Imagine for a moment if there were nine (9) other athletes of Bolt’s capability training to represent Jamaica at the next Olympics.

What would that do to boast our nation’s possibility ?

What would that do to the rush on yellow yam exports?

.

Well, I will leave the implication of such a possibility to your vivid imagination.

.

 There is another sphere of engagement where we have Jamaicans excelling with Bolt-like performance.

.

.

I attended the graduation program  of the school of dentistry at Howard University a few weeks back.  From an awards recognition perspective, a Jamaican,  Dr. Tashorn Lewis took the gold.  I am sure you can recount similar experiences during this graduation cycle.  While our chest swell with national pride, the question has to be asked, is where are the other nine Bolts in the sphere of educational achievement?

Who is leading the charge in ensuring we understand the issues, and developing the game plan in Jamaica’s human capital development?

Hon. Andrew Holness, Jamaica’s Minister of Education

.

The point person in charge of answering these questions is the Honorable Andrew Holness, Jamaica’s Minister of Education.  He has been studying this question for a while as he served as special assistant to the Honorable Edward Sega and was a part of the team that created the bi-partisan political space to allow educational transformation to be sustaining regardless of  changing political leadership.

.

He was in Washington DC this past week, and we had the opportunity to listen to his vision and access his  readiness to be the  watchman and shepherd to this critical transforming social process.

.

He began his sharing with a bold, confident  statement of hope that stated:

“Jamaica is on the verge of surmounting her problems”.

I must confess that my mischievous mind said to myself, “Who has been keeping the Gleaner from this man?  He better be prepared to buttress his claim with solid arguments.”  Well, let me share my recollection of his conversation and see if you are persuaded by his perspective.

.

He must have anticipated my cynical mind as he  admitted to the culture of mistrust that exists between the citizens and the government. Hon. Holness then shared two key bread and butter issues that the new government will be judged on in establishing a new era of trust –  education and health care.

.

One sign of hope came from the recently concluded budget debate, where the gas tax was increased.  Prior years the reaction has been spectacularly demonstrative.  This year, the tight, transparent communication has led to a sacrificial acceptance rather that the  usual.  This is a hopeful sign of the rebuilding of the trust equity between the government and the people.

.

Hon. Holness then proceeded to speak with much sincerity some very awkward truths. I summarized them as:

Post Partisan Political Consensus is key – When the politics is right, things can happen.

Education system is elitist – We take the cream off the top and do not invest appropriately  in the rest.

.Wow! We have practiced an elitist education system, where the cream of the crop gets the rewards of our education system, and those without the resources and familial support suffer the slings of poor chance.  He then clearly made the link between economic participation and social order.

.

Hon. Holness then provides a profile of the educational system he administers.

• Percentage of national  Budget – 13% (Second only the debt payment).
• .
• Number of schools  in system 1,000.
• 
  
• Number of school that are forced to double a double shift. – 114.
  
• .
  
• Number of High Schools that are included in the double shift system 45 (Imagine the social implications of unsupervised teenagers).
• .
  
• Percentage of functional literate students – 80%. The 20% are illiterate, but function with the limited capacity.

.

As we are quite aware, education needs a healthy environment to take root.  Hon. Holness also shared the non-classroom challenges the system faces.  Here is my summary, which I list under :

.

 .

Early childhood education has been a primary responsibility of the home.  However, the practice of solid parenting have been found wanting.

.

There is also a growing subculture of the un-attached , primarily in the demographic of ages of 16 – 19. They will need opportunities and intentional integration into a productive mainstream.

.

A corollary to this issue is the gender (male problem) who are without positive role models, and success ladders. They are seduced by the pied pipers of deviant activities.

.

This is a tall order to reshape the direction and social mobility of a society.  Let these soak in for a while.

.

I know you are eager to hear his proposals. That’s tomorrow’s post.  All I will say is that he is engaging the diaspora in an exciting, innovative way.

.

Yes, we are a key component in providing the rocket fuel for Jamaica’s 21 century launch!