Migration is the Jamaican dream

By Jaevion Nelson

THERE IS no secret the Jamaican economy - for a long time now - is in a very bad state. The cost to live on a daily basis keeps increasing while our salaries remain constant. Unemployment is commonplace - particularly among youth and women - and it seems all attention is geared towards creating employment for the unskilled. Things are at an all time low and it seems the most probable option for us is to get the hell out of Jamaica! Of course, these aren't particularly new revelations.

On May 17, my cab driver and I were discussing the state of affairs of our beloved country. He sounded most disheartened as he recounted that in his near 40 years on earth he has never known a time when things were better in Jamaica. All his life, politicians have been telling him to hold on and believe better will come because better must come. Ha! "All now mi cyaan see better. My yute, is like every step mi tek fawud mi haffi tek 10 step back," he said. Things are very difficult, he noted, as he drove up to my doorway. I was unable to find words of encouragement for him. I told him I believe him and that I recall seeing some tweets from a journalist several months ago echoing similar sentiments.

I imagine I might be saying the same thing 50 years from now, when I am 77 years old and 'celebrating' 100 years of independence from Great Britain. And I am most certain hundreds of soon-to-be teachers have already lost hope as a result of Minister Thwaites' recent (and very honest) disclosure that the Government will be unable to employ new teachers this coming academic year. Many of us used to think that this is one of the easiest fallback employment options when all hope is lost. I suppose this is a good time to think about the prime minister's intention to send some science and math teachers to Africa and depend on the remittances they will send to help keep families alive.

But would this make sense when around one-third of all primary-school teachers are not effective at teaching math and only nine per cent of secondary math teachers are qualified to teach grade 10-11 math? As a consequence, only 14 of the 164 secondary schools offer students a 70 per cent or more chance of passing math at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certification. Furthermore, according to 2011/2012 data from Ministry of Education's Annual Schools Census, 75 and 46 per cent of physics and chemistry teachers have no degrees. Can we really continue on the same trajectory Jamaica?

Hopelessness is palpable!

i'd migrate too ...

Jamaica is one of several countries suffering from the mass exodus of highly educated people going abroad. I say suffering because I don't agree with those who say brain drain isn't all bad because some of these people might return to Jamaica and with even more skills. I speculate only a handful return before retirement age. I am in no way satisfied with the over US$2billion that we receive in remittances annually. It's in no way a sufficient return on our commendable investment in education when those who should be here toiling towards Vision 2030 are away. We haven't even managed, despite good intentions, to fully include/involve the diaspora in the grandiose plan to become a world-class country. Their contribution is lost to Jamaica but I can't blame them for leaving. If I had the (right) chance I would too.

Over 30 per cent of secondary and over 80 per cent of university graduates migrate. According to a Gleaner article (December 11, 2007), "some 20 per cent of Jamaica's specialist nurses and eight per cent of its registered nurses leave the island annually [and] appro-ximately 2,000 teachers left the country between 2000 and 2002". This is not unique to Jamaica. According to Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah of Institute for Public Policy Research, "nearly one in 10 tertiary-educated adults (those with some university or post-secondary schooling) born in the developing world - between a third and half of the developing world's science and technology personnel - now live in the developed world." Many of my friends have already left Jamaica and a growing number are desperately seeking ways to leave the island.

Sometime ago, Minister of Youth and Culture Lisa Hanna urged "the country's youth to resist the temptation to migrate to more developed countries; but to remain in Jamaica and assist in the nation's growth and development" (JIS, March 21, 2012). But what should we stay and do? Wallow in our hopelessness, poverty, unemployment and lack of opportunity? It's not by chance that over 57 per cent of youth in households think their life would be better off if they lived in the United States; 52 per cent in Canada and 57 per cent in England (2010 National Youth Survey).

Jaevion Nelson is a youth development, HIV and human rights advocate. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and jaevion@gmail.com.