Dr. Canute Thompson
June 14, 2022
Among the many recommendations of the 2021 Patterson Commission on the Jamaican education system, is the establishment of an oversight body to monitor the implementation of its recommendations. This body will be called the Education Transformation Oversight Committee (ETOC). The Government has taken steps to implement that recommendation naming a sixteen-person body to be chaired by financial economist, Dr. Adrian Stokes.
Dr Adrian Stokes Chair, Education Transformation Oversight Committee
There are diverse views on whether this ETOC was needed and if it can work. I support the establishment of this oversight body. By contrast, my colleague and friend, Professor Densil Williams, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Planning, at The University of the West Indies does not have faith in the creation of such a mechanism. Williams in an article entitled “Jamaica’s education Lorenz curve needs nuanced analysis” , which was published in the Gleaner on June 11, 2022, explains that his opposition to this body is founded on the fact that the Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC), which the ETOC is intended to mirror, had a policy focus. EPOC was established in 2013 to monitor the government’s economic transformation programme and focused its monitoring activities on macro-economic indicators. Williams contends that the problems facing the education system are operational, not policy-based, and thus having an oversight body becomes unwieldly, when dealing with hundreds of schools.
Williams fears that ETOC may have a similar fate to that of the Economic Growth Council (EGC), established in 2016 to lead the government’s charge of achieving five percent growth each year for four years. The targets were missed by a wide margin with growth averaging less than one per cent each year, and the EGC, which was the product of a campaign promise, fizzled.
While the EPOC, now in its ninth year, has gained local and international recognition, it has been viewed by some as a toothless tiger, having no legislative or executive authority. The EPOC merely keeps tabs on the country’s macro-economic performance and provides corroborative reporting on targets being met, effectively validating reports of the government. But the EPOC is also seen, by some, as performing a vital role in helping to maintain the economic stability of the country.
Against the backdrop of those two models, neither of which has legislative credentials and both of which depended / depend on moral suasion and social recognition to achieve their purpose, the question that may be asked is, what can be learnt from both, despite their different experiences, to guide the ETOC.
MODELS OF EDUCATION OVERSIGHT MECHANISMS
Education oversight mechanisms are not new or unique. A glance across the globe shows that they exist in many jurisdictions.
One of those close to home is the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee (SC EOC). This body, according to its website, “is an independent, nonpartisan group made up of 18 educators, business people, and elected officials”. The SC EOC provides “…ongoing review of the state’s education improvement process, and assesses.…” how schools are doing. The committee is structured into subcommittees each of which is charged with addressing issues which “…support higher levels of student achievement”.
Similar mechanisms exist in other states. Two such are Kentucky and Michigan. In both states the oversight mechanism was set up to implement their “Every Student Succeeds Act” (ESSA), which is similar to the federal No Child Left Behind law. The first responsibility of these oversight bodies is that of ensuring that funds administered under ESSA are used optimally and that there is accountability. In this regard, the oversight bodies work closely with school districts and local educational agencies. In order to get a sense of the scope of the responsibilities of these oversight bodies, it may be noted that in South Carolina there are 1,239 schools, while in Kentucky there are 1,477, and 3,550 in Michigan.
Serious concerns
The concerns over whether this proposed oversight body would be effective cannot be taken lightly. Among the questions which must be resolved are:
- How will the ETOC be positioned in the Ministry of Education?
- How will the ETOC relate to the National Education Inspectorate?
- While the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) has representation on the ETOC, how will JTA, as a body, and its members individually perceive and relate to ETOC?
- How will the ETOC structure itself to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability?
- What is the life span of the ETOC?
- What resources will it require to be effective?
- What will be the measures of the ETOC’s success?
SOME REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SUCCESS OF JAMAICA’S ETOC
While awaiting the ETOC’s self-expressions and communications in answer to the foregoing and other questions, and based on my support for the establishment of the entity, I wish to share the following ideas on some of the requirements for the success of Jamaica’s ETOC.
- Clearly defined purpose
It appears, at least for now, that the purpose of the proposed ETOC is not clearly defined. It is expected that there will need to be some consultation between the government and the committee to define its role, to agree the type of creature it should be and settle on its terms of reference. This needs to be an urgent course of action. The members of the ETOC should be on guard to prevent themselves from seeing themselves, or being seen by others, as the messiah of the education system and should clearly define their purpose and identity and make public that which they will seek to achieve, with clear milestones and measures of success.
- Structure
I recommend that the ETOC establishes subcommittees to focus on different facets of the education sector, and as the Patterson Commission did, each subcommittee should coopt experts to serve alongside them. It is expected that the committee will be guided by its purpose in determining its structures and processes.
- Bold awareness of, and action on, interconnections
The reasons for the underperformance of Jamaica’s education system are many and varied and many of the contributors lie outside the classroom. The idea of an oversight mechanism for education, could be perceived, at face value, to be focused on the operations of schools, rather than the education system which has multiple interconnected parts. The committee, in its work, should be diligent and thoughtful in addressing the points of interface.
There is thus, in this regard, the interconnectedness of the home, the society, and the social and cultural influences on children, not least of which are the content of music, the problem of the desire for instant gratification, double standards in the conduct of leaders, and lack of accountability at several levels of society. The school cannot be divorced from society.
That the chair of the ETOC is an economist, may be seen as saying something about where the government’s head is, on the skills needed to address the problems facing the education sector. I urge the chair and his colleagues to consider that whereas the government has allocated some $20B each year for the last six years for capital expenditure on national security, it has allocated a mere 10% of that to education.
While Jamaica’s spend on education, as a function of GDP, is comparable to the best in the world, and higher than some, at just above 5%, our outcomes are well below what they would be expected to be. Yet a substantial part of that 5% goes into recurrent expenditure. Capital expenditure on education is in the region of about 0.12% of 1% of GDP. The question we must raise, therefore, is whether the focus on how much is spent on education should take into account recurrent expenses, of which over 80% is for salaries, or should focus on capital and programme expenditure.
That the chair of the ETOC is an economist, may be seen as saying something about where the government’s head is, on the skills needed to address the problems facing the education sector. I urge the chair and his colleagues to consider that whereas the government has allocated some $20B each year for the last six years for capital expenditure on national security, it has allocated a mere 10% of that to education.
- Accountability and the bigger picture
The ETOC is urged to note that it is one of a long line of committees established to help to fix the problems of education in Jamaica. The Patterson Report made frequent reference to the 2004 Davis Report. Many of the recommendations of that report were not implemented and while implementation of some commenced, some were dis-implemented. The Patterson Report was clear that many of Davis’ recommendations were not implemented and restated those recommendations.
While the ETOC cannot effectively concern itself with monitoring the societal level, it is my considered view that it must and should monitor performance of schools at the operations level, the quality and efficacy of policies and their implementation, and the impact of political leadership and its psychological influences.
It has been eighteen (18) years since the 2004 Davis report. Of those eighteen years, one party has been in power for fourteen years and the other for four years. There has to be a reckoning with this fact. The assumption is that with Patterson reiterating recommendations of Davis, the value and relevance of those recommendations are validated and reinforced. Many of those recommendations relate to how the Ministry of Education operates, what structures are designed, what systems are implemented, and what policies are created.
Thus, while a considerable part of the problem with our education system exists at the operational level, a large part exists at the policy level and (by way of interconnectedness) the political leadership level, as well as the societal level. While the ETOC cannot effectively concern itself with monitoring the societal level, it is my considered view that it must and should monitor performance of schools at the operations level, the quality and efficacy of policies and their implementation, and the impact of political leadership and its psychological influences.
Dr. Canute Thompson is Senior Lecturer in Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership at the School of Education, The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, and Head of the Caribbean Centre for Educational Planning. He is author of two award-winning books and articles, among his collection seven books and over a dozen journal articles, and the operator of leadershipreimagination.com website.