Look before you leap, Minister Holness!

Keven Jones, guest columnist

Minister of Education Andrew Holness mentioned, as reported by The Gleaner on June 27, that the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) will be instituting a national school-leaving certificate which would set minimum standards for graduation in secondary schools. "This new initiative forms part of the Government's universal secondary and compulsory education policy," said Minister Holness. The minister expounded by stating that this new policy will take into account co-curricular activities, behaviour and academics.

I embrace such an initiative by the Government with open arms. On the surface, it highlights two main points:

1) That the GOJ intends to raise and maintain the standards of high-school graduates.

2) By standardising the minimum requirements for graduation, the Ministry of Education will be able to create the profile of a graduate, thus allowing prospective employers to view the graduate from a more rounded perspective as purported by the minister.

A careful consideration and possible implementation of this initiative will prove to be challenging for many schools and, by extension, the Ministry of Education. Any minimum standard implemented by the ministry will be easily met by some schools and present nightmares for others. This is because there are multiple factors contributing to academic performance and behavioural conduct of students at the high-school level. These factors include, but are not limited to, socio-economic status of the family, teacher-student ratio in the classroom, qualification and competence of the classroom teacher, the leadership style of the principal, parental support and supervision of the child, intrinsic motivation of the child and, most important, how well the child has performed at the GSAT level before matriculating to the high-school level, just to mention a few. These factors tend to be more pronounced and varied among high schools across Jamaica. Thus, as a result, performance output and behavioural conduct of our students vary across schools because of the underlying factors just mentioned.

Social status affects outcome

Let us take a brief look at one of these factors: the socio-economic status of the family. Research has shown that socio-economic status of the family not only affects a child's performance at the high-school level, but is also a predictor of college attendance and future employment status (Winefield, Saebel, Hammars-trom, & Janlert, 2005). In fact, other researchers also point out that the socio-economic status of the child is the most cited reason for high-school dropouts (Beekman, 1987). Armed with this information, it is not difficult to understand why Jamaican students from low-income neigh-bourhoods who attend schools in inner-city areas are more likely to perform poorly on standardised exams, such as CSEC, than their counterparts from affluent com-munities and who attend top traditional high schools.

It is not difficult to understand why some promising young men drop out of high school only to see them selling on the streets in an effort to contribute to family support. At the other end of the spectrum, the research reveals that parents of high socio-economic families are more likely than are parents in low socio-economic families to be involved in their children's education. Such parental involvement improves children's academic achievement and lessens dropout potential when both parent and child participate in activities that aid in cognitive development (Ramos, Lucila, Sanchez & Arthur, 1995).

Level the playing field

While the GOJ may not be able to raise all household income to an acceptable level, it can, however, in the short term, through the Ministry of Education, level the playing field across schools in Jamaica. We need to standardise the teacher-student ratio; eliminate the shift system; ensure all teachers meet the minimum qualification before entering the classroom; recruit, train and license all principals who will create the requisite environment conducive for learning; make school campuses safe and secure; remove GSAT as a ranking mechanism of students; and, most important, allocate resources to schools on a needs basis. It is only after addressing these at minimum should the Ministry of Education implement the policy of minimum standards for graduation.

The minister ended his speech by stating that the future of Jamaica was hanging in the balance and that students were not grounded enough and often used violence as a major means of expression. He also said he is worried that our schools are turning out generations of graduates who have not adjusted socially. This is a most worrying trend and it is only by addressing the issues which impact academic performance and behavioural conduct that this trend will be slowed, if not halted.

I am with you on this one, Mr Minister, but just a word of caution: Look before you leap!

Keven Jones is the dean of discipline for Jamaica College. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and kojones55@yahoo.com.