The educational pivot - part 1

This is the first of a two-part series on education.

The development needs of children are mostly, but not exclusively, educational. Throughout the centuries of enslavement, education of children was considered to be counterproductive to the strategic necessity of keeping slaves ignorant and subjugated. Even the few missionary churches, principally Baptists, which provided education for literacy, mostly directed their efforts to adult slaves.

When emancipation dawned, the progeny of freed slaves were completely unschooled, creating a mammoth problem of how to introduce education for many thousands of students in various age groups. The few schools which existed restricted enrolment to the white population, excluding Jews, children of mixed races and free blacks. Gradually, in later years, access was given to these groups.

Limiting education to selected categories of children was in keeping with the colonial policy to educate a creole middle class who could then be used to take over middle-level functions of the colony and provide commercial activity, administrative and professional services without threatening the ruling elite. Former slaves would be expected to provide labouring work even after emancipation, in order to ensure the needs of the plantation.

The construction of primary schools which would provide basic education for children of the freed slaves did not begin until the appointment of Governor Sir John Peter Grant, replacing the despised Governor Sir Edward Eyre who was recalled in disgrace after presiding over the massacre of the 'rebels' of the Morant Bay Rebellion in 1865.

It was in 1957 that the elected government of the People's National Party became involved in the education of children of the poor. Dr Ivan Lloyd, minister of education, announced that the prevailing system of education was dysfunctional and in need of streamlining to create a smooth passage from primary to secondary schools.

Secondary schools at the time held their own entrance examinations which enabled children of parents with means to 'buy' entry in the event of failure to gain access by merit.

To overcome this, a Common Entrance Exam (CEE) was introduced in 1957 which would select successful entrants on merit only. The 1957 education policy declaration was aimed at broadening the range of students entering secondary schools, particularly among those who were unable to afford the fees. According to Dr Ivan Lloyd, apart from the few scholarships made available by the government, prior to 1957 (130 free-places in a total secondary school population of 10,000) "those who went to secondary schools were those who could afford to" (Ministry Paper No.10, 1947). The main objective of this policy was to award free places to all students, who had achieved a minimum standard in the CEE and for whom places could be found in high schools, irrespective of the means of their parents.

The result of the CEE was vital to selection irrespective of whether the students originated from fee-paying preparatory schools or government free primary schools.

However, the result did not match the expectation or intent. By 1961, 20,000 students were sitting the CEE. Of that total, only 978, or 46 per cent of 2,133 free places to secondary schools were won by students attending primary schools, while 1,155 or 54 per cent from preparatory schools received awards. Analysis of these results indicated that only one in 86 students from primary schools had a chance of winning a free place as compared to one in four students from preparatory schools. Obviously, there was a serious problem here.

Edwin Allen, minister of education in the Jamaica Labour Party government elected in 1962, saw the problem of disproportionate entries which militated against children from poorer homes. To adjust this, Allen announced a policy which reserved 70 per cent of the free places to secondary schools for students from primary schools who were successful in passing the minimum standard in the CEE; the remaining 30 per cent was allotted to students from private schools.

increased ratio

Notwithstanding the much larger number of free places which then became available as a result of the increased ratio for entrants from primary to secondary schools, there were some other formidable problems to overcome:

because of the inadequate number of schools, and hence, school places, only a minority of primary school graduates were able to be placed in the secondary school system

there was a lack of aptitude for secondary education among the majority of primary school students who gained access to the expanded secondary school system

the cost of education at the secondary level was largely unaffordable to poor parents.

It was obvious that a considerable increase in secondary school accommodation would be necessary if all eligible students from primary schools were to gain entrance. This problem was noted in a UNESCO report on Jamaica's education system in 1964. This issue had to be resolved for other reforms to be effective.

Edwin Allen introduced a sweeping plan for education reforms in 1966 which he titled 'New Deal for Education in Independent Jamaica'. He announced an agreement with the World Bank to construct 50 new secondary schools to augment the existing 47 schools at secondary level; 40 primary schools by the end of 1967 and an increase in the annual output of trained teachers from 350 to 1,000 by 1969. This was the first project of the World Bank in secondary education anywhere. By more than doubling the number of secondary places, this would considerably increase the enrollment into secondary schools.

The next hurdle was even more difficult. The great majority of those students who gained access to the secondary schools were not equipped academically to benefit from education at this level. They were nonetheless admitted into the new schools. These new schools were named junior secondary schools to indicate the difference in standards.

The expectation was that with the passage of time, there would be improvement in quality which would raise the substandard levels of the students. This improvement would be measured by the results of the graduates from these schools through standardised school-leaving exams.

The final obstacle was the unaffordable cost to children of the poor.

free education

In 1973, in his budget presentation to the House of Representatives, Michael Manley triumphantly announced the introduction of free education which closed the circle of providing education for children of the poor.

The main features of the circle were education which was:

accessible on merit (Ivan Lloyd)

fully accessible in terms of the increased number of places for primary school students in secondary schools, after doubling the number of schools (Edwin Allen)

affordable for the poor (Michael Manley).

This final intent fitted in with the announced intention of then ruling PNP government in which the centrepiece of the social programmes which were to be implemented was "free education".

But Manley was not in a position to make this far-reaching announcement in his budget presentation of 1973. The cost and planning had not yet been worked out by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education. But he was greatly belittled by my attack on the budget in 1973 presented by David Coore, the first of his new government, in which I dissected and shredded its contents. To recover ground, he summoned both ministers of education and finance and stunned them with his decision to make his announcement immediately in the debate. As a consequence, the cost of education of this unplanned and impetuously announced education programme jumped from $47,750,000, which was the cost in the previous year (1972-1973), to $209,000,000, an increase of more than four times in its first full year.

This huge increase sopped up most of the additional funds received from the recently negotiated bauxite levy, prejudicing the financial viability of the other social programmes, many of which, as a result, failed due to insufficient financing. The free education programme, as a consequence, became a noble idea which started off on the wrong foot.

(Part 2 next week).

Edward Seaga is a former prime minister. He is now the pro-chancellor of UTech and a distinguished fellow at the UWI. Email: odf@uwimona.edu.jm or columns@gleanerjm.com.