Delay sixth form Pathways programme and instead address learning loss – Robinson

Opposition Spokesperson on Finance Julian Robinson is calling for the government to delay the Sixth Form Pathways Programme and focus its attention on addressing the COVID-19 induced learning loss. 

Last year, the education ministry reported that some 120,000 students had been missing from online learning since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.

Robinson said in the context of the report from the Education Transformation Commission, chaired by Professor Orlando Patterson, which shows grave failings in the current system, there is no point in spending scarce resources to extend high school life by two years. 

“The first five years only produce 50 percent of students with literate, numerate and marketable skills. Apart from the monetary resources, I do not believe the ministry has the managerial capacity to successfully implement a national remedial programme while launching a 6th form programme,” Robinson said during his contribution to the Budget Debate in Parliament this afternoon. 

Further, he expressed disappointment that there was no allocation in the budget to begin the process of transformation as recommended by the Patterson report. 

“I acknowledge there will be short, medium and long-term goals but we must start and start now. We need to tackle the implementation of the Patterson report as an urgent national priority.”

Robinson said he expects to see at minimum an allocation for the establishment of a secretariat, as the best and brightest minds are assembled to oversee the transformation process. 

The opposition spokesperson said education represents the only avenue for the vast majority of poor individuals to experience social mobility and upliftment. 

“When we get this wrong, it disproportionately affects the children of the poor. Poor people don't have the resources to afford extra classes. Poor people pickney were most affected by the learning loss as they had no device or Internet access. We must use our education system to narrow the gap and uplift our people,” Robinson remarked. 

- Judana Murphy

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