Education in Jamaica and the Search for Solutions

 http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/commentary/20210322/ronald-thwaites-studying-what-we-know-already

I upvoted this excellent writing which clearly outlines the problem. The 'reset' needed is the voucher system. Each family would get a voucher from the government for each child. The monetary value of these vouchers would lead to an explosion in new private schools of varying quality competing with each other leading to the survival of the best. This would encourage a public/private partnership to compete with public education and give the parents of poor children the ability to benefit from the high quality private schools. Such a proposal is difficult to bring in as the Teachers' Unions and their minions in the Ministry of Education (mostly former teachers and union officials) fight tooth and nail against empowering families in this way. To too many teachers, education is their business and the narrow focus of the unions is better pay and working conditions for their members. Teachers have a vested special interest in keeping the status quo. Families have little say in how schools are run. Even the prime minister is a former teacher and member of the teacher's union. It takes a government with cajones to stand up to the unions and the bureaucrats of the Ministry of Education. Ain't gonna happen.

Raymond D. Grant

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