Robinson vows education pathways refocus

Another effort is being promised to tackle the decades-old problem of children in the education system, especially at the early childhood level, not being ready to enter primary school and those circumstances resulting in spiralling numbers of students entering high school unprepared.

A government of the People’s National Party (PNP) will refocus efforts in order to correct the problem by retraining teachers to focus on mastery of literacy and numeracy in the early years and prioritising curricula, said Julian Robinson, opposition spokesman on finance, yesterday.

Robinson’s comments came as he made his contribution to the 2025-2026 Budget Debate in Parliament and represents what would be yet another attempt to fix a long-underperforming system.

“One of the greatest failures of the current Government has been its misallocation of education resources. Instead of pouring money into ineffective ‘pathway’ programmes, the PNP will redirect funding to early childhood and primary education, where it can make the greatest impact,” Robinson told the House of Representatives. “The ability to read, write, and do basic arithmetic is the foundation of productivity in any modern economy. If we fail here, we will continue to see a workforce unprepared for the demands of global competition … .

“Without a strong base in literacy, numeracy, and critical thinking, all other investments in skills training, infrastructure, and industry will fall short. If we do not fix the crisis in basic education, no amount of spending on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), our workforce training will not be enough to propel Jamaica forward,” he stated.

“A PNP Government will ensure that every child leaves primary school fully literate and numerate, implementing national interventions to close the devastating learning gaps left by the pandemic. In this regard, we will review the automatic progression of students who can’t read or write at the required grade level,” Robinson said.

Following Robinson’s presentation, former Education Minister Ronald Thwaites told The Gleaner that it would take a minister with “a true heart” to implement the programmes to benefit the children, and to remove the ‘dunce’ stigma from their heads, in addition to revamping the training for early childhood education teachers.

“A minister with a true heart, and one who ... refuses to acknowledge tacitly that the majority of our children are dunces, which is why we are concerned about them and want them to be better than the way we’re going on now,” Thwaites said. “And the training for early childhood teachers is going to have to be quite radically revamped ... .”

CRITICALLY IMPORTANCE

According to the former minister, the children come into schools with heavy social deficits, noting that much of the school experience is conditioned by the external factors such as parenting, which was critically important. He said a commitment must also be made to feed the children as hunger is the cause of much of the irregular behaviour and inattention.

“They have to be trained to stand in a line, to respect themselves, to respect others, and a whole range of social issues which used to be assumed but which can no longer be ...” he explained.

“Secondly, early childhood education has to be an intense partnership, not an optional one with parents. My view is that the parent has to sign a covenant of co-responsibility with the teacher. And what we are trying to do in our schools now is to have an intense period, maybe two or three weeks. If you want to come to our basic or infant school, you have to come to a summer programme,” Thwaites said.

Schools must learn about the children and their antecedents, including the parents’ ability to feed them properly. He said assessment must be done, and the practice of individuals turning up on school morning with children has to be curtailed.

“You’re going to have to attend a summer school programme before you are accepted into school,” he said.

Dr Faith Alexander, former head of the Education Transformation Unit in the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, said the shifting focus was music to her ears.

“Absolutely, because when you’re building a house, the foundation has to be strong. You cannot build a house on a foundation that is weak. And so students, in early childhood, which I would dare say would go up to first grade, second grade, if those foundational skills are not there, then we face the problems that we have in the seventh grade and in high school because those foundational skills were never developed,” Alexander said in welcoming the position advanced by Robinson.

“So that is a welcome comment to hear, and it will take strong commitment to get it done. It would mean that there has to be some type of fit-for-purpose curriculum, fit-for-purpose training of teachers in the early childhood sector, for these foundational skills, and for the children, to be ready to engage with a regular curriculum,” she explained.

Alexander and retired high school principal Grace Baston are leading the grade-seven academy in two secondary schools to arrest the severe performance deficits in children at that grade level

erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com