The increasingly complex global society demands heightened mental processing to learn, understand and process information from our students, especially if they are to benefit from opportunities that will become available to them. However, our education system cannot remain as it is now and has a tremendous amount of work to do to rise out of its present sluggishness.
Our education system continues to be cruelly exposed in its multiple deficiencies. One of the most serious setbacks of our system is the certification of students at their levels of competence rather than at acceptable standards.
This crisis prevails in the primary schools with the Standard One, Three and SEA assessments. It continues at the secondary school level with the National Certificate of Secondary Education (NCSE) and Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) levels.
It is common knowledge that these examinations do not project standards which ought to be attained by our students. The belief is that these “dumbed down” examinations are meant to camouflage the low performance levels that currently exist among our students across the spectrum. Our education system needs dramatic transformations.
In the education portfolio, the secondary school is a central pillar, as it is expected to train and qualify minds to embrace advanced and tertiary studies. However, there are several impediments to this goal.
Again, it is necessary to note that our primary schools continue to “graduate” students to secondary school with grave deficiencies. However, it is pleasing to note that the Ministry of Education recognises the problems and attempts are being made to rectify these inadequacies. This is one of the biggest strikes against their ability to make use of the opportunity of secondary school education. The standards of performance at our primary schools are contemptible. Students who are unable to achieve a percentage of over 70 per cent in the SEA face serious educational disadvantages when they move on to secondary school.
It is a point of contention among secondary school teachers that primary school teachers are not developing students to the required entry point level that secondary education demands. Primary school teachers are of the view that students who achieve 50 or 60 per cent have “passed”. However, these students are rudely awakened when they enter secondary schools.
There seems to be a high disconnect between primary and secondary schools. Most primary school teachers seem to have no idea or lack the vision to properly prepare students for secondary school education. The levels of academic underpreparedness are causes of grave concern.
There must be teams of inspectors/supervisors who frequently visit all schools in the system and audit each school’s curriculum, performance of teachers, training of teachers, regularity and punctuality of teachers and students, and extra and co-curricular activities. The involvement of administrators and teachers in every aspect of school life must be fully monitored and audited.
It is necessary, as denominational boards do, to subject applicants to the teaching profession to closer scrutiny. Boards do background checks on the moral and ethical qualities of applicants to ensure they are suitable to teach the nation’s children. The Teaching Service Commission must also implement this policy. It is no secret that numerous teachers are unfit for this profession. The end result is aggravated indiscipline.
The Ministry of Education must cease automatic merit increments to teachers based on satisfactory staff reports issued by principals to those who consistently absent themselves from work for more than 14 casual days; the school year consists of 39 weeks. They must satisfy taxpayers by ensuring output and value for expenditure.
Given the lack of accountability and performance in many of the nation’s schools, exams are repeatedly “dumbed down” to deceive the public. In 2024, a total of 14,456 students wrote the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams, of which 6393 students attained five subjects with English and Mathematics. These dismal statistics of over 14,000 students do not indicate the core subjects pass rate - Mathematics 36%, English A 76% in secondary schools.
We continue to be deluded by the 10 per cent achievers who win scholarships without assisting most of the students from a cyclic abyss.
There is no doubt that the Ministry of Education must revamp the curriculum, build the promised technology blocks in schools with a sense of urgency and ensure value for the nation’s money.
If we are to adhere to the desired admission numbers for university education, we must be more diligent in our efforts. The initiative to pursue single sex education, as boards have always done, is to be applauded.
Talk, advertisements and public relations must be accompanied by decisive action.
