The Intersection of Gender, Culture and Education: Jamaica: The Next 50 Years!

Over the years there has been documented proof linking the relationship between economic recession and a declining birthrate. As the Jamaican economy continues to contract we have been witnessing a decrease in birthrate. In 2011 Jamaica had a birthrate of 19.2 births per 1,000, however, a year later in 2012 the birthrate declined to 18.89 births per 1,000. It is very obvious that the society’s recovery and stability hinges not solely on the IMF deal that was signed recently by the government and this international lending agency but more so on a healthy and increasing birthrate. Jamaica is not alone in terms of having a declining birthrate.   In fact the figures are a little better in Jamaica since on average the birthrate is 2.3 children per woman compared to fewer than 2 children per woman in most of Western Europe. In many parts of the world especially in Western Europe, declining birthrates have become a cause for concern. In countries such as Spain and Italy the birthr...

National Heroes Day is here! Those of us with jobs will return to work after the pomp and pageantry associated with yet a further vestige of colonialism.   As is customary on National Heroes Day the Governor General presents national awards and honours at Kings House to those Jamaicans who have contributed to nation building in one way or the other. A nation pauses to remember and pay tribute especially to our seven National Heroes who struggled and fought against the odds for us to have a voice and a role in determining our future. Our national heroes sacrificed a lot, without a doubt some paid with their lives for us to have a better standard of living than what they had. However, the older I get the more I am certain that our political leaders have failed us by still adhering to a model of democracy and governance which have excluded the will of the majority of the Jamaican people from the general decision making process of government. Sadly, our democratic process is one in ...

Across the globe millions of school age children go to school daily without breakfast. Good nutrition, particularly in the first three years of life, is important in establishing a good foundation that has implications for a child’s future physical and mental health, academic achievement, and economic productivity. Although food insecurity is harmful to any individual, it can be particularly devastating among children due to their increased vulnerability and the potential for long-term consequences. In Jamaica, it is estimated that more than thirty (30) per cent or at least three out of every ten children go to school daily without breakfast.   According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 16.7 million children under 18 in the United States live in households where they are unable to consistently access enough nutritious food necessary for a healthy life. Child hunger is fasting increasing globally and in the Jamaican society as the world grapples ...

For many youngsters the training during the summer holidays was well worth the sacrifice since they now have the chance to show off their skills on the field of play. However, far too many of our youngsters continue to struggle with participation in sports and their academic commitment. Gone are those days where colleges and universities would offer scholarship to athletes solely on the basis of their athletic prowess. Colleges and universities are now demanding that athletes have at least a minimum educational standard on which to build a fountain.   Yet despite this reality many of our athletes continue to struggle to attain and maintain a 45 per cent average as outlined by the Inter Secondary Schools Association (ISSA). This sub-standard mark is overly generous by ISSA and the time has come for ISSA to re-visit this 45 per cent mark and set the bar much higher in keeping with the realities of this competitive world in which we live.   We should ask ourselves what measure...

As our political leaders scramble to find solutions to the country’s economic woes we must as a society urge our leaders in education to find ways and means of rescuing our boys who for the most part are sliding into a state of underachievement and underperformance at all levels of the education system. From as early as primary school we see our girls outperforming our boys in all the national examinations, namely the Grade Four Literacy and Numeracy Tests, as well as, the exit examination, the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT).  The crisis affecting our boys is not unique to Jamaica. Other islands of the Caribbean are also experiencing similar issues. Developed societies such as the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Australia are also grappling with the plight of boys, underachievement and how to address the problem. Male underachievement is more a socio-political issue than an educational one.   Social and cultural factors have influence and continue to do so ...

The decision by the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) to revoke the grades of the entire sixth form cohort at Jamaica College who sat the 2013 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Physics Examination (CAPE) is both embarrassing and disturbing and might have caused irreparable damage to Jamaica’s education system. This most unfortunate episode speaks to the glaring lapses within the education system and moral crisis we face as a society. As a result there is now an urgent need for quality assurance measures to be instituted across all levels of the education system from the primary to the tertiary level in order to safeguard Jamaica’s reputation regarding educational outcome. At the same time the Caribbean Examination Council’s judgment should be commended and indeed should be viewed as an opportunity for all stakeholders within the education system to develop standards and means to safeguard the integrity of our examination especially as we move forward in an era transparency and accountab...