Editorial | Success against all odds

What’s right with Jamaica? Jehvoun Byfield, a teenager in state care, easily answers that question by his award-winning performance in the 2023 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.

With nine CSEC subjects to his credit, this Kingston College student captured the top regional student award category of the 2024 Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) educational achievement award for earning seven distinctions and two credits overall. He collected his award this week to great fanfare, and deservedly so.

While the CPFSA should naturally bask in Jehvoun’s glory, it should be understood that his story of possibilities and academic resilience should be recognised as a source of inspiration to all of Jamaica, particularly at this time when there are so few role models for the youth to emulate.

Wards of the state begin their lives with some amount of trauma, which could range from abuse, death or incarceration of their parents, to neglect or abandonment. In any assessment of the condition of wards, it is not unusual to be told of their struggles with low self-esteem, trust or mental issues.

Factors such as parental support or lack thereof, family economic situation, the presence of violence in the home or community, physical and mental health issues, can all affect a child’s opportunity to do well in school. Indeed, some of the out-of-school factors have been judged to be greater predictors of students’ educational performance than direct school-related matters. In any event, students spend only a fraction of their growing years in the classroom, and the bulk of their time they are at home.

ODDS STACKED

Even though youth in state care have the odds stacked against them, there are students like Jehvoun and others, such as those who performed so well in the 2023 Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations, proving that, even though they come from backgrounds that would seem to doom them to failure, they are overcoming the barriers and turning in solid performances. Sadly, some students who appear to come from ideal life situations are failing to thrive.

It is often said that parents are their children’s first teachers. In the case of wards of the State, it is worthwhile trying to assess the role of the CPFSA in filling the gap in cases where parents are absent. Here’s what Jehvoun had to say about his sojourn at the home: “I came into the CPSFA at three years of age and, from then until now, they have been taking care of me, making sure my needs are met.” He also described how supportive the child protection officers had been in ensuring that he was properly equipped as he prepared for exams during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jehvoun added that, because of the way he has been treated at the home, he knows that he has a family there and he is motivated to become a great person. Hence his dream of becoming an actuarial scientist.

The CPFSA represents a merger of the Child Development Agency and the Office of the Children’s Registry, and is an agency of the Ministry of Education and Youth. These nuggets of success in academic performance certainly put a glow on the agency that is charged with the job of caring and protecting the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children. It certainly presents a better report card than previous years.