Text Boxes Menu
Frankfield School is one of the 44 Jamaican schools that have been built or renovated as part of an education project cofinanced by the OPEC Fund.



Jamaica completes school construction project

Over 39,300 pupils of previously overcrowded and substandard schools are the principal beneficiaries of a major education project that has considerably improved learning conditions at 44 primary and "all age" schools throughout Jamaica. In all, over 240 new, 110 replacement and 250 refurbished classrooms have been provided under the civil works component of an education project completed in 1998 with cofinancing from the Inter-American Development Bank and the OPEC Fund.

Primary education has been free in Jamaica for over a century, and universal since the late 1960s. The net enrollment rates for primary and lower secondary schools at 98% and 82%, respectively, are high in comparison to countries with similar per capita gross domestic products (GDP). Female participation is among the highest in the world, drop-out rates are low, and the number of qualified teachers, at 82%, is the highest in the Caribbean region.

Many developing countries would be pleased to have these education statistics. Nevertheless, the situation in Jamaican schools in the early 1990s was far from rosy. Despite the high coverage of the system, educational opportunities were still unequally distributed. Educational achievement was considerably lower among children from low income families, and the number of children completing secondary school in poor communities or rural areas was much lower than in more affluent urban areas.

The low drop-out rates resulted, in part, from a countrywide system of automatic promotion to higher grades without reference to achievement. A high percentage of secondary school entrants was barely literate. Performance on terminal examinations was poor. More than half of all pupils left school at the end of lower secondary education, after only nine years, to enter the labor force, usually in unskilled jobs.

When the schools construction project was proposed, the pupil absentee rate was the highest in the Caribbean region. Many of Jamaica's school buildings were old, overcrowded, poorly lit, and inadequately equipped and maintained. Over one-third of the schools were one-room or multi-class structures, lacking separate rooms or suitable desks for pupils in different age groups. Many schools also lacked adequate water supplies and sanitary facilities. Although textbooks were provided free for core subjects, many were out of date and irrelevant to pupils' needs. Good teaching materials, including maps and reference works, were extremely scarce.

Some of the weaknesses in the educational system could be traced to the economic crisis of the 1980s, when public expenditures for health, education and social services were drastically curtailed. Education expenditures declined from 7% of GDP in 1980 to 4% in 1985, and remained considerably under the 1980 level for the next five years. By 1991, actual expenditures on education were nearly 24% less in real terms than in the previous year.

In 1992, a multifaceted government education program was initiated to improve the quality and effectiveness of education throughout the country and to foster more equality in the provision of education, especially in poor communities. The Primary Education Improvement Project II was formulated within the framework of the national education program as a package of improvements for education in the lower grades. In addition to revamping and expanding physical facilities at overcrowded or inadequate schools, the project included components designed to raise the quality of instruction and strengthen the institutions involved in educational administration, management and planning.

Among its many goals, the project sought to introduce pupil performance monitoring systems in the key primary grades, revise and update the curricula, develop new textbooks and teaching materials, and prepare strategies to improve school attendance. The project also endeavored to bring the skills and knowledge taught in grades 1 to 6 in line with those actually required for secondary schooling. Primary teachers were equipped with the skills and resources needed to conduct new forms of testing, school librarians were trained and 2,000 "language arts" teachers were schooled in new methods for raising literacy levels. Libraries were created in 120 primary schools and stocked with 195,000 books to ensure that more children in the lower grades had access to library books.

Under the civil works component, two completely new schools and 17 replacement schools were built on the sites of older schools. Facilities were enlarged at eight existing schools, and 17 schools were completely renovated and refurbished. In all, 13,780 places were provided through construction and 13,890 places through refurbishing. At many of the schools, where sanitary facilities left much to be desired, new toilet blocks, septic tanks, wells or water systems were installed. Fencing, play areas and landscaping were also provided, as well as new classroom furniture and equipment. In addition, six teachers' cottages were built and three renovated at project schools in rural areas.

The completion of the project has brought Jamaica closer to realizing its long-term plans for the education system. School administrators believe the improvements in the physical environment at project schools will boost attendance rates. The new equipment, the libraries, and the changes in curriculum priorities and teaching methodology are expected to raise the quality of instruction, the level of pupil achievement and the proportion of pupils completing secondary school. The most positive increases are anticipated among pupils from the most disadvantaged groups. Guaranteeing these children a good basic education in pleasant, well-equipped schools should enable more of them to find adequate employment and escape poverty.

Through the sizable investment in school construction and rehabilitation, the project also had a significant impact on local employment opportunities. As most of the construction work involved was performed by sub-contracted firms in the project communities, jobs were generated for over 350 workers in the building trades for a four-year period.


Text Boxes Menu