Editorial | A foundation for science and technology

Parris Lyew-Ayee Jr is right that Jamaican scientists, and the island’s Scientific Research Council (SRC), which he chairs, have done much good work over many decades.

What, though, is questionable, in the absence of better evidence – although we fervently wish it were the case – is that Jamaica is on the cusp of a take-off in science and technology. Or ‘Science 2.0’, as Dr Lyew-Ayee put it in a message in this newspaper marking November as Science and Technology Month. “We are building on the strong legacies of premier pioneer scientists in Jamaica’s history,” he said.

There are, indeed, inspirational legacies of science and technology in Jamaica. There is the work of people like the animal geneticist, Thomas P. Lecky, who bred cattle that thrive in hot countries, or of Albert Lockhart and Manley West, with their pioneering efforts, nearly half a century ago, in medical marijuana. Or of the anonymous researchers of the SRC, who help to perfect processes that improve people’s lives and bring products to market.

But as important and significant as these are, Dr Lyew-Ayee will no doubt concede that Jamaica’s achievements in science and technology are far from sufficient for the island to take full advantage, as Prime Minister Andrew Holness hopes, of the emerging fifth industrial revolution and be competitive in the new global economy.

Jamaica enjoys pockets of excellence in science and technology. It, however, lacks the underlying infrastructure required to sustain a major national project in research and development (R&D) or to fundamentally adapt, for rapid economic development, technologies, such as in artificial intelligence, that are fast emerging in this new industrial age.

MUCH CAN BE DONE

Which is not to imply that nothing can be achieved in, or salvaged from, the current circumstances. Much can be done. However, contemporaneous with a drive for R&D within the existing infrastructure, Jamaica must urgently concentrate on developing an ecosystem for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.

With respect to doing more and better with what now exists, this newspaper believes that the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech), a state-owned institution, and largely financed with taxpayers’ money, should be mandated to return to its core (it now offers a wide range of social science degrees), with the aim of returning to the path of becoming an elite polytechnic focused on R&D and innovation.

Further, the Government must consider ways, through discussions with the private sector and tertiary institutions, to incentivise R&D.

An earlier decision to allow pension funds to invest up to five per cent of the portfolios in start-ups was positive, but insufficient. It may be possible to devise fiscal regimes that encourage firms, and people with deep pockets – even when not seeking to bring specific products to market for their own account – to invest in the R&D efforts of research institutions. Developed countries, mainly via the private sector, spend up to four per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on R&D. Recent figures for the Caribbean, including Jamaica, are not available, but some estimates suggest that the region’s expenditure in this area is half of one per cent of GDP.

Over the longer term, Jamaica’s success in science and technology, and ultimately in R&D and innovation, rests on having a cadre of people equipped to operate in those fields. That starts with having a good system of STEM education. Which is not currently the case. For instance, in this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examination only 37 per cent of nearly 20,000 Jamaican students passed mathematics, a foundation subject for science and technology. Many of those who passed scraped through with the lowest grade. This is after many of the exam’s age-eligible cohort were excluded by their schools from the test on the basis that they did not make the cut.

PROBLEM

This is not primarily the fault of students. Jamaica has long had a problem with the teaching of maths and science, and in retaining teachers who are competent at it – as was highlighted by the Orlando Patterson commission report on the transformation of Jamaica’s education system.

The commission noted a “critical shortage” in quality STEM teachers, as well as technical and vocational subjects. “The shortage is repeatedly highlighted as an immediate link between the number of high-school students with STEM competencies in a globally competitive workforce,” the commission said.

While the problem of a drift from Jamaica’s classrooms is universal, STEM teachers go faster – usually for better-paying jobs in the private sector or to teach abroad. “Between the 2014 and 2015 academic years, nearly 500 mathematics and science teachers left the public secondary-school system,” said the Patterson report, delivered 13 months ago. “At the start of the pandemic, Jamaica lost an estimated 390 teachers between September 2019 and January 2020.”

A government programme to offer scholarships in STEM subjects has not worked as well as hoped. Recruits do not like the terms of their bonds and do not find the pay especially attractive. Even as it continues with this and similar initiatives, the Government must radically rethink and reconfigure its approach to STEM education.

For instance, Prime Minister Holness is committed to building six specialist STEM high schools. He, as part of a new approach, should invite the private sector and other organisations and foundations to be critical partners in this scheme, including financing the construction of their institutions, recruiting staff and subsidising their salaries, and being parties to the overall management of the schools. These elite institutions will not only help to shape a future cohort of scientists and innovators, but can become laboratories for best practices in STEM education for other schools.