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Linvern Wright, President of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools and Mark Malabver, Principal of Yallahs High School
Stakeholders in the education sector have taken issue with the Education Ministry's approach to implementing the compulsory seven-year education period for secondary students.
The ministry has ordered that, effective this academic year, no graduation ceremonies should be held for fifth-formers as Jamaica transitions to the now-compulsory seven-year secondary education period.
Linvern Wright, President of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools, has said the programme can be beneficial to students if properly managed. However, he noted that some institutions are not equipped to provide the technical education required.
"We know that a lot of the equipment in schools is really not up-to-date, run down," he pointed out, suggesting that this was especially the case for schools that serve "the most vulnerable".
"We are saying, the way it is being done, you're really going to end up where you started," Mr. Wright warned.
He wants the ministry to implement the programme on a phased basis.
Bur Mr. Wright believes more resources and adequate funding are needed for the programme to work.
"Tertiary institutions are going to be guaranteed $60,000, while high schools are going to be (given) $17,000 to offer what really would be kinda tertiary education," he noted.
Furthermore, Mr. Wright said more educators are required to carryout the programmes well, however, he said high schools "are concerned that all the promises being made now [are] just talks as we have had in the initiation of policies in the ministry over the years."
Principal of Yallahs High School in St. Thomas, Mark Malabver, has said he is unclear what to do with students at the end of the current academic year.
Mr. Malabver said his institution is lacking in the availability of space and human resources to accommodate a sixth form programme at this time.
"I think it needs to be clearly planned and executed," he suggested. "Prior to this, we had the CAP programme and it took a while for us to get it right, and as soon as we were about to get it right in terms of working through the nuances, in terms of working through the issues, CAP was pulled," he recalled.
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