Crawford: $76 a day not enough

Opposition Senator Damion Crawford has dismissed the Government’s announcement to invest $1 billion in a school breakfast programme, calling it inadequate and politically motivated. He pointed out that the plan, aimed at feeding 69,000 students, amounts to only $76 per student per day over 190 school days.

Crawford, the opposition spokesperson on education, criticised Education Minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon for what he described as a “superficial and uninformed” approach to education reform. He also accused Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness of misrepresenting absenteeism as truancy, arguing that the Government fails to grasp the deeper issues of poverty and deprivation that hinder school attendance.

He said absenteeism is when parents don’t send their children to school, often due to poverty. Truancy is when children skip school on their own. He said the Government’s stance, ““blaming delinquency over deprivation”, does not recognise hindrances such as lack of lunch money and transportation fare, among other issues.

He highlighted that with approximately 440,000 students in the public-school system and over 130,000 on the PATH programme, the breakfast initiative covers only a fraction of those in need. Crawford also cited data indicating that 56 per cent of students face food insecurity.

“And when you break it down, $1 billion divided by 69,000 for 190 days is $76 per child per day,” Crawford said.

He said the minister noted that the money is to purchase food that would supplement 33 per cent of students’ daily caloric requirement.

“There’s no way in Jamaica that $76 can carry the 33 per cent daily caloric necessary for our students. Indeed, it proves, therefore, that this simply is a political announcement seeking to counter the proposals made by the People’s National Party in our Budget presentation,” he said.

Crawford noted that if the People’s National Party forms the next government, it plans to implement a national school meal programme providing a $400 daily budget for nutritious meals sourced from local farmers. The party also proposes a $500 daily transportation subsidy for 20,000 students in need.

Meanwhile, Crawford said for more than nine years, there has been a “pattern of underperformance” in education under the current administration, pointing to the 2024 Primary Exit Profile exams, where over 13,000 students failed to reach proficiency in mathematics and more than 11,000 fell short in English.

“Cumulative for the period 2016 to present, over 95,000 students have not achieved proficiency in mathematics in the last nine years,” said Crawford.

He said Jamaica’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) pass rates have also dropped, noting that in 2015, the average for students achieving five or more subjects, including mathematics and English, was 25.6 per cent. It has since slipped to 18 per cent.

DECREASE IN PASS RATES

“So, therefore, at the end, the collective test of [CSEC] at the end of your school experience in Jamaica, we have seen a seven-percentage point drop since 2015,” the senator said.

“This might sound alarming to many, but if you should look at our literacy results, this has also fallen from 86 per cent in 2015 to 67 per cent in 2024,” he added.

He said the placement of students according to PEP averages creates a disadvantage to those schools but creates an opportunity for targeted intervention.

Literacy rates have also fallen, from 86 per cent in 2015 to 67 per cent in 2024, according to Crawford. He criticised the Ministry of Education for reporting near-total literacy at grade four in 2018 while international assessments, like the 2022 PISA exam, tell a different story. That assessment showed that only one per cent of that same cohort of Jamaican 15-year-olds reached top reading levels while half scored below the minimum global benchmark.

“So what happened between grade 4 and grade 9?” he questioned.

He suggested that there was either a massive learning loss after grade 4 as students were not supported and skills reinforced or the grade 4 literacy results were inflated and misleading, giving the illusion of literacy when comprehension and critical thinking are lacking.

“Either way, the system is failing, and the Government refuses to acknowledge or address it,” he said.

Crawford said the education system needs three levels of immediate intervention.

First, he proposed a systemic overhaul, tackling issues like teacher migration, classroom resources, curriculum alignment, and school funding.

Second, he emphasised the need to strengthen early education to ensure that literacy and numeracy skills are truly mastered.

Finally, he advocated for structured, targeted remedial efforts at the secondary level, including reading recovery and math support.

“This is how we mop up the flood,” he said.

He is proposing, among other things, extended learning and a structured recovery.

He said the traditional school day is no longer sufficient to repair the deep learning deficits students face.

“We must build a framework for structured, extended learning, including morning and evening learning sessions, weekend reinforcement programmes, pull-out classes during regular school hours, and summer remedial camps for high-need students,” he said.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com