Is Jamaica ready for Vision 2030?

Carl Gilchrist/Freelance Photographer

Vison 2030 has set out ambitious goals for Jamaica to achieve. The theme of this vision is 'Jamaica, the place of choice to live, work, raise families, and do business'.

This plan outlines that in order to transform our country, many of us will need to change how we think and view life. It states that, "As a society, we will need to have a shared set of core values which will allow us to achieve Vision 2030 Jamaica." What are these core values? Honesty and truthfulness, respect, trust, forgiveness and tolerance, discipline, punctuality, responsibility, love, compassion, cooperation, national pride, good work ethic. (Values and Attitudes Secretariat, 2002)

There are four goals that are outlined, the first being that Jamaicans are empowered to achieve their fullest potential. The four national outcomes of this goal is to have: 1. A healthy and stable population. 2. World-class education and training. 3. Effective social protection. 4. Authentic and transformational culture.

POSSIBLE OUTCOMES

There are various strategies that have been outlined to achieve these outcomes. The outcome of world-class education and training will be attained by, among other actions, ensuring that every child has access to proper early-childhood development, improving the learning environment at primary and secondary levels, and ensuring that graduates from the secondary level are ready to go on to higher education, training or work.

The Vision 2030 document admits that there are challenges to achieving its goals. These challenges include poor performance of learners, especially boys, at different level of the education system; the need for better-trained education personnel; inadequate parenting; insufficient attention to positive values such as truthfulness and respect for each other and inadequate support for the vulnerable in the society.

The document also gives the reason why the year 2030 was chosen. It states, "By 2030, our children will be adults, and many of us would have joined the ranks of senior citizens. The world is changing around us, and we want to position our country to use these changes to our advantage." It also states, "Our investments in education, particularly early childhood development, will lead to better performance of our children at all levels, and better-qualified and more productive citizens in the future."

All these are laudable goals. The problem is that we are 17 years away from this target and I am faced with a grim reality in many primary schools. The majority of our primary-level children, who will be 23-25 years of age by 2030, are beginning their educational journey with very grave deficits and disadvantages.

Many students enter school with cognitive deficiencies because of the lack of stimulation to develop their visual and motor coordination, among other things. Many are living in homes where there is no one who cares to spend time with them to help them develop these basic skills. They are left on their own, and some are constantly abused. This abuse, in addition to poor nutrition, affects the development of their brains.

Furthermore, many parents lack the positive values and morals that are needed to teach their children so that they can develop to be socially well-adjusted, compassionate, contributing members of the society. Therefore, the efforts to assist with the basic needs of the students, such as clothing, food and shelter, have to be given greater focus. Many students are not registered on Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education because they lack birth certificates. Increased efforts must be made to ensure that we have our children registered at birth.

Anecdotal evidence, however, indicates that although births are now being registered at the bedside in the hospitals, some of the women who do not want to name the fathers slip away from the hospital before the process can be done. This problem needs to be addressed.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Then there are the issues related to the social development of the children who are being reared in homes and communities where adults and parents behave in direct opposition to the core values that have been outlined in Vision 2030. They are violent in dealing with conflict; they steal and are dishonest as a matter of course; they retaliate at the slightest provocation; they show little respect in dealing with others, especially the elderly, children and women; and they want handouts or quick, ready cash, even if it is obtained unlawfully.

Children brought up in such environments are impacted psychologically. Therefore, they go to school and in the event of conflict their first response is to retaliate violently. If they do not have what they need, they find it no challenge to steal what belongs to someone else. They find it difficult to concentrate for any extended period of time. They find it difficult to understand simple instructions.

In the primary schools, many times the classes are large, especially at the lower grades, and teachers are not allocated assistants. Imagine conducting a class with 30-40 children who are behaving the way I have described above? How is effective teaching to take place in this environment?

There are so many schools that need special educators who are trained to assess students who are suspected to have learning challenges. Unfortunately, this is not a policy that the Ministry of Education has. Many schools have to depend on the assessments to be done by MICO Care Centre. They are overwhelmed with the number of applications for such assessments and there is a long waiting list.

Furthermore, guidance counsellors and principals will tell you that even when they make arrangements for MICO Care to come to their schools to do these assessments, many parents are not willing to send the children to be evaluated, whether because they lack the minimum fee or because they are in denial that their child might have a learning difficulty.

This is simply one area that glaringly highlights the difficulties in our attaining Vision 2030. We are a resilient people, but we have become mired in accepting a culture that many times highlights the negative aspects of our nation so that it becomes acceptable.

Vulgarity, 'badmanism', violence, paternal and maternal irresponsibility must become matters at which we become outraged and seek to change, so that our children can be given a fighting chance to indeed be "socially aware and responsible, conscious of what is good for society, committed to a sustainable lifestyle, spiritually conscious and mature, tolerant of diversity, rooted in his/her Jamaican 'smaddiness'" (Task Force on Educational Reform Final Report).

Esther Tyson is an educator. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and esther.tyson@gmail.com.