Principal calls for transparency in PEP placements

 

President of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools (JAPSS), Linvern Wright, has accused the Ministry of Education of not being truthful about how Primary Exit Profile (PEP) placements are really determined. 

 

Mr. Wright is calling for transparency in the selection process as too many parents and students were left confused and disheartened following the release of the 2025 results last month. 

 

He said the Education Ministry should clearly explain what students school choices really mean amid growing frustration among parents and educators about the mismatch between preferred schools and final placements. 

 

"I think the Ministry of Education needs to clarify what 'choice' means to these parents because the fact is that I think students are given a ranking of the top choices, I think one to five or one to seven. Now, if you don't get one or two and you get three or four or five, you could argue that the person got the choice. But I think it's a kind of disingenuous technicality that the ministry uses to have people feeling that they're getting their choices. You know that this is something that is not working out when you see a number of people going to different schools to get their children away from those schools," he argued.  

 

Mr. Wright said the placement process is a representation of Jamaica's segregated education system. 

 

"A thoughtful Education Ministry will use research to deal with this. Good research tells you that if a child has gaps in learning, you put them in institutions and you and give them the resources and give them the quality teaching that is going to help them. That's hardly happening in our education system. What happens is that we put them where there's a tradition of them not doing well and we brand them, and so you hear about 'failing' schools and you hear about 'high-performing' schools," he reasoned.