WESTERN BUREAU:

Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President Dr Mark Smith says the local education sector is facing a staggering J$232.2-billion shortfall in funding, which could derail the nation’s ambitious education reform plans.

According to Smith, while the Mona School of Business Management has estimated the cost of implementing recommendations from the Patterson Report at $280 billion over eight years, only $48 billion has so far been allocated through the consultative fund, leaving a staggering $232.2-billion gap.

The shortfall in funding is impacting resources to address disparities in funding for early childhood and primary education, systemic alignment, and pedagogical transformation. The Patterson Report emphasises the need for historic investments in education to ensure long-term societal and economic benefits.

“We are all on board with the transformation. I can tell you, my army of teachers is ready. But we must have the tools to do the job,” said Smith, who spoke to the issue at the association’s annual education conference, which was recently held in Trelawny, under the theme ‘Innovations in Education Technology: The Imperative of Change’.

“It is important that we identify where we are going to get the $232.2 billion that is needed to close that gap,” said Smith. “This financial deficit is urgently needed so that, as a country, we can tackle the systemic issues with literacy and numeracy in the underachievement of our students, which has to start at the early childhood level.

“We need to leverage technological innovation to improve our mathematics outcomes because a 32 per cent pass rate is not acceptable.”

Smith asserted that the root causes of poor educational outcomes, particularly in literacy and numeracy, must be tackled from the early childhood and primary levels.

“These numbers are unacceptable. We must raise literacy to at least 95 per cent and make significant strides in mathematics if we are to equip our students for the future,” said Smith, who pointed out the troubling statistics where just 32 per cent of students are passing Mathematics while the literacy rates have stagnated at 89 per cent for decades.

Need for innovation

Smith also stressed the need for innovation, calling for greater integration of technology in classrooms and the creation of a robust educational ecosystem. In speaking to the global benchmarks, he noted that 80 per cent of Singaporean secondary school students transition to tertiary education, compared to only 20 per cent in Jamaica.

“If we are serious about building a knowledge-based economy, that must change. We must ensure more of our students leap into tertiary education,” he said.

In referencing the vision of Dr Kevin Rowan, president of Universal Technologies, who advocates for the creation of a national education ecosystem designed to improve performance and access at all levels, Smith said the initiative is not just about education.

“This is not just about education, it’s about our national prosperity. We must act with urgency and vision,” said Smith, who wants the Government and stakeholders to commit to finding the additional funds needed to fully implement the reforms.