WE are encouraged by the education ministry’s response to the torment that too many of this country’s brightest students have been enduring in relation to the preparation of high school transcripts.

The ministry, in response to this newspaper’s series of stories on what can only be termed an injustice to students, has said it intends to establish a framework that will standardise the process and thus make it easier for the transfer of transcripts and profiles to universities to which the students have applied for further education.

According to the ministry, the National Education Inspectorate has identified what it describes as “the dissonance in the collection of data on students’ academic performance”, as well as personal and social development, and has been making recommendations for improvement at the school and system levels.

“These recommendations will guide the framework for the standardisation of data collected across all schools,” the ministry told this newspaper on the weekend, adding that provisions will be made for the establishment of a qualifications framework to facilitate easy transfer of credentials and the determination of the equivalence of acquired certifications.

Additionally, the ministry said it will research further to determine how digital technology can assist, in the short term, to ensure that schools are equipped with the requisite technology to drive their data management processes.

While it is the Jamaica Observer that has ventilated this most troubling issue, the credit for bringing it to public attention belongs to Dr Dennis Minott, the scientist and educator who is the founder and CEO of A-QuEST, which has been preparing top Jamaican students for colleges abroad since 1987.

Dr Minott’s passion for ensuring that Jamaican students receive a good education that can assist them in realising their career dreams is without question. It is that passion, we know, that has driven him to consistently highlight this folly being perpetrated on Jamaican students for many years by some school principals and administrators.

Given Dr Minott’s knowledge of happenings in the high school system we have no reason to doubt his analysis that 80 per cent of Jamaican students applying to colleges in the United States have no chance of getting in because their transcripts, as well as their profiles, are badly prepared.

And, based on the testimonials of some of the affected students, we cannot discount Dr Minott’s assertion that negligence and, in a growing number of cases, deliberate action have contributed to the poor preparation of school records.

No principal, school administrator, guidance counsellor or anyone else in authority at high schools has the right to determine where students access tertiary education. That choice is the sole purview of the students and their parents.

The education ministry has told us that it intends to address the problem with principals and provide training in the best interest of students. We will hold the ministry at its word because, as Dr Minott has pointed out, he has, over many years, reported this immoral practice to officials in the sector but very little has been done to end it.

Now that the ministry has said it will act, we will be observing and we will not resile from informing the public if it abdicates its responsibility.

No other Jamaican child should be made to experience this nightmare.