Maxine Henry-Wilson, Contributor 
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson in conversation with Education Minister Maxine Henry-Wilson at the official opening of the Frome Technical High School Campus, in Westmoreland on March 3, 2005.- FILE
DR. PENROLE Brown in an article in the Sunday Gleaner, July 31, 2005 ('P.J. Patterson's collapsing Legacy') contends that after 13 years as Prime Minister, "...it was only this year that the glaring realities with respect to the deficiencies in our educational system are being exposed, that Mr. Patterson has awakened to the fact that ... the educational system is in need of a revolution." The writer goes on to list a number of indicators for this alleged failure of the educational system and by extension, what he perceives as the "collapsing legacy" of the Prime Minister.
NO ATTEMPT TO MISLEAD
Contrary to Dr. Brown's view, at no time was there any attempt by the Prime Minister and this ministry to mislead or hide the objective realities of the education sector. Indeed, the very findings quoted so extensively by Dr. Brown are contained in the report from the Task Force on Education commissioned by the Hon. Prime Minister. If Dr. Brown were keeping abreast of public affairs, he/she would recall previous interventions aimed at achieving quality in the system. Indeed, the Education White Paper of 2001 (Education the Way Upward...) sets targets for the system. The evidence and best practice in education globally, acknowledge that providing access for every child is usually the initial target. Quality is infused over a period of time, taking longer to achieve.
The Jamaican experience coincides with this.
Education - The Jamaican Experience
Over the past two decades, while expanding access, we have also introduced several policies and programmes aimed at infusing quality. The various school building programmes aim at ensuring that every school-age child has a place in school. We continue to pursue this goal. However, as acknowledged in the Task Force Report, the shifts in population and change in demographics have caused some school plants to be virtually empty, while others are overcrowded. We are currently reconciling this, but buildings cannot be transplanted; we have to construct new physical plants where they are needed.
In terms of access: Jamaica has achieved universal primary and lower secondary education. Through the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), 50,000 children are placed in secondary institutions - a dramatic move from 9,000 in the 1970s.
The challenge now is to achieve greater access at the upper secondary level. The massive school building programme in North West Jamaica is critical to meeting this challenge. Some 17 schools - eight of which are secondary schools - are slated for construction under this programme and are at various stages of completion with some already opened. These schools are as follow:
St. James - Success Primary
Green Pond Primary
Irwin Primary
Providence Heights Basic
Green Pond Basic
Spot Valley High
Green Pond High
Irwin High
Trelawny - Hague Basic
Hague Primary
Holland High
Troy High
Hanover - Hopewell Basic
Lucea Basic
Hopewell High
Orange Bay/Rhodes Hall High
Westmoreland-Frome Technical High
The transfer of $5 billion as a one-off contribution from the National Housing Trust (NHT) to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture is another catalyst for Universal Secondary Education. Funds from this source will be used to finance a comprehensive school expansion and maintenance programme.
Infusing quality
At the primary level, the Revised Primary Curriculum, implemented islandwide through the Primary Education Support Project (PESP), represents some significant shifts in teaching methodology, assessment, content arrangement, purpose and focus - all geared toward improving quality delivery and content. Under PESP, a new literacy intervention strategy has been developed - the Language Experience Awareness - that will support the underlying principles of the Revised Primary Curriculum. This is at the very core of our target to have 90 per cent of our students achieving mastery in the Grade 4 Literacy test.
In addition, systematic in-service and professional development training for teachers continues to improve delivery and content. Over 8,500 teachers have been trained in assessment strategies as well as in interpreting and using the results of assessments to guide future planning for instruction at the primary level.
Improving Literacy
Dr. Brown highlighted the gaps in literacy and numeracy reflected in examination and testing results at the primary level. It is precisely because the government is serious about these issues that we are expanding existing diagnostic tests and interventions to provide national remediation at strategic points including grades 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7. Certainly this cannot be seen as an effort to obscure the problem and mislead the Jamaican people; rather, ongoing testing is one method of identifying those children that are not performing at their grade levels and within precise skill areas so that corrective/remedial interventions can be designed.
The New Horizons for Primary Schools Project (NHP), funded jointly by the GOJ and USAID in a grant totalling US$13.6 million, was geared towards improving literacy and numeracy of students in 72 selected primary schools. This project has been successful not only in moving the literacy levels of several students in some instances from a low of 16 per cent to a high of 50 per cent, but in yielding positive performances in the GSAT for those schools. In addition, there are several quality outputs of the project:
- Training of 187 Literacy and Mathematics Resource teachers with specific attention in child-centred, hands-on teaching/learning methodologies
- Training of 72 principals and 720 teachers in the use of the Revised Primary curriculum
- Completing 21 training modules on teaching strategies and content areas and Teacher Companions
- Developing Governance and Leadership training modules and training school boards
- Training of approximately 950 parents to assist in teaching/learning at the community level
- Providing 145 computers for schools and Regional Offices
Quality also requires making accessible, quality reading materials. The Government has made significant strides in the provision of available learning materials for students. Under the Primary Schools Text Book Programme, funded to the tune of just under $300m. Some 2.4 million (42 titles) textbooks and workbooks are provided annually for all students free of cost in over 800 primary schools.
Other quality supports include:
- Primary Textbook programme with funding of nearly $300m
- Over 97 projects costing $407m for primary schools improvement over the years and 63 all-age school projects at $256m completed through the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF).
Raising the bar at the secondary level
The Government since 1989 has provided significant curricular interventions under several projects including the Reform of Secondary Education (ROSE). In 2003, $75 million was allocated from the recurrent budget to assist 17 schools in their development plans. The project had made provisions for 198 schools to benefit from this initiative at a cost of J$475.2 million, over five years. To date, budget allocation has allowed us to work with 99 all-age, primary and junior high, upgraded high and two vocational schools, spread across all six regions. Training has been provided so far for 220 administrators from 53 schools, which have all submitted their School Improvement Plans (SIPs) to the MOEYC. At March 2005, 80 SIPs have been approved and implementation has begun for over 50 schools. Approximately 932 persons trained in delivery and management of grades 7-9 curriculum.
Other initiatives at this level include the textbook rental schemes for grades 7 to 11 in core subject areas at a cost of approximately $490 million. Under this scheme over 457,000 books are provided annually.
Early Childhood Development
We have deliberately left Early Childhood Education for last as it is in this area that we have made significant strides. These include:
- The establishment of the Early Childhood Commission, bringing the membership of the Commission, the requisite skills, experience and professional disciplines under one umbrella.
- The Early Childhood Act outlines standards and regulations for Early Childhood care and development and requires the registration of all institutions. Those that fail to meet required standards will face closure.
Other initiatives that have been and are being implemented at this level include:
- The renovation and upgrading of over 2,000 early childhood institutions under the Early Childhood Fund
- The construction of five new basic schools under the North West Jamaica Schools project (Lucea, Hopewell, Hague, Providence Heights and Green Pond).
- The Enhancement of Basic Schools Project funded jointly by the Government of Jamaica and the Caribbean Development Bank at a cost of $US15.8m and launched in March 2003 is supporting, among other things the construction and development of 12 model learning environments inclusive of furnishing with both indoor and outdoor equipment as well as to upgrade the physical plants of 11 resource centres.
- The strengthening and replication of the Roving Care Givers programme to give parenting support to parents from deep rural and inner-city areas, who seldom visit clinics. The Roving Care Givers programme already has proven success in Jamaica; has received international acclaim and has been adopted in many other countries.
- The training of Early Childhood Practitioners at teacher training colleges as well as at the HEART/NTA, which provides Levels I and II certification under the NCTVET programme.
The Government continues to work towards the improvement in the quality outputs we deliver in the educational system in the following areas:
- Build/equip basic schools
- Upgrade basic school teachers and train new ones
- Develop a comprehensive textbook lending programme for primary and secondary schools
- Allocate resources to secondary schools to ensure quality delivery of education to all students at that level
- Improve and expand the School Feeding Programme
- Implement a compulsory homework/literacy hour after classes
- Eliminate the shift system in all schools
- Upgrade teachers to required degree levels
- Attain a target of 1:35 teacher/pupil ratio
- Guarantee five years of education to all students entering secondary school
We accept that there are gaps in performance and quality outputs of the education system. This is why we have been reviewing the system at critical junctures. The 2001 White Paper was one such endeavour. The National Task Force on Education identified gaps and provided a strategic context for a transformation of the system. We are talking about fundamental and radical shifts in the system that will not be achieved overnight. In fact, the pace of transformation in societies and economies globally demand an ongoing review of systems. This is evident in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Britain, the United States, Finland and Italy.
The Hon. Prime Minister's legacy in education is clearly one of access for all, significant reforms in Early Childhood and significant steps towards quality.
Maxine Henry-Wilson MP
Minister
