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The E-Learning High School Project in Jamaica and its effects on Students’ Attainment at the end of Compulsory Schooling
(2022) Pitter, Granville William
Integrating ICTs into schools is important in educational reform worldwide. Several studies have been published about e-learning and ICTs' effectiveness in the classroom and by extension on high stakes school leaving examinations. Despite the implementation of e-learning projects in developing countries such as Jamaica, a significant number of projects used different measures to determine goal achievement. This study evaluated the effects of the E-Learning High School Project Pilot (e-LHSPP) on students’ attainment at the end of compulsory schooling. A total of 68 schools, 26 pilots, and 42 other schools were included in the study. Administrative archival quantitative indirect data and documents were collected from the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC), Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC), the Ministry of Education, and other government agencies in the piloted subjects of English language, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, and Information Technology. An evaluative research design using a quantitative approach with indirect data and pre-existing administrative archival documents as data was used in the document analysis. The quantitative analysis results revealed that the e-LHSPP showed very small increases in students’ performance of less than 1 average GPA point in mathematics, chemistry, and Information Technology in 2009 and chemistry and Information Technology in the spillover year 2010. The results for both years were not statistically significant and the effect sizes for each of the subjects were small. The document analysis produced five themes which are (1) Technological support for success, (2) Key stakeholders' involvement and outcome, (3) Institutions' contribution to the eLHSPP, (4) Supervision of the project, and (5)The resources available to the eLHSPP. The supervision of the e-LHSPP at all levels needed improvement, the ICT equipment, for the most part, was adequate but there were shortcomings in student preparation, administrative inefficiencies between agencies, ICT integration training for teachers, and online access to educational databases.
It takes a village to raise a child: School, family, and community involvement in high schools in Jamaica
(2022) McPherson, Marisa Alicia
Research indicates that schools that involve the family and community in a mutual and collaborative relationship are generally more successful. This relationship is endorsed by all stakeholders as a launchpad to boost the academic performance of children, increase school retention, motivate students, and strengthen families and communities. However, despite the compelling case for school, family, and community involvement, there is relatively little empirical evidence documenting its merits (practice and subsequent outcomes) in developing countries including Jamaica. A qualitative case study of four Jamaican high schools was employed to document the merits of school, family, and community involvement, and data was collected using interviews, observations, and document reviews. Epstein’s Theory of Overlapping Spheres of Influence and six typologies of school, family, and community involvement helped guide the research to facilitate the comparison of the ways in which schools that have been ranked high and low- performing by the National Education Inspectorate, Jamaica involve the family and community. The research looked at the strategies schools used, the possible outcomes of this involvement, and the challenges faced. The study offers a revised theoretical framework of Epstein’s model applicable to the Jamaican context and, potentially, to similar developing countries. Key findings reveal that both high and low-performing schools experience challenges in involving the families and communities, but the high-performing schools are intentional and make school, family, and community involvement a priority. The high-performing schools have strong leadership, and their involvement programmes are multidimensional and linked to particular areas of engagement. These schools exude an atmosphere of positivity and ii commitment to the process; they are student-focussed; they build relationships, collaborate, and form partnerships with stakeholders; and family and community involvement is a schoolwide initiative. This led the schools to experience the greatest overlap with the family and community based on Epstein’s theory. In addition, this study shows that leadership is crucial to the success of a school, family, and community involvement programme. Therefore, it is proposed that leadership be embedded at the centre of Epstein’s model. This research provides some benchmarks for further similar studies in Jamaican or international school settings, especially in developing countries, and provides critical information for families, teachers, policymakers, and school officials attempting to design and implement family and community involvement initiatives. The study also identifies key implications for further research, policy, and practice for education policy planners. Keywords: school, family and community involvement, school and family involvement, school and community involvement, low-performing schools, high-performing schools, high school, Jamaica.
Principles of higher education institutions in postcolonial Barbados: A study using life history as a decolonizing methodology
(2016-06) Butcher-Lashley, Jean
Life stories of indigenous or colonized peoples can be located within a decolonizing agenda. Our biographies can influence our professional life. However, if not contextualized or examined against the social, political, cultural or whatever context from which they originate, our biographies and life stories can be disempowering and assist in ‘fortifying patterns of dominance’ (Goodson, 2013, p. 5). I take a decolonizing life history approach to explore the biographies of Barbadian higher education principals working at particular times within the island’s recent history from the period 1987 to the present. This approach allows me to see how the stories of principals are set within a colonial, sociohistorical, political context imbedded with the meta-narratives of a colonial hegemony still in existence within a Barbadian context. In various ways this affected the way principals functioned in the professional sphere. It may therefore be necessary to include in training programmes, space for principals or persons in leadership positions to reflect on their life experiences and to attempt to contextualize those life experiences.
Barbados’s Trident: A Multipronged Approach to Combatting Childhood Obesity through Advocacy, Policy, and Education
(2024-02) Dumé, Gabrielle; Sullivan, Megan T.; Syed, Adib A.; Vij, Pritika; Wang, Yufeng; De Souza-Kenney, Leanne
The focal point of the Barbadian Flag, the trident, is said to represent a break away from British colonialism, with the three spokes symbolizing the creation of a government of, by, and for the people. In 2007, against a backdrop of the increasing presence of noncommunicable diseases, the Caribbean community convened at the Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago to produce a declaration directly targeted at combatting and preventing such diseases. Barbados has one of the highest levels of commitment to this declaration. This report details the manner in which Barbados was able to achieve success in combatting childhood obesity by using a “trident” of advocacy, policy, and education as well as the challenges it has and will face in the process. We explore Barbados’s multifaceted approach to combatting childhood obesity and describe the contributors to childhood obesity, initiatives undertaken to combat it, barriers to the success of these initiatives, and strategies for future implementation. Holistic, cross-sectoral, and people-centric policymaking have been crucial to the country’s approach, made possible by an active partnership between government and civil society organization.
Unearthing how Jamaican secondary students have made sense of the traditional meanings of academic performance and academic success
(Taylor and Francis, 2024-06-26) Keshinro, Khummit; Tissot, Cathy; Foley, Catherine
The Caribbean Examinations Council data from 2011 to 2021 for the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) Council (2011–2021) shows many Jamaican secondary students failing to pass the Mathematics and English examinations. Discussions on the failings have focused on adults’ views, excluding student’s voices. This study sampled twelve 15–16-year-old rural Jamaican secondary students to hear their understanding and interpretation of academic performance and success and how these terms should be defined. A convenience sample and an interpretivist paradigm within a social constructionism framework were applied. Data was collected using photovoice, audio journaling, one-on-one interviews, and focus group discussion; a focus coding technique was used to find themes and present the findings. The data showed participants understood the definitions of the terms but interpreted them as stereotyping labels that adversely impacted many students’ performance and post-secondary success. The findings underscore the importance of hearing students’ voices to better understand academic outcomes.
REACH for Excellence: Guiding motto for the reform of education in Jamaica
(2021) Jamaica Education Transformation Commission
This item is a guiding motto for the reform of education in Jamaica with focus on results, equity, accountability, coherence, and harmonization.
The Handbook on Caribbean Education
(Information Age Publishing Inc., 2021) Blair, Eleanor J.; Williams, Kenneth A.
In the first two sections, the contributors focus on the teaching and learning process: the relationship between teacher and student. This is, of course, “where the rubber meets the road.” Thomas, Roofe, Bailey, and Bennett (Chapter 5) bemoan the unnecessarily massive focus on high stakes testing in Jamaican schools. Bissessar, in Chapter 2, compares professional development for teachers in Grenada, Guyana, and St. Eustatius. One recommendation from Bissessar’s work is that teachers should play a larger role in determining topics for professional development sessions. This recommendation is consistent with my own experience teaching in Colombia and in Jamaica, where my students, many who are schoolteachers, complain about not having a significant role in determining the content of the professional development in which they are required to participate. In the only chapter in the volume focused on early childhood education (Chapter 8)—an extremely important area—Kinkead-Clark offers a status report on early childhood education in the Caribbean, stressing the need for such programs to be more culturally responsive—a topic to which I shall return. In a very different type of discussion, Morrison and Steele, in Chapter 9, explore childrearing practices of Jamaican immigrants in the United States. In Section III, the focus shifts to the all-important relationship between the culture of each nation state and the education that evolves therefrom. Bowe and Johnson (Chapter 11) describe a collaboration with the Bahamian Ministry of Education aimed at better understanding parental involvement, including parental interest in the education of their children. In a powerful chapter (Chapter 12), Dennis urges the reader to reflect on the significance of taking advantage of local knowledge practices to utilize and internalize current information in Trinidad and Tobago. She calls on the reader to acknowledge what the Akan people of Ghana term, Sankofa, that speaks to the significance of going back to learn from the past to more effectively move into the future. (The direct translation is go back and get it.) In Section IV, the authors focus on the challenges and potential for STEM education in the various countries highlighted therein. Jackman-Ryan, in Chapter 18, notes that while girls do better in STEM areas in high schools in Trinidad and Tobago, due in part to their low self-esteem, they continue to be underrepresented in Trinidadian and Tobagoan tertiary institutions. The author cites several causes for this truism, including youth being socialized into gendered roles from early childhood. The foci of the first four sections each speak to current circumstances in one or more countries in this region of the world. In the fifth and final section, the focus shifts, appropriately so, to reflections on what implications the past and the present suggest for the future of education in this part of the world. The contributors look at several key issues including the implications of global citizenship in the Caribbean. Allert (Chapter 21) cautions Caribbean leaders to be aware of the disconnect between the educational leadership in these countries and the increasing emphasis— even prior to COVID-19—on online learning. Endicott, in Chapter 23, addresses the need to dismantle neoliberalism in Haiti. Jules and Arnold (Chapter 24) explore how education influences notions of Caribbean citizenship. In Chapter 25, Pluim and Stewart urge us to rethink current European-centered notions of global citizenship, taking into consideration geographical context, culture and life experiences. In Chapter 26, McIntyre-McCullough, Seupersad, and Warmington-Granston stress the importance of one’s native language in instruction. This conception of global citizenship, as it is presently constructed, the authors would suggest, encapsulates White supremacy and White privilege, exacerbating obstacles to development in the Caribbean.
PISA 2022 Results: Factsheets Jamaica
(2023) The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) assesses the knowledge and skills of 15-year-old students in mathematics, reading and science. The tests explore how well students can solve complex problems, think critically and communicate effectively. This gives insights into how well education systems are preparing students for real life challenges and future success. Jamaica participated for the first time in PISA in 2022. By comparing results internationally, policy makers and educators in Jamaica can learn from other countries’ policies and practices.
Overcoming Unprecedented Challenges
(2020-07-28) Jamaica. Minister of Education, Youth and Information
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the Ministry’s work in a big way by causing major adjustments in school operations. Face-to-face teaching was suspended and the Ministry’s budget had to be re-aligned. The national and exit exam schedules had to be postponed and new protocols and practices were introduced for remote teaching and learning as well as interaction on school campuses. Amid all this disruption, the Ministry’s team, our principals, teachers, and parents rose to the challenge and responded in creative ways to allow for the continuing education of our 578,312 students.
Implementation Strategy and Action Plan to Promote a STEM Education, Innovation and Employment Program for Barbados - Final Report
(2016-09-05) Caribbean Science Foundation
The specific objectives of this consultancy, carried out by the Caribbean Science Foundation (CSF), were to review the current status of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education and STEM-related employment in Barbados, and establish a comprehensive Blueprint for a STEM education, innovation and employment program for Barbados. The review of the current status of STEM education and STEM-related employment in Barbados comprised a survey of about one hundred Barbadians from several different sectors. The major recommendations of the STEM Blueprint incorporate perspectives from respondents to the survey. This STEM Blueprint addresses Pillar 5 of the Barbados Human Resource Development (HRD) Strategy which has a primary goal of promoting research, entrepreneurship, and innovation in primary through tertiary education with a view to increasing the number of STEM-based small and medium size enterprises (SME) contributing to economic growth. Whereas Barbados has in the past invested a considerable amount of its GDP in supporting micro and SME development, the results have not led to significant changes in the economic development of the country. Unemployment remains at very high levels. This Blueprint lays out the challenges, proposes a strategy, and makes a set of specific recommendations for implementation to promote STEM education and STEM-related employment in Barbados. In particular, the Blueprint points out that expansion and diversification of the private sector is key. It recommends both attracting and home-growing more technology-based companies, removing unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles and creating a more business friendly environment, and reforming STEM education at all levels to increase the number of young people pursuing STEM-related careers. To assist the Government with the planning and implementation of this private-sector expansion and diversification strategy, the Blueprint recommends the formation of a Science and Engineering Advisory Board (SEAB) for Barbados, with membership comprising international and Caribbean experts in science, engineering and business. The chairman of the SEAB would report directly to the Prime Minister.
Education and training policy and strategy
(2017) Caribbean Development Bank
The CDB developed a strategy premised on improved quality of education in BMCs, leading to increased learner outcomes producing a qualified, capable and representative workforce of diverse individuals, to reduce poverty and achieve inclusive social and economic development for the Region. The Strategy will implement activities that coalesce around three specific objectives which align with the challenges that are still outstanding. The objectives are: (a) development of education and training systems which provide for equitable access and participation across all levels of the system; (b) enhanced efficiency, relevance and effectiveness of education and training to create systems which are responsive to national, regional and global labour markets; and (c) strengthened capacity to reform and manage education systems for the purpose of enhancing student outcomes.
Reimagining education in Barbados
(2023) Barbados. Ministry of Education Technology & Vocational Training
The document proposes to enhanced student outcomes as follows: 1. To design programmes customised to students skills, abilities and interests with a focus on strengthening their character 2. To develop programmes and curricula that contribute to economic growth and national development 3. To strengthen the integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) 4. To improve instructional quality 5. To strengthen school and system leadership 6. To provide and/or enhance physical facilities to contribute to the improvement of student outcomes 7. To update and enhance the legislative and regulatory framework.
Baseline financial literacy survey 2022
(2023-04-20) Market Research Services Limited
The aims and objectives of the Jamaica Baseline Survey were to: • Ascertain the level of financial literacy among secondary school In-school Youths and Out-of-school Youths (target group); • Assess the target group's awareness of the existence of financial instruments; • Assess the main delivery channels through which the target group receives information about financial services; • Measure the target group's understanding of the uses of financial services (for e.g. loans, mobile payment products); • Measure the target group's money management skills; • Examine the measures that the target group takes to protect themselves in the marketplace (understanding how interest is calculated, understanding fees imposed for services); • Measure the extent of usage of select financial instruments; • Identify the tools that the target group uses to assist them in their daily financial activities; • Determine where the target group acquires information about financial services; • Determine the levels of financial capability among the target group; • Identify the preferred delivery channels for communication of financial education content to target group; 9 April 20, 2023 • Measure the extent to which the target group is knowledgeable about simple contractual terms in contracts (e.g. fees, interest rates, principal); • Provide data to help channel resources effectively to the most vulnerable Market segments; • Develop a baseline against which changes in the level of financial capability in the target group can be assessed over time on a national level; • Assess the need for financial literacy and financial capability content among the target group; • Develop empirical data as input for the formulation and review of relevant policies and programmes; and • Prepare and submit a comprehensive report on the findings, methodology and recommendations from the survey.
Labor Education in the Caribbean: A Critical Evaluation of Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad
(International Labor and Working-Class History, Inc. 2016, 2016) Roberts, Danny; Marsh, Lauren
The achievements of the labor movement in the Caribbean are generally historicized without highlighting the contribution of labor colleges to the function and survivability of trade unions. For more than fifty years, labor colleges have played a critical role in developing the knowledge and skill sets of union members who had an interest in labor studies. Many will attribute the heydays of the Caribbean labor movement in the mid-1900s to the intellectual thrust given to the trade union movement by labor colleges. During this period, trade unions relied heavily on labor colleges for intellectual support and advice primarily on matters that required in-depth academic investigation. Support from the labor colleges enhanced the reputation of the labor movement by shifting popular notions that the trade union movement consisted only of the poor and illiterate working class. The effects of these parallel training activities have been positive for both the leadership of the trade union movement and the overall impact they have had on labor-management relationships. There has been a noted change in the pattern of trade union leadership where “the first generation leaders, considered by many as demagogic and messianic, have given way increasingly to a younger and more formally educated second and third generation leadership”
Learning style preferences: A study of Pre-clinical Medical Students in Barbados
(2017) Ojeh, Nkemcho; Sobers-Grannum, Natasha; Gaur, Uma; Udupa, Alaya; Majumder, Anwarul Azim
Educators need to be aware of different learning styles to effectively tailor instructional strategies and methods to cater to the students’ learning needs and support a conductive learning environment. The VARK [an acronym for visual (V), aural (A), read/write (R) and kinesthetic (K)] instrument is a useful model to assess learning styles. The aim of this study was to use the VARK questionnaire to determine the learning styles of pre-clinical medical students in order to compare the perceived and assessed learning style preferences, assess gender differences in learning style preferences, and determine whether any relationships exists between awareness of learning styles and academic grades, age, gender and learning modality. The VARK questionnaire was administered to preclinical students taking a variety of courses in the first three years of the undergraduate MB BS degree programme at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados in 2014. The majority of the students were multimodal learners with no differences observed between males (59.5%) and females (60.0%), with tetramodal being the most common. Read/write (33.8%) followed by kinesthetic (32.5%) were the most common learning style preferences. The sensory modality preference for females was read/write (34.2%) and for males it was kinesthetic (40.5%). Significant differences were observed between the perceived and assessed learning style preferences with a majority of visual and read/write learners correctly matching their perceived to their actual learning styles. Awareness of learning styles was associated with learning modality but not with academic performance, age or gender. Overall, 60.7% of high achievers used multimodal learning compared to 56.9% low achievers. The findings from this study indicated that the VARK tool was useful in gathering information about different learning styles, and might assist educators in designing blended teaching strategies to cater to the students’ needs as well as help the students in becoming aware of their learning style preferences to enhance learning.
Equality through Education: A Review of Michael Manley's Vision for Jamaica
(2021) Annan, Renée
Michael Manley envisioned a Jamaica that would provide equality for the working-class through education. This was done considering the socio-economic structure of the country which reflects its legacies of colonialism, slavery, and imperialism. Indications of this trauma are evident in racial divisions based largely in colourism and class inequalities, which have led to the stigmatization of manual labour. During what historians Chambers and Airey label the ‘Socialist Era’ in Jamaica (i.e. 1972 and 1980), Manley’s People’s National Party (PNP) government sought to embed ideals of self-reliance into vital socio-economic industries such as education, agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism. The ultimate goal of this was aimed at reversing the condition of psychological dependency that plagued many regions in the Global South. This policy review seeks consider the process by which Michael Manley implemented his administration’s Free Education policy during the years of 1972 to 1980.
Technical and Vocational Education and Training Curricula at the Lower Secondary Level in Jamaica: A Preliminary Exploration of Education for Sustainable Development Content
(Sciendo, 2019-01-09) Roofe, Carmel; Ferguson, Therese
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is critical for Caribbean countries such as Jamaica as the country grapples with various sustainability issues. The integration of ESD into formal and non-formal education therefore becomes a necessary undertaking. At the formal level, reorienting curricula at all levels is important and advocated for in various international documents such as Agenda 21 and by agencies such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. With this in mind, this study utilised a qualitative content analysis approach to undertake a preliminary exploration of ESD content in TVET curricula at the lower secondary level (grades 7ñ9) in Jamaica. Analysis of three of the subjects as taught in the TVET area of Resource and Technology revealed that though ESD issues, perspectives and skills are integrated into various components of the curriculum, many of the ESD issues, perspectives and skills the research sought to identify were not evident in the curricula. Additionally, based on the analysis, it was felt that the curriculum lacks alignment among the components (objectives, content, learning experience, assessment, teaching strategies) that reflected ESD content, and that there is need for integration of more such content in the curricula to ensure that TVET and ESD yield the relevant benefits.
The impact of Covid‑19 on education equity: A view from Barbados and Jamaica
(UNESCO IBE, 2021-08-23) Blackman, Stacey N. J.
The outbreak of Covid-19 worldwide has presented an unprecedented challenge for the equity-in-education agenda, especially in developing countries of the Global South (e.g., the English-speaking Caribbean). This article examines the impact school closures have had in Jamaica and Barbados, and highlights the emerging disparities the global pandemic has had on education. The central organizing questions are as follows: Who was affected by school closures in Barbados and Jamaica? How did the Ministries of Education (MOEs) support curriculum and instruction during the pandemic? What challenges does Covid-19 present for MOEs? What are the implications for education after Covid-19? School closure data suggest a gender disparity, with more males than females out of school due to Covid-19 from preprimary to secondary school in Barbados and Jamaica. MOEs in the region responded to school closures primarily by increasing access to technology to facilitate remote learning. Some of the challenges with continuing education for students during Covid-19 were due to a lack of infrastructure and amenities to support remote learning. Implications for education post-Covid-19 are considered.
Education Professionals' Perceptions of Factors that Contribute to Effective Mathematics Teaching and Achievement in Jamaica
(Sryahwa Publications, 2017) Crossfield, Devon; Bourne, Paul Andrew
This quantitative survey was designed to identify deficiencies in teacher quality that impede student achievement in CSEC Mathematics in Jamaica. It intended to identify and suggest programs, policies and strategies that should prove effective in diminishing deficiencies identified. It was also planned to identify strategies to improve teacher quality and enhance student achievement as well as to provide a body of literature to guide policy makers. The sample consisted of 120 CSEC Mathematics teachers from both upgraded and traditional high schools of whom 103 completed and returned the questionnaire designed by the researcher. Each questionnaire consisted of 30 items; 29 forced-choices and one free choice. The reliability statistic yielded was 0.744 when subjected to Cronbach Alpha. The response categories were: High (5); Moderate (3), and Low (1). Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to obtain percentages and frequency values of specific responses. The findings revealed that low socioeconomic status of teachers and students, lack of parental involvement, leadership conditions, scale and replicability, lack of teaching learning resources, poor working conditions, lack of preparation on the part of students, the impact of teacher certification and licensing status, lack of specialization in relation to preparation programs and degrees, coursework, teachers own test scores and limited participation in professional development were major deficiencies that impact teacher quality and student achievement in CSEC Mathematics. It was also found that efforts of the National Transformation Program to promote and emphasize teaching as a viable profession were ineffective. It was recommended that a holistic approach be embarked upon to establish a relevant, high-quality, mathematics education model, to respond to the mathematical needs of students in the Jamaican context, and that teachers be empowered through purposeful professional development to monitor student success, and create a stimulating environment that encourages intellectual engagement of students.
Jamaica’s Education Act - A (Potential) Tool for Realisation of Children’s Rights to Adequate Food and Health
(The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, 2024-06) Mills, Shereika
This paper examines the Jamaican school food environment in light of children’s rights to adequate food and health drawing on both international human rights treaties as well as domestic law. It highlights the State’s obligations to safeguard children’s rights relating to health and food within the school setting and in so doing, underlines some of the challenges posed by private sector involvement in Jamaican schools, particularly in relation to the marketing of unhealthy food and beverages within the school environment. The author ultimately argues for legislative reform through the Education Act as one way of allowing for fuller realisation of children’s rights to adequate food and health within Jamaican schools.

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