Many J’can schools not child-friendly
JAMAICAN primary and secondary schools are largely unfriendly to children, though there are signs of progress in some institutions, according to a recent assessment done by the Ministry of Education.
The indicators used to arrive at a conclusion were based on the UNICEF framework for rights-based, child-friendly educational systems and schools, which include:
* whether a school ensures every student an environment that is physically safe, emotionally secure and psychologically enabling;
* whether teachers are fulfilling their role as the most important factor in creating an effective and inclusive classroom environment;
* whether schools recognise, encourage and support students’ growing capacities as learners by providing a culture, teaching behaviours and curriculum content that are focused on learning and on learners;
* the level of support, participation and collaboration they receive from families; and
* whether staff members are friendly and welcoming to students’ health and safety needs.
The ministry’s situational analysis, which cost just under a million dollars, was done between April and September this year and drew on the school inspection reports done by the National Education Inspectorate and the Early Childhood Commission on various primary, secondary and early childhood institutions, whose indicators match those of UNICEF’s child-friendly framework.
The assessment also relied on the findings of the ministry in its own examination of 10 randomly selected schools — six of them from the primary level and four from the secondary level.
“We have aspects of child-friendliness in our schools. Most schools have a slice of the pie; they are doing a piece well,” Stephney Webb, programme co-ordinator for the ministry’s Child-friendly Schools Programme, told Career & Education. “It really is now up to us in terms of programmes to really help all schools to come on board so that the whole picture is manifested in every school. That is going to take us a long time and some amount of resources.”
Still, she said there is reason to hope as the ministry moves to continue the roll out of its Child-friendly Schools Programme, begun in 2008 in conjunction with UNICEF, which has so far provided funding for the effort.
“I do think that we have already seen the change in the mindset. We already hear parents demanding it. We already hear principals saying that they want it. It really is now (down to) how do we do it with the limited resources that we have and how we build so that we are not doing this piece this year or for the first three years and then we leave that because that is nice and move on to something else,” Webb said.
Among the areas identified as needing work in some schools, the programme co-ordinator said, are:
* inclusivity and equity, particularly when it comes to catering to the needs of students with special needs;
* deficiencies when it comes to educating boys who learn differently from girls;
* the continued use of corporal punishment; and
* making the physical environment conducive to learning for all students, both in terms of physical and emotional security.
Kenneth Russell, quality education and early childhood development specialist with UNICEF, said there was no question that the deficiencies needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Critical to making that happen, he said, would be partnerships between schools and communities — of which parents and private sector stakeholders form a part.
“When you look at the situational analysis that was done, the standards that we have as an education system, those standards match up really well with the ones that are the global ones for child-friendly schools. When you look at the policy pronouncements, the policy documents that we have (are) consistent… the talk (is) consistent. I think as an organisation, UNICEF, that we are satisfied that there is then enough action to translate those policy pronouncements, those legal positions into action and I think that is were the focus needs to be,” he said.
“I do agree that there is a resource element, which challenges the work to get these things done, but we also know of schools that have strong partnerships to get it done… schools that have dynamic leadership that are going to go out there and make it happen,” Russell added.
He encouraged schools to recognise that Government would never have enough funds to support the implementation of all the elements of a child-friendly school.
“I don’t think that it is sufficient to wait until the economic situation is great and it is never going to be good enough to give all the resources that are required from central Government; I don’t think they are ever going to be able to afford it. The partnerships, those are what are going to matter,” Russell told Career & Education.
“I think that’s where we can do something different about working on leadership, working to create frameworks for schools for them to move forward with making their schools child-friendly. That is something we have to continue to think about and continue to work on because it needs action and it is not going to happen naturally,” he added.
Still, Colin Blair, communications specialist with the ministry’s Education System Transformation Programme, said they were nonetheless doing their best to support schools.
“Some of the initiatives we are doing, while they do not fall strictly under the child-friendly rubric, they will redound to the benefit of increasing child-friendliness of schools. For example, the institutions we are setting up, (such as) the Jamaica Teaching Council… and the National College for Educational Leadership,” he said.
“JTC’s function is to improve the cache of teachers, raise the standards of the teaching profession… The intention of that is to create better teachers… NCEL is to improve leadership in schools and research after research has shown that one of the critical components (of successful) schools is leadership… It is what makes the difference. If we have better teachers and better leaders, we will end up with more child-friendly schools. (Also), if we have better leaders, they will be able to incorporate the child-friendly ideas that we are having. So all of the these things will dove tail,” Blair added.
The Child-friendly Schools Programme, meanwhile, has so far undertaken several initiatives designed to bring schools in the know about the various elements of the initiative and get them to act to implement them.
According to Webb, their efforts have included sensitisation workshops and the implementation of small projects on water, sanitation and hygiene in some select schools. Some 30 institutions have also benefited from a project that focused on the creation of schools as safe places for learning.
“(In addition), through the various ministry programmes like the Health and Family Life Programme, we have been pushing the child friendly-framework and agenda. And through other work being done in the ministry, we have insisted that the child-friendly framework become the guide for the development and continuation of those activities,” Webb noted.
“The child-friendly framework is really sold to the vital players in education… In the summer, we had back-to-school conferences in all education regions (and) all principals (and) board chairmen all know of the child-friendly schools thrust. They are all committed in their own way to making sure that the child-friendly activities take place on the ground,” she added.