The Editor, Sir:

The country is once again embroiled in the partisan 'Free Education' debate. This debate originated in the 1950s with the introduction of the Common Entrance by Mr. Norman Manley. The concept was non-political, at the time, and both political parties embraced the idea as the way for Jamaica to move forward. Sir Florizel Glasspole and the Honourable Edwin Allen fine-tuned the programme, which culminated in Mr. Michael Manley's free education in the 1970s.

That was then. What have we learned from the free education programme? I would prefer that the majority of professionals, doctors, lawyers, college pro-fessors, Members of Parlia-ment, are beneficiaries of Mr. Norman Manley's and his colleagues' vision of equality for all Jamai-cans. Where did we go wrong with free education? Is there a study recommending that free education is not viable; that funds previously earmarked to educate our future leaders, were better spent elsewhere?

Free education

The debate has sadly been politicised. The PNP has insisted that Jamaica cannot afford free education. The JLP has said that it will offer free education if it forms the next government. Free edu-cation is a non-issue. It must become a reality again. We spend openly on foreign police experts trying to attack crime, we complain that deportees are contributing to crime, we have issues with human trafficking, and we struggle to provide oppor-tunities for the brightest of our graduates.

Have we heard of a Rhodes Scholar being deported for being involved in criminal activity overseas? Or are the deportees, having left the country without the basic tools to survive, being returned to Jamaica? The ills facing our society can be directly traced to the lackof opportunities for our people, who are unpre-pared educationally to be a part of the global economy.

The free education debate must not ever be raised in the context of pending elections again. If a nation is unable to provide the basic necessities of life, of which I would argue that free education is one, what is the purpose of paying taxes and electing a government? Before World Cup Cricket, before subsidy to Air Jamaica, and before investing in improperly-managed projects, there should be free access to education up to at least the equivalent of graduation from a high school.

We do not need to be told that we cannot afford to educate our future leaders. We cannot endorse a system that discriminates against the poor and, by extension, the racial majority of the country. Whatever accommodations in the budget must be made to secure our future, it must be made now, and without regard to who first put the idea forward.

By any barometer, surely, the measurement of success of any country has to take into considera-tion the ability of the people to function at a minimum level in English and mathematics. Free education, being a fundamental right, why are we embroiled in a debate?

If we are not prepared to put our young ones on the path to success, we must in time be prepared to build more prisons, and import more experts to react to the crime and violence. The choice is ours - bury our heads and hope that future leaders will be in a better position to clean up the mess created by our lack of vision, or spend now, spend wisely, invest in our future, and lead by example.

I am, etc.,

KIRK BARROW

kabarrow@hotmail.com

1D Braemar Avenue, Kingston

Via Go-Jamaica