Author name: Dr Marsha Black-Chen

By Dr Marsha Black-Chen The Importance of Dialogue The problem of low mathematics performance among students across all levels of the Caribbean education system has been a systemic problem, and some may say it has been so for generations. The understanding is that being proficient at math ultimately leads to an understanding of life. Hom […]

The data on homicides in the Caribbean, in 2023, as reported by the Statista Research Department, (a source that is rated as highly trustworthy by several entities) showed Jamaica with the highest rate of murder per capita, at 60.9 per 100,000.  Statista, which shows data on countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, locates Ecuador at

Dervin Cochrane Since 2020, Jamaica’s performance in mathematics has had a varying trend. The performance ranged from 36 % to 47.3% at its highest point. Below is an illustration of this in Figure 1. Jamaica’s pass percentage was 38.2% in 2020, during a time when Covid-19 was wreaking havoc across the world with lockdowns and the

A few weeks ago, I made a pronouncement on the recent Primary Exit Profile (PEP) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) results that highlighted significant deficit in learning and mastery at these two levels particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-based subjects.  One of the recommendations is to have teachers’ colleges revisit how their teachers are trained for

The announcement of the appointment of Jamaica’s Finance Minister, Dr. Nigel Clarke, as Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, with effect from October 30, 2024, has triggered an avalanche of public commentary and discussion.  One of the positions highlighted is the question of whether the IMF has changed from what it was forty,

The educational landscape is a truly dynamic space; every so often, a new concept, theory or approach becomes the new “buzzword”. Maslow and Bloom seem to have lost the traction they have held for quite some time and; fresh in the minds of stakeholders in education are: 5Cs, 4Es, STEM/STEAM/STREAM. The 5Cs refer to  Critical

The Government of Jamaica had indicated it would introduce the Sixth Form Pathway Programme that would seek to improve the educational outcomes of many high school leavers. By engaging in courses to make themselves more marketable, school leavers through pursuing CXC/City and Guilds subjects, skill based subjects, this initiative also contributes to the improvement of

Effective leadership in every sphere requires the existence of trust.  A leader’s believability and the willingness of others to carry out instructions and act in the organization’s best interests, even in the absence of explicit situational instructions, are all dependent on trust between the leader and those he or she leads.  The ability of members

In 2022, teacher migration intensified in Jamaica.  In responding to the developments, the Caribbean Centre for Educational Planning (CCEP),conducted a series of interventions including staging seminars and carrying out field research to elicit the views of teachers.  The seminars engaged school administrators whose views on the causes, and proposals of the solutions including their management

Hurricane Beryl, the first hurricane of the 2024 Hurricane Season hit Jamaica on July 3, 2024. At the time of writing (August 7), it was approximately four weeks since the event.  The hurricane’s impact on the island was disproportionate with sections of parishes on the southern and southwestern sides (Clarendon, Manchester, St. Elizabeth, and Westmoreland)