We’ve made great strides in education, says veteran
JAMAICA HAS made significant progress in all levels of the education sector since the country gained Independence in 1962, despite shortcomings.
“We’ve come quite far ... . To my mind, there have been far more positives than negatives,” said noted educator James Walsh.
Walsh, who spent 39 years at Brown’s Town Community College,
17 of them as principal, pointed to the tertiary sector as having the greatest gain over the period.
The secondary level has also seen upward movements. An explosion of secondary education institutions in the 1970s meant that a lot more students were able to gain access to education beyond the primary level. Prior to Independence, fewer than 10,000 students were enrolled in 30 traditional high schools spread across the island. Within two decades of Independence, the number of schools had increased to 45, while enrolment jumped to more than 50,000. But there is a fundamental problem, at this level, that needs to be addressed, Walsh believes.
Get your copy of The Gleaner tomorrow to find out what that is and for a deeper assessment of the sector through Walsh’s eyes.