Cedric Wilson - Guest Columnist

If the production of good policy documents ensured progress, Jamaica would have abolished poverty, illiteracy and the whole list of socio-economic maladies long time ago. We are incredibly talented at coming up with policies that are far-sighted and profound, but we are even more adept at putting them aside to accumulate cobweb and dust. Jamaicans have never lacked the capacity for conception; it is with regard to implementation that we have consistently fallen short. Our problem is generally not with analyses, it is just that we perpetually fall victim of a bewildering paralysis afterwards.

The Government's White Paper on Education, 'The Way Upwards,' is only one step away from becoming policy. For the most part, it is an excellent document. The lucidity of the language, the relevance of its mission, the identification of critical minimum targets, the delineation of the role of the key stakeholders and the outlining of the key considerations that were factored into the equation are impressive. But will it merely become a policy that will not translate into meaningful action for the average man? Or is the Government seriously committed to it?

Rationalisation of secondary education

One of the objectives of the Ministry of Education and Youth is the rationalisation of secondary education. According to the white paper, this is "to ensure equity and high quality across the board for all students." This objective is critical since hidden in the structure of the secondary system is a mechanism which perpetuates a social bias.

The secondary system, simply put, comprises the traditional high, the technical and the new secondary schools. Unfortunately, this mix reflects a glaring disparity in access to secondary education. And inevitably, this results in an unacceptable level of inequity in the outcome in the ninth-grade examinations.

Plato was incredibly visionary. More than 2,300 years ago, he advocated universal education. He considered it necessary for order in the society. In his famous work, The Republic, Plato argued that there are three types of people in the society. Some are gold - these are the people who should rule. The second class are silver - these are the executive aides, the bureaucrats and military offices of the state. The third class was brass and iron, which formed the majority of the people at the base of the society. All of these classes, from Plato's point of view, are necessary for the proper functioning of the society. The only threat that may be imposed on the stability of the society occurs when the brass and iron people, or even the silver men, usurp the people of gold and attempt to rule. "For an oracle says that when a man of brass and iron guards the state, it will be destroyed." In Plato's scheme, it is the educational achievement of an individual over a period of 10 to 30 years that should determine a man's class.

Plato's metaphor of metals

In a sense, Plato's metaphor of metals is applicable to the existing secondary school system. The traditional high may, therefore, be seen as an institution for the people of gold; the technical high for the silver people; and, the brass and iron people belong to the new secondary schools.

But here is where the existing system deviates from Plato's ideal. For Plato, the class of a man is ultimately determined after a rigorous process of sifting and examination at the end of three junctures of the education system. However, under the prevailing secondary school system, this determination (with a few notable exceptions) is made at the stage a child enters a secondary school. There is a strong correlation between the school a child attends and his socio-economic circumstances.

Clearly, one of the principal roles of education is the transmission of the values of the society. It, therefore, may be argued that the existing secondary school system is effectively transmitting the values of a rigidly stratified society which does not provide adequate opportunity for mobility for the people at the base of the society. Consequently, there is a connection between the equity of access to education and the country's prospect for development.

Addressing the imbalance

Indeed, it is laudable that the white paper has identified a number of strategies to address this imbalance. The strategies include a reform programme directed at the implementation of a common curriculum for grades seven to nine. This is to be reinforced by the upgrading of the teaching staff, the enhancement of general facilities, as well as placing greater emphasis on learning materials and equipment. But all this should be acted on quickly. Of course, there will always be the challenge of the budget and competing social investments, but this is a big development issue. What is needed now is to move this idea beyond the realms of policy and flesh it out in a plan that identifies clear targets, practical deadlines and plausible resource allocation.

Plato's idea of universal education was a magnificent dream which was far removed from the realities of his times. The society that Plato lived in had not attained the level of productivity and the volume of output required to support a programme of that size and scope. In contrast, creating greater equity of access and outcome in the secondary education system in Jamaica is achievable. And undoubtedly, this is for our good. But is there the political will? Is there tenacity at the highest level of government to see it through? Is this white paper the road map for "the way upward" or will it simply go the way of so many other policies?

Cedric Wilson is an economics consultant who specialises in market regulations. Send your comments to: conoswil@hotmail.com.