Finding a new road for education

This contribution is part of The Gleaner's 'Fixing Education' campaign focusing on solutions to the problems plaguing Jamaica's education sector.

Jamaica's education sector has followed a rocky road from as far back as we can check our history. This is not to say that the road does not have its smooth spots, but it is only in minor sections that we can feel the satisfaction of a system at work which is successfully producing good results.

It may seem that this is an exaggeration. It is not. How else is it possible to describe a system that produces 75 per cent failures in graduation classes? Worse, 38 per cent of the age cohort is not even allowed to sit the exams for graduation, being considered too weak academically to achieve even the most minimal results.

From another point of view, the educational system is an enigma. Those who qualify from the secondary-school system and go on to tertiary education have produced a number of outstanding scholars who have consistently contributed much to national development. Some have even achieved international acclaim and the best of our education system can stand up to international ratings.

But judgement of society is not concerned about safe landings. It's about crashes. The education system speaks volumes to the frustrations of failure which make it dysfunctional. Yet, despite these obstacles, the system is too crucial to be allowed to exist in a state of bewilderment.

The impact of early-childhood education

Generally, I approach problems logically, and there is much to be gained by viewing education in this way. Reading through the insightful analysis of the brain in the Pulitzer Prize-winning work Inside the Brain, by Ron Kotular, nearly 15 years ago, gave me a whole new perception of the earliest years of life and the impact on early-childhood education. The brain is examined as an organ which begins as a blank slate, gathering and processing an awesome collection of information by stages of complexity, which allows children to grow in knowledge progressively. Scientific findings indicate that the growth period of the brain ceases at around seven years of age, leaving the child to work essentially with the size and capacity achieved at that time for the rest of its life. This sounds frightening, but it does not mean that learning stops at that time; it only means that the ability of the brain will be limited in the future to the capacity it has acquired in the first seven years of life and the process of learning will only be more difficult, but certainly not impossible.

Initial prime concern

This puts the spotlight on those first seven early years as being of prime concern. Early childhood education must then be the priority. In fact, it sets the stage for success thereafter as the support base for further education, just as the first layer of a three-tier cake is fully dependent on the ability of the bottom layer to support the top two. A weak first layer very likely will expose the top two to certain weaknesses, and, possibly, some collapse, as is the case in the education system.

To reposition the early stage of education would logically require much more funding. Over the years, Jamaica has spent far less on education than is the case in other English-speaking countries of the region. This led me to focus my own parliamentary efforts to call for the reform of early-childhood education to strengthen it as the base to the extent that, in 1997, I devoted my presentation in the Budget session entirely to that subject. Unfortunately, the Budget presentation was made by the Opposition at The Jamaica Pegasus that year because of a dispute with the Government. As a result, in the Budget session of the next year, I presented the same speech, giving the subject matter double exposure but also to get it in the official parliamentary record for future reference.

I continued what I considereda mission to promote early childhood for the remainder of my parliamentary years until I retired in 2005. But to realistically do so, I also had to call for increased financing for the system. With government underfinancing the education system by providing only some 10 per cent of the national Budget, compared to 15 per cent and more in other CARICOM countries, I called for an increase of one per cent per annum for five years, starting November 2004, when my resolution to Parliament to this effect, together with a number of other educational reforms, was accepted by both sides of Parliament. I am not aware if its target was met. To me, the most important objective in creating a rational, functional education system was to create a well-funded early-childhood layer capable of giving a good start.

Illiteracy a big problem

But another consideration has now been added by me, which is even more critical, particularly since it requires no additional funds, nor does it require any considerable period of time to accomplish.

Sometimes, the greatest benefits can come from the simplest changes in seeking solutions to problems. The most critical problem facing education is illiteracy. It holds the key. For decades the education system has recognised that illiteracy isa deep-rooted, fundamental problem. Without literacy, learning is impossible. Yet, faced with this undeniable truth, the system has failed for generations to adjust to meet this awesome challenge.

The readiness test administered to grade one entrants to primary schools has repeatedly shown that only 25-30 per cent of entrants are ready to receive formal education at the entrance levels. This was precisely the case half a century ago when the secondary-school system was opened on a broad basis. Edwin Allen, then minister of education, had to devise a unique way to give primary-school graduates a secondary education by changing the admission policy. It was decided that 75 per cent of all entrance places to secondary schools should be reserved for primary-school students. This could have had the most far-reaching effect on the future capacity of the country to grow and prosper. However, it was discovered that at 12 years old, these new students, as in the case of entry to primary schools at six years, could not cope with the educational requirements. Indeed, the majority were not literate. That was more than 40 years ago, yet the problem remains until today with the majority of primary-school graduates being low achievers. This should not be surprising, as 60 per cent of students sitting the Grade Four Literacy Test have repeatedly demonstrated various weaknesses in coping with reading and writing at this advanced stage, leaving them unable to deal with secondary education. This would not have been the case had this huge percentage of students been literate.

Focus on early years

How then can this massive problem be solved? The solution is logical. Set aside the first two years for students in primary schools to be trained in 'readin', 'riting and 'rithmetic'. These students would acquire literacy in that period, enabling them to fully participate in the curriculum from age eight onwards. The subject areas missed by the special literacy training classes can be mitigated by shifting less important areas of learning to the first two years of the curriculum, minimising the shortfall which they would experience by not going through the full curriculum. This special group could cover at least 80 per cent of the full curriculum, enabling them to move on to secondary school with much better performance and passes ultimately through the primary and secondary systems.

This change can create a timely transformation in enabling schools to provide some 50-70 per cent successful graduates, or twice the existing weak performance.

The consequence to the society in at least doubling the numbersof educated graduates would transform the country's productive capacity and create a more stable society of people better able understand and communicate with each other, and, in short, better able to build a nation.

This is a new road for education, one that challenges us to think outside the box. For centuries, we have repeated the same failed course. It's time now to travel a different path, to try something new.

Edward Seaga, a former prime minister, is chancellor of the University of Technology and a distinguished fellow at the University of the West Indies. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.

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