THE EDITOR, Sir:
THE LETTER of the Day in The Gleaner of November 2 from Garfield Whyte on the subject of a crisis in education really struck a chord.
I and a few other persons in St. Ann are annually involved in scholarship examinations for high school students about to enter third form - an age group of 14-year-old boys and girls. The scholarship is tenable for three years and, at present, is worth a total of $60,000 payable in equal annual instalments of $20,000 - no small sum.
One aspect of the competition centres on a very extensive and wide-ranging general knowledge quiz where all the questions are those which this age group should be able to answer as confirmed by the teachers we have consulted on the subject. The majority of the questions centre on this region of the world - both historical, cultural and current, on the achievements of world-famous persons of African descent, on sundry school subjects such as religion, mathematics, history, geography, to name but a few.
RANDOM SELECTION
Please permit me to share with your readership a random selection of some of the answers we have received over the years. It may seem to be amusing, were it not so serious and so sad.
The famous abolitionists, William Knibb and William Wilberforce have been variously described as: owning a school, contributing to the parish of Trelawny (we know where this comes from), having districts named after them, being sportsmen, cricketers and soldiers.
Slavery has been abolished in the years 1742, 1888 and 1969. Jamaica achieved Independence in 1982. Columbus arrived in the New World in either 1925 or 1954. The location of named towns in sundry parishes were required. Answers varied. Apparently Mandeville is in St. Elizabeth and Port Antonio is in St. Mary.
National Honours abbreviations are largely unknown. The questions either remain unanswered on most papers or, for instance, an O.D. is an Office Detective, an O.J. is the Order of Justice. All students could recognise JP, but could seldom give the name of the custos of St. Ann, their own parish. Asked to name any famous Jamaican author, we have been given, for instance, Martin Luther King Jr.
Students were asked to name one Caribbean island where French is spoken. Answers ranged from accurate, to no answer at all, to Jamaica (!), Brazil and the Dominican Republic. The capital cities of other English-speaking islands in the Caribbean were largely unknown. The location of Guantanamo Bay is Montego Bay, or St. James or St. Ann. Two CARICOM states are apparently the United States and Haiti.
SELDOM CORRECTLY
Well-known Jamaican abbreviations such as KSAC, PSOJ, STETHS and PALS result in every single child knowing PALS, and seldom recognising the others.
The largest island in the world has been given as Cuba. The capital of the U.S.A. has been given as Miami or Florida or America itself. The Prime Minister of England is seldom correctly stated and one student even ventured to suggest his name is Owen Author (spelling!).
In the field of sports, every child could identify the Williams sisters as tennis stars. However, Magic Johnson plays golf, football, horse racing or ackee (whatever that means). Tiger Woods plays baseball, basketball and football.
QUITE DISGRACEFUL
The young people are well versed in Bible knowledge, except that they have no idea where Jesus was born and the Gospels have been given to us as Jeremiah, Ephesians, Chronicles and John.
Mathematics is almost a non-starter and quite disgraceful. The measurements of reams and quires apparently relate to steel, gold, weight or money. Asked to work out simple sums or give equivalents is an impossible task, as also the drawing and description of geometrical figures which the teachers confirm they should all know.
English is not much better, and even when many of the answers are correct, the spelling leaves a great deal to be desired. Asked to give synonyms for selected words, we have been offered that an automobile is a telephone, a cellular or the word 'moveable'. Astound means unmoveable, fast, firm or a snapshot. Excitement is another word for curse and nimble means bit, sneaking, touchful or troublesome.
Any questions relative to Bob Marley are immediately and accurately answered.
Teachers and educators, parents and guardians, families and well-wishers all, where do we go from here when our teenagers in well established rural high schools give, in all earnestness and seriousness, answers such as the above?
I am, etc.,
DOROTHEA WHITEHORNE (Mrs.)
dodotoo@cwjamaica.com
Ocho Rios, St. Ann
