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

"Discrimination has a lot of layers that make it tough for minorities to get a leg up". Bill Gates In light of the recommendation by the Office of the Public Defender that St. Hilda’s Diocesan High School reinstate Jade Bascoe as head girl after investigations revealed that her rights were infringed, it bear thought whether or not the rights of other Jamaican students have been abused in the past. The education system has many minority groups. We live in a society where the voices of those who are labelled as different are rarely heard. Apart from Jehovah Witnesses we also have students who are Seventh Day Adventist and Rastafarians. Are the rights of those students being infringed upon regarding their involvement in sports or any other school related activity? As far as I know, Sundays are not included in the regular scheduling of sporting events, such as, the Manning and daCosta Cup football competitions. The Inter- Secondary School Sports Association (ISSA) i

It is out of sheer ignorance that I pen this letter to enquire of my learned colleagues to share with me and the wider society any research in any discipline where there is a co-relation between female students wearing long uniforms and increase educational outcomes. For all practical purposes having a skirt 11 inches below one’s knee is not practical on many grounds. In the first instance the fabric of many school uniform is made from polyester gabardine and with a tropical marine climate such as that of Jamaica these uniforms become extremely hot during the course of the day. Let us be reminded that for the most part Jamaican classrooms are not air-conditioned. Secondly, why should female students be forced to wear formal wear to school? Yes, formal wear. The length of some of these uniforms mimics those of haute couture gowns which are only worn to formal occasions. Having an uniform eleven inches below the one,s knee has nothing to do with education. We need to ask ourselves the q

Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. Malcolm X There is a currently an advertisement on local television which is endorsed by the Ministry of Education which uses popular comedians Icy and Fancy Fat to highlight the importance of mathematics education in the general society. However, while this is commendable given the general fear of mathematics that a significant number of Jamaican students have this has done very little to curb the high attribution rate of teachers of Mathematics across the island. Given the low remuneration of teachers, and the general poor working conditions those teachers who specialize in Mathematics education are in high demand and are being enticed to leave the noble profession. Additionally, the high levels of indiscipline among students in which teachers have been verbally and physically abused is also another factor which is contributing to the exodus of teachers of Mathematics especially to more

Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself-John Dewey School safety is the foundation on which the teaching and learning process is embedded. Jamaica has had and continues to have a serious problem with crime and violence. We live in a violent society and the violence we experience daily has slowly crept into our schools and classrooms. Many Jamaicans have had to install surveillance cameras and grills in their homes to give them an added level of protection and peace of mind in the midst of the growing levels of violence. Notwithstanding this, our schools and by extension our classrooms have not been immune to what happens in the wider society where crime and violence is ever increasing. On Tuesday, October 6, 2015 my life changed in a drastic way. At approximately 1 pm I was in a grade 9 class teaching. During the lesson I was hit in my left ear by an object which based on where I was standing was fired from a student from the class. My back was turned to the cl