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

Corruption is the enemy of development and of good governance. It must be got rid of. Both the government and the people at large must come together to achieve this national objective. Pratibbha Patil Jamaica’s education system is at a critical juncture.   Since gaining political independence in 1962, the island has suffered from corruption, a lack of transparency and accountability across all sectors. At the same time the society has experimented with numerous educational policies and reform programmes, however, we have failed to achieve equity for our students with regards to outcomes. In February of 2004, then Prime Minister, PJ Patterson appointed a 14 member task force on educational reform to modernize the island’s education system. The Educational System Transformation Programme (ESTP) emerged in response to the assessment of the performance of Jamaica’s education sector. While we must commend the tremendous work of the Task Force, especially, with regards to the ground breaki

As far as I can remember Jamaicans have had to deal with austerity measures. A significant number of Jamaicans can recall the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP’s) of the 1970’s, resulting from the complex and painful relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which continues even to today. There is a co-relation between poverty and a culture of entrepreneurship. This association between poverty and entrepreneurship has genesis in Jamaica’s folk culture. Cultural icon and scholar, Lousie Bennett Coverley urges us to “tun our hands and make fashion”, however, many of us due to pride refuse from lifting a finger to help ourselves.   A recent study done on the role poverty plays on entrepreneurial activity   by Laura Doering, assistant professor at University of Toronto’s, Rotman School of Management revealed that entrepreneurs are both catalyzed and limited by conditions of poverty. In the same research Jamaica was placed seventh among the countries with the most entrepr

The Intersection of Gender, Culture and Education: Jamaica: The Next 50 Years!: Holistic Approach to Education : “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it”-Aristotle The debate over whether or not clas...

Hypertension or high blood pressure is quite frequently referred to as the silent killer.   Sadly, many of us will not realize that we are hypertensive until it is too late. Each year on May 17, the global community pauses to reflect and commemorate World Hypertension Day (WHD). The first World Hypertension (WHD) was held in 2005. It is estimated that about 70 million Americans adults have high blood pressure.   According to The Jamaican Hypertension Prevalence Study, the island has a point prevalence of hypertension of 30.8% in the 15 and over age group.   It is estimated that nearly a third of all Americans adults have prehypertension which is a condition in which one’s blood pressure numbers are higher than normal, but not in the high blood pressure range. The theme for WHD 2016 is “Know Your Numbers”. We must all be reminded that it is only by getting ourselves checked that we will know our blood pressure.   Blood pressure is measured using two numbers-systolic and diastolic pres

Fire safety and prevention should be everyone’s concern, regardless of the structure of your house or socio-economic status. Last week, a news item on television showed how challenging the job of a firefighter is in the absence of working fire hydrants across Jamaica. A fire hydrant is a connection point by which firefighters can tap into a water supply. In the news item, fire fighters, upon the arrival of the scene of the fire, discovered that the fire hydrant was not in working condition. As a result, their work was severely hampered and house burnt out completely. One can only wonder what if the fire hydrant was working. We need to ask whose responsibility it is for the maintenance of fire hydrants. We need to develop some standards for the safeguarding of the country’s fire hydrants. Fire hydrants can be affected by the regular wear and tear, vandalism and mechanical function. However, years ago, our fire hydrants were regularly serviced which included painting and the greasing of