Prioritize Needs of the 21st Century Learner

“Learning is never lost, though it may not always be “found” on pre-written tests of pre-specified knowledge or preexisting measures of pre-coronavirus notions of achievement.”- Rachael Gabriel, Associate Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Connecticut. The start of each academic year brings with it a buzz of excitement as students, teachers as well as other stakeholders anticipate examination results. Perhaps one of the least known and least anticipated results is that concerning the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).The PISA programme was launched in 1997 and was first administered in 2000. PISA is now administered in over 80 countries including Jamaica. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a triennial international survey which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15 year old students. The PISA assessment examines the extent to which education systems are preparing students to meet life’s challenges. In 2022 Jamaica embraced the opportunity to participate in PISA with a sample of eligible students between 15 years and three months and 16 years and two months. It is expected that a report regarding Jamaica's participation in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) will be ready by January 2024. Given that Jamaica has a number of private high schools; it is logical to ask whether such institutions are included in the PISA evaluation? What is the comparison like for Jamaica as opposed to the wider Caribbean regarding PISA? The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and is administered across skills in reading, mathematics and science. The new assessment, “Learning in the Digital World,” will also measure students’ motivation and regulation while learning digitally. It is important to note that PISA’s new area of assessment surrounding how students engage with digital tools comes amid a dreary backdrop in education. At the start of the pandemic when schools were closed and face to face instruction ended numerous concerns arose regarding how much students were actually learning through the various modalities of online instruction. The concept of learning loss is actually designed to describe declines in knowledge test scores emerging from comparative analysis of standardized test results. According to the United Nations (UN), the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic has wiped out 20 years of education gains. Distressingly, the UN adds that an additional 101 million or 9% of children in grades 1 through 8 fell below minimum reading proficiency levels in 2020. Statistics from the United Nations paints a damming picture: 258 million children and youth still do not attend school; 617 million children and adolescents cannot read and do basic math; less than 40% of girls in sub-Saharan Africa complete lower secondary school and some four million children and youth refugees are out of school. During the height of the COVID19 pandemic, the Ministry of Education and Youth reported that approximately 120,000 primary and high-school students were not attending classes. The Ministry of Education implemented the “Yard-to-Yard, Find the Child Initiative” in order to find students who are still disengaged. The Minister of Education has since reported that the attendance of students have returned to pre-pandemic numbers. The Digital Divide. The Digital Divide is a term that refers to the uneven distribution between demographics and regions that have access to modern information and communications technology, and those that don't or have restricted access. This technology can include the telephone, television, personal computers and the internet. The overwhelming majority of those students who were disconnected from their education during the height of the pandemic had no internet or poor internet service or had no electronic gadgets to log on. Digital inequality is more evident in urban versus rural areas where the hilly terrain can also be a factor regarding poor internet connectivity. Many schools especially in rural areas have suffered tremendously due to internet connectivity issues. Embracing Inclusivity. Recently, the Jamaican government appointed Dr. Dana Morris Dixon, the Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister. Dr. Dixon has direct oversight for Skills and Digital Transformation. During the State of the Nation Debate, Dr. Dixon told the senate that the ongoing roll out of the broadband initiative is at the heart of the digital transformation in Jamaica. The government senator added that the government’s push is to ensure, “no child or person is left behind in access to the most basic tool which is access to the internet.” Since then the government launched the Learning and Investment for Transformation (LIFT) Programme. The programme will provide youth with long-term opportunities for employment and social integration. Under the LIFT programme some 2,500 youth will have access to professional training and job placement over a five-year period. It is estimated that a total of 500 young people fifth and sixth form with financial needs and aged 17 years and older are to be targeted each year for five years. In order to apply for the LIFT programme, persons must have two character references and three Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects, which must include mathematics and English language. This is problematic in at least two ways. In the first instance how many of our students pass both Mathematics and English Language at the CSEC level? Secondly, given that some students do not sit the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examinations but might have done and have passes in both Mathematics and English Language in City and Guilds; why exclude those students? This again speaks to the inequalities within the education system many of which have been exacerbated since the pandemic. Perhaps this stipulation can be revisited to see how best we can accommodate all students to be part of the LIFT programme. Recovering Learning. The Education Commission and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in their Recovering Learning report stated that only around 1 in 4 of the world’s young people are on track to learn the skills they need to get a job either through education, employment or training. The report further states that with high rates of out-of-school young people and low attainment of secondary-level skills, countries worldwide are facing a skills crisis, with the majority of youth unprepared to take part in today’s workforce, the report notes. The report asserts that deep disparities across countries and among those from the poorest communities are increasing inequalities. In at least 1 in 3 low-income countries with available data, more than 85 percent of young people are off-track in the secondary-level, digital, and job-specific skills attainment. The 2019 Global Competitiveness Report ranks Jamaica 93rd out of 141 on digital skills among the country’s active labour market. The LIFT is rather timely. However, the policy crafters and implementers should ensure that no barriers are in place that can lead to frustration or exclusion of potential candidates. Clearly, there needs to be a greater role for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) to address youth unemployment in our society. We need to move away from the perceived biases towards TVET. Given how many of our schools are structured the education system is not conducive to exposing our students enough to transferable skills including life skills and socio-emotional skills; digital skills that will allow them to be ready for easy transition into the workforce. As we move forward into The Fourth Industrial Revolution it is important that the society implements a more robust and inclusive system that embraces digital safety in order to cater to the needs of the 21st century learner. In the words of Friedrich Huebler, Head of UNESCO, at a time when the world of education and work is undergoing fundamental changes, we must re-imagine our education systems and position the learner at the core of the transformation process. Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. waykam@yahoo.com @WayneCamo © #PISA #digitallearning #Jamaica #OECD