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

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”- St. John 14:27. We live in world where conflicts, war and strife are ever present. We have all seen the images on television and social media in many parts of the world such as the Tigray Region of Ethiopia, Syria, Yemen, and Afghanistan where peace is just an illusion. However, one does not need to look to faraway places to see the results of conflicts, in our own backyard we have the statistics as listed below which indicate how violent we are and have become over the years. Jamaica's snail's pace justice system also contributes to a culture of jungle system and reprissal killings as victims of crime and violence seek justice outside of the formal system. Alarmingly, for a country of under 3 million people Jamaica has over 370 gangs, of which 262 are active. This statistics was revealed by a senior law enforcement official r...

“We need to ask why women are relegated to lower-paid work; why professions that are female-dominated have lower salaries – including jobs in the care sector; why so many women work part-time; why women see their wages decrease with motherhood while men with children often enjoy a salary boost; and why women hit a ceiling in higher-earning professions.”- UN Secretary-General, António Guterres. We have been socialized to accept many of society’s social ills as gospel. Those of us who dare to question the discriminatory practices of human socialization are more often than not ostracized. It takes a community to bring about real and lasting changes to the systemic and structural discriminatory practices which have been the foundation of many societies over the centuries. Historically, these unfair practices are implemented to keep women subdued and subjected to men in an ideology steeped in patriarchy as well as sexism. Patriarchy is defined in the International Encyclopedia of Human Geog...

“You can dance in a hurricane, but only if you are standing in the eye.”- Brandi Carlile. Do you remember Hurricane Gilbert? If you do I am sure you have a story or two to share. September 12, 1988 was an unforgettable day for Jamaica. 1988 was a memorable year in more ways than one; it was my first time travelling. My dad had promised me a trip to Canada if I passed my Common Entrance Examinations. The Common Entrance Examination was done to place students in a secondary school. This examination was done in grades 5 and 6; however, students who were born in the last four months had three chances to sit this national assessment. It was very common in those days for parents to use incentives or rewards in order to motivate their children to excel. I visited Canada that summer and spent time with my Aunt Carter and her family as well as Cousin Valerie and her family. I met my Aunt June and Aunt Grant as well. Sadly, both Aunts Carter and Grant and Cousin Valerie have passed. I had a wo...

“Literacy is not a luxury; it is a right and a responsibility. If our world is to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century we must harness the energy and creativity of all our citizens.” - President Bill Clinton. We live in an age of heightened uncertainty; our lives have been upended since the arrival of the novel coronavirus which has caused the biggest disruption to the education of millions of children across geographical borders and governments. It is debatable regarding to what extent we will be able to quantify the learning loss being experienced by many students across the globe as the pandemic continues to negatively impact lives and learning outcomes of our students. Literacy lays the foundation for accessing a quality education and lifelong learning. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO, defines literacy as the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associ...