. This forces administrators and teachers to give attention to keeping order and resolving conflicts rather than giving the kind of instructional leadership to effective delivery of the curriculum. Principals and teachers have been experiencing diverse behavioural problems which they have not been trained to manage. As such, much instructional time is spent on disciplining students. Situations of this nature reduce the time students and teachers spend on the teaching/learning task.
Another issue is the quality of students entering secondary schools. Based on my experience, a large percentage of students entering secondary schools, especially the reclassified high schools are operating at grade four level and below. Only a small minority of about 20 per cent of the intake at grade seven in reclassified high schools reads at their age level. Some students entering the reclassified high schools are reading at pre-primer level. They are unable to recognise their names let alone the printed material in textbooks. The time given by the Ministry of Education Youth and Culture for pursuing secondary education is five years. Is it therefore possible for teachers to take students operating below acceptable standard on entry at grade seven to CXC within the same time frame as students who are operating at acceptable levels and above? In my opinion it is impossible.
PERSONS WHO ARE READY
We therefore need to approach the problem of unacceptable performance in secondary schools in a practical way. Perhaps the time has come for us to look seriously at what we are doing in terms of high school education. Students who are not ready for the secondary system should not be transferred there to frustrate themselves and their teachers. For a long time Professor Errol Miller has been advocating that secondary education should be offered to persons who are ready for education at that level.
What I think should be done as I had mentioned in the 1970s to the late Most Honourable Michael Manley, is that JAMAL be utilised to assist with the problem of illiteracy between the ages of 12-15 years. On leaving the primary school system, students who are not ready for secondary education should be directed to JAMAL and a comprehensive three-year programme be put in place to correct students' deficiency in reading, writing and arithmetic. In addition, civic knowledge should be included in the curriculum. Students having completed the programme successfully could be directed to pursue skills training at HEART NTA or the high school curriculum in the secondary schools. These students will then spend four to five years at which time they sit a high school equivalency examination. Those who progress to HEART/NTA, depending on the level to which students show aptitude for advanced training, will be certified as trained artisans.
Another issue is the certification of secondary school leavers. At present there is no common certification. The regional CXC examination is what is used as a measure of success on completing secondary education. There are many students who have the ability to write the examination but could not afford to pay. These students are forced to sit the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination which the society regards as having no currency.
COMMON CERTIFICATION
If we are going to compare performance in the academics, then it is time for Jamaica to have a common high school certification and judge performance on this common examination. Also the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture needs to identify other criteria in addition to performance in external examinations to judge school performance. Too often we have seen people with outstanding performance in examinations but are unable to maintain good interpersonal relationships. Some of them have no positive work habits or attitudes, no civic pride and who fail to honour their civic responsibilities.
The challenge to many students at secondary school level is the ability to read in the content areas in which they pursue studies. Reading in mathematics and the sciences is different and more difficult than reading in English. The format of the text, the word difficulty and the ability to interpret and obtain meaning from the text present challenges to students. Many of the teachers also are unable to teach students to read in the various disciplines. It means therefore that although some teachers know how to teach the fundamentals of reading, many are not equipped to teach skills specific to particular disciplines.
Teachers therefore need to be taught how to teach students to read. As Dr. Beverly Bryan in an earlier issue of The Sunday Gleaner explains, the University of the West Indies is doing what lies in its power to improve teacher skills in improving literacy in the schools. It means therefore that we need to give all the support we can to teachers in helping them to become proficient in their pedagogical skills and assist where we ourselves have the competence. If we must criticise, let us do so constructively. I am aware that not everyone will share my views; however, I challenge all of us who show some concern for the unacceptable results from secondary schools to come forward with some reasonable solutions to help solve some of the problems.
Dr. Joycelin E. Clarke is a retired principal of the Old Harbour School, St. Catherine and may be contacted at jec105@hotmail.com
