Education in Jamaica

[kia027]

Corresponds with classical training method trivium - Repetition and memorization at the grammar level, didactic and the middle grades level and critical thinking at the high school level.

Here is an answer at the Primary School Level which I have agreed with and have said many times.
I would also add the teaching of Logic.

Limit primary school curriculum to literacy and numeracy - mathematician

Published: Friday | August 23, 2013





Dr Samuel McDaniel speaks about ways to improve mathematics performace.-Jermaine Barnaby/Photographer






Jermaine Francis, Staff Reporter



ONE OF [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]Jamaica's[/COLOR][/COLOR] leading math educators is confident that the solution to improving the [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]country's[/COLOR][/COLOR] miserable performance in mathematics lies in the teaching of basic literacy and numeracy.
Coordinator for undergraduate studies in the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus' mathematics department, Dr Samuel McDaniel, said the problems plaguing math education will continue to affect the country unless the education system is overhauled.
He said Jamaica requires children to take on too many subjects in primary schools, and this prevents them from developing their analytical and problem-solving skills, which are critical to successfully grasping mathematics.
"The current issues we have with mathematics will not be solved until we go back to basics. At the primary-school level, we should only be teaching students how to write, how to read, and how to do mathematics," McDaniel said.


Focus on main areas


He is of the view that we should be spending our resources on these three main areas, as they are critical to students' success in all the other subject areas.
McDaniel argued that if students were to read and write more, they would have no choice but to [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue ! important]discover[/COLOR][/COLOR] the other subjects and would not have to be force-fed these at an early age.


"I always use an acronym W.A.R - writing, arithmetic and reading - because if we spend our resources on those areas, our students will have more time to practise mathematics, and more time to read," the lecturer noted.
He said this would ensure that the population is at least literate and numerate at the primary level.
"If our students can read and do mathematics at this particular level, once they reach secondary level, they are now critical thinkers with reading and comprehension skills, and the foundation for mathematics to go forward."
This is a theory that McDaniel said he has tested and proven to be a fact.
[email protected]

[Gen]

yes to get kids to LOVE reading, they need to start reading books that interest them, whatever that may be.


starting with lower levels and gradually progress to more difficult levels in that subject area

yuh missinn da pint. use wat ever iss successful fe help da yuth readinn comprehension improve. yuh lookinn att itt as cometency issue mii look at itt as improvinn competencee regardless aff da yuth age. da onlee reason y mii neva gitt inn more chubble wen mii didd dat was dat moas aff mii yuths usuallee improve tree levels

wance reccomend itt to sum wan yah ann shi cood natt beeleeve mii add da nerve fe tell ar mekk ar yuth read comics. gurl luve fe read romantic books.
itt natt bout opinions itt bout improvinn yuths bye annee means

[Wahalla]

suh what's the solution ?

cause it certainly isn't as easy as doing x, y, z

same issues with public education here and zero solution

It is a multi generational issue... I believe we need to break the JTA and its influence. ... It is a union and it empheris is on teachers not students.......improved teacher Training.. fire incompetent teachers molibound teachers and there are many...Set improving targets for every single tool.. then strech them as companies do.. I think they can do better.. de emphersis interschool sport, too much energy. including atheletics... Develop a series of lectures around the basic by master teachers. There are still schools in rural Jamaica that have a 4 day week with friday attendance is at a minimal level.. Break the gold standard schools by simply supply the same amount across the board on a per student basis....Get the church to emphasis reading, get the entertainers to acknowledged their failures as students (I love the fact that yellowmans daugter is a doctor!!!).... cut back on holidays... publisie the results in real terms

Note I am not asking for increase investment because the system is failing until the system demonstrates it improves then adding more money is a nihilistic act.

[Wahalla]

yuh missinn da pint. use wat ever iss successful fe help da yuth readinn comprehension improve. yuh lookinn att itt as cometency issue mii look at itt as improvinn competencee regardless aff da yuth age. da onlee reason y mii neva gitt inn more chubble wen mii didd dat was dat moas aff mii yuths usuallee improve tree levels

No I get teh point.. comphersion of a comic for a 8 year old good... but by they are 12 it should not be necessary... they should be able to comprehend the information in a high density traditional form...if u get a child of 13 who has to be taught via a comic IMHO tyhen there is a major failure on the previous teachers....and that is a remedial issue..

[Wahalla]

I tried to avoid bringing this in as I thought that it may elicit the standard rationalisation....I would though add that UWI has been running remdial classes in english for years, so has other tertiary institution... it may be that we have to get as the man has put forward the retrograde step of emphasis on basic english and maths I knew one guy who won the Jamaica scholarship that could not pass english language at o'level or pass general paper though he got 4 A's at A level..not pawawn pawn pawn but Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology....

..

and in other news

Epic fail: All 25,000 students fail university entrance exam in Liberia





As UK students prepare for university in September, the University of Liberia faces a new term with no first years turning up to class.

Not one of the nearly 25,000 students applying for one of two state-run universities has passed the entrance exam, to the surprise of the country's education minister.


Etmonia David-Tarpeh, who described the widespread failure as “like mass murder”, plans to meet with university officials after school-leavers paid a fee of $25 each to take the test, only to see their dreams dashed.


Speaking to the BBC Focus on Africa programme, she said: “I know there are a lot of weaknesses in the schools but for a whole group of people to take exams and every single one of them to fail, I have my doubts about that. I’d really like to see the results of the students.”
A bloody civil war that ended a decade ago has left the education system in tatters, with many schools deprived of the simplest education resources and in dire need of qualified teachers. But a lack of enthusiasm and a basic grasp of English are behind the latest shocking statistic, a university spokesperson has said.


Defending the university’s decision, spokesman Momodu Getaweh confirmed that it would not be changing its stance, arguing that the government must put the war behind them and act fast on students’ complete ignorance of the “mechanics” of English.

http://www.independent.co.uk/student...a-8785707.html

[blugiant]

No I get teh point.. comphersion of a comic for a 8 year old good... but by they are 12 it should not be necessary... they should be able to comprehend the information in a high density traditional form...if u get a child of 13 who has to be taught via a comic IMHO tyhen there is a major failure on the previous teachers....and that is a remedial issue..

wen yuh gitt a chance research metacognition

moas camic books ar natt suitable fe 8 ear ole. itt good readinn fe 12 ear ole ann above. weddar itt necessary ar natt iss natt da issue. dat itt help moas yuths improve dem readinn comprehension iss da goal. be more cancern widd da improve outcum dan de methods use fe gitt da desired out cum. doan gitt so caught upp widd age cah yuths learn att diffarant rate. mii kno sum gifted 5 ann six ear ole yuths dat more advanced dan moas 13 ear ole. add fe bee on mii pee ann cue cah dem wood ketch annee mistake. doan gitt so caught upp inn wat yuh tink yuh kno as facts cah facts can be accurate ann innaccurate. imagine dat schools inn jamaica forcinn parents fe buy dem yuths laptops fe school even dough da studee shows yuths woo use laptops inn classes score lower pon dem xxams.

sum aff dem peeps inn sum aff da tap universitee need remediation courses butt oyinbo chatt bout remediation inn public universities is a badd ting.

[RichD]

imagine dat schools inn jamaica forcinn parents fe buy dem yuths laptops fe school even dough da studee shows yuths woo use laptops inn classes score lower pon dem xxams.

which school in Jamaica forcing parents to by laptops when plenty ppl can't even find money to buy exercise book much less the school fees?

[blugiant]

suh what's the solution ?

cause it certainly isn't as easy as doing x, y, z

same issues with public education here and zero solution

blakk parents affii gitt angree enuff fe force da system fe educate blakk yuth.

den ave sum iigh parfaminn public school dat lawyers, doctors ann professional peeps send dem yuths to inn blakk neighbarhood butt itt limit da mount aff neighbarhood students ann blakk peeps tekk dat. deer iss awlways sum schools ann teachers dat outparfarm so y dem doan use dem as xxample fe improve. gen da prablem iss da solution ann da prablem iss babylon system. imagine dem chattinn nunsense bout da xxams were natt based on da school curriculum ann parents natt bunninn fiyah bout oww dem can test yuths pon tings dem neva studee ann den use dat fe judge da yuths

dem tarted charter school fe eelp da lower perfarminn poor blakk students butt now dem gittinn ridd aff da lower perfarminn students ann blakk peeps tekk dat. charter school onlee slightee improve blakk yuth score even dough dem ave manee aff da poor parfarminn students ann blakk peeps a defend small gain.

[blugiant]

which school in Jamaica forcing parents to by laptops when plenty ppl can't even find money to buy exercise book much less the school fees?

natt witch schools itt manee schools im ja dat implieinn dat yuths won't be able fe keep upp widdout dem. sum miseducators no langar waan fe use chalk fe duttee upp dem hands

[Tuff Gong]

which school in Jamaica forcing parents to by laptops when plenty ppl can't even find money to buy exercise book much less the school fees?

TheoreticallyLaptops would be cheaper and more efficient over time if everyone is required to use one.

[Tuff Gong]

yes to get kids to LOVE reading, they need to start reading books that interest them, whatever that may be.

Playboy/girl

[blugiant]

TheoreticallyLaptops would be cheaper and more efficient over time if everyone is required to use one.

yess but study show dem yuths da use laptop inn da classroom score lowah pon xxams. cheaper ann efficencee over educatinn jamaicans yuths

[Wahalla]

which school in Jamaica forcing parents to by laptops when plenty ppl can't even find money to buy exercise book much less the school fees?

I thought that was about a decade or so back.. it was a requirement....I remember because at the time I thought damn I wouldnt have got educated as no way I would have got a computer..

[blugiant]

I thought that was about a decade or so back.. it was a requirement....I remember because at the time I thought damn I wouldnt have got educated as no way I would have got a computer..

relative cawl mii begginn money fe buy laptop fe ar yuths schoolinn. mii asked two addar relatives woo sey dat jamaicans teachers under arders fram dem bigger heads still pushinn itt. wink wink unoffical policeee

yuh ear wear wan aff da bigger head tell jamaicans parents fe borrow textbooks insteaf aff buyinn dem

[Tuff Gong]

yess but study show dem yuths da use laptop inn da classroom score lowah pon xxams. cheaper ann efficencee over educatinn jamaicans yuths

If the device is used a novelty item then it likely that it would be a distraction and end in lower test scores of of the subjects that is actually on the curriculum.
But if the device become ubiquitous, in homes, schools and other social circles (like the pen and paper) and if the use in the classroom is restricted to subjects being taught I imagine you will get a better result.

Today's dunces are not like the ones of yesteryear, they are more technologically sophisticated. In fact it almost impossible for any human in a civilized society to avoid contact with technology.
My thinking is that we should promote One Computer per household and restrict classroom subjects at the primary level to the basics + Logic.