EDUCATOR AND businessman Dr. Ralph Thompson continues to provide the society with a useful perspective in his analyses of students' and schools' performance in external examinations.
The gravamen of his latest findings of the 2004 exams, as was reported in last Sunday's Gleaner, is that the Ministry of Education and some schools do themselves and the society a disservice, by enagaging in statistical manipulation that obfuscates the under-performance of students as a whole. The Ministry of Education, through its spokesperson, Dorret Campbell, has conceded as much, noting a recent policy shift in calculations to give a more accurate report of student performance.
Clearly, Dr. Thompson's intention and that of others who have examined the issue, is not to engage in data study as an end in itself but rather to challenge policy makers and school administrators to examine what they are doing, how they are doing it, and to take corrective action where necessary.
So while the ranking of schools by performance may satisfy some egos or help to encourage an elitist sense of superiority among persons associated with better-performing institutions, the Government, as policy maker, has to develop and implement a more holistic approach to addressing our current education crisis.
The challenges have to be addressed as much in the areas of teacher training, students and staff indiscipline, course content, teaching methods and remuneration. The problem confronting the society at present goes beyond a waste of resources as reflected in thousands of students spending five years in secondary schools and emerging semi-literate or poorly read, and failing most of their exams. There are implications for the country's productivity and competitiveness in a fast-changing world and globalised economy.
The absence of a trained and trainable workforce simply means the absence of investment and economic growth in the immediate and medium term and prolonged poverty in the long run. The social implications of having a vast army of unemployed and unemployable youth are already clear for us to see in the growing waves of criminality.
Dr. Thompson has been championing his vision for a greater emphasis on and funding for early childhood education. It is a vision we have endorsed and continue to support. But the chronic problems at the secondary level can't wait for reform of the early childhood system and for that to work itself through the education system.
For example, why is it that so many students who enter high schools at age 11 or 12, demonstrating much promise, falter to the great extent they do? Is it in the teaching methodology, curriculum relevance, rampant indiscipline among staff and teachers? Anecdotal testimony and studies suggest a combination of all of the above.
There has to be tighter management of our schools and the enforcement of discipline, and this must be done with backing of parent-teacher organisations and school boards. Decent remuneration has to be offered to teachers to attract and keep the better ones and the Ministry has to revise its code of discipline to allow for easier removal of the lazy and the incompetent ones.
The future of our country demands that we stop paying lip service to the crisis and treat it with the seriousness it warrants.
