Adult literacy in the Commonwealth Caribbean with special reference to a study of the functional literacy of young Guyanese adults

International databases report high rates of adult literacy for Commonwealth Caribbean countries which create the impression that these countries do not have a literacy problem. This is despite the fact that local and regional research has consistently pointed up serious weaknesses in the literacy skills of nationals at all levels, including university students. This paper questions whether the reported high adult literacy rates really reflect the reality of the situation in Commonwealth Caribbean countries and it uses a case study of Guyana - the poorest and most underdeveloped of the English-speaking Caribbean - to support its case. The paper describes the methodology of the test used for measuring levels (high, moderate, low) of achievement in functional literacy of out-of-school youth (OSY) in three domains (document, prose, quantitative) where literacy and numeracy functions are typically found in the society. Special reference is made to differences in achievement in functional literacy according to gender and ethnicity. The main findings of the study are: that only 11% of the OSY achieve at a high level of functional literacy: that females tend to achieve at a higher level of functional literacy than males and that there are significant differences in the achievement of the OSY from the different ethnic groups. The findings suggest a much lower adult literacy rate for Guyana than is usually reported and underscore the fact that failure to report rates that more accurately represent the situation in Commonwealth Caribbean countries will prolong the absence of political will to address the social and economic issues which lie at the root of the literacy problem. In countries where their provision is weak, adult and continuing education programmes are needed to help the adult population to meet the changing demands of society for improved skills in literacy and numeracy.     

Interventions in schools’ curricula to achieve quality in learning: experiences from the Commonwealth Caribbean

Abstract

For some four decades governments in Commonwealth Caribbean (CC) countries have been introducing interventions in their school systems to provide quality education for all. Examples of these are learner-centred teaching pedagogy and the integration of technology into teaching and learning. The data for the paper is based on published research and evaluation studies of these interventions. How successful have these interventions been? Following a discussion of how quality in education and learning has been interpreted, this paper seeks to answer this question through a review of selected interventions in schools in three CC countries. Challenges that CC countries need to address as they pursue goals relating to quality education are: the intersection of quality with access and equity, limitations in teacher training which have militated against change in teaching pedagogy, and resources and infrastructure.     

Resource and Technology: A beacon for change in the reform of Jamaica’s secondary education system – or a “pipedream”?

Different strategies are being employed worldwide to prepare school-leavers for the world of work. Central to the Reform of Secondary Education (ROSE) in Jamaica in the 1990s was the achievement of goals of access, equity and quality through the implementation of a common curriculum in all schools. Within this reform, Resource and Technology (R&T) was an innovation designed to develop the creative potential in technology and to transform pedagogical practices from being teacher-centred to being student-centred. This paper examines how teachers and principals involved in the implementation of R&T perceive its attributes, such as need and relevance and observability. The findings reveal how the achievement of goals was frustrated and which challenges the users faced, including a lack of clarity of the means for implementing R&T.     

Implementing the ‘integrated approach to learning’: Implications for integration in the curricula of primary schools in the Caribbean

Child-centred theories of education are lauded highly in Caribbean curriculum guides, and yet, this investigation into the implementation of an integrated approach to learning in Jamaican primary schools revealed little evidence of child-centredness in the classroom. Pupil-initiated talk was minimal. Teachers dominated the lessons and posed few ‘open’ questions to stimulate the children's thinking. Although the integrated approach to learning led to more democratic staff relationships, the teachers' own inadequacies in terms of their knowledge competence, lack of resources and materials, inflexible prescribed curricula and restrictive examination procedures all served to undermine its effectiveness. ‘Discovery’, ‘questioning’, ‘enquiry’, still remain elusive ideals.     

Teacher Education in Selected Countries in the Commonwealth Caribbean: The ideal of policy versus the reality of practice

The study explores the extent to which teachers in selected Commonwealth Caribbean countries are being trained to: (i) use centrally produced curriculum guides in language arts/reading, English and foreign Languages; (ii) adopt appropriate methodologies for the teacher as a 'facilitator of learning'; (iii) teach low achievers and underachieving males; and (iv) use new technologies to aid instruction. The findings suggest that, while in most of the countries teachers are trained to use curriculum guides at the primary level, there is little evidence to indicate that the ideals in (ii)-(iv) either are being or can be realised, given existing constraints. Highlighted amongst the lessons learned from the Caribbean experience are: (i) the insensitivity of policy to the practical realities of the classroom; and (ii) the tendency of policy to perceive teacher training as the panacea for problems whose solutions lie in changes in the economic, social and cultural fabric of society.     

Jamaica's work-experience programme

Conclusion This article has sought to highlight a work-experience programme in a Third World country, pin-pointing the factors that militate against the achievement of its desired objectives. Among such factors are problems associated with curriculum organization at the secondary level, not least the negative attitudes that the society generally has towards a practical curriculum. Inadequate funding, largely due to governments aloofness, against a background of pressure on schools to become more selfreliant; wastage of human resources in relation to programme organization; and the lack of effective communication both within the school system and between the school and the community generally-all these are proving to be constraints on the achievement of objectives. Our discussion lends support to Sinclair's (1977) observation, referred to earlier, that Third World countries lack the institutional framework for conducting real-world assignments by pupils in factories and offices. Before curriculum innovations like the WEP can have the desired effects, Third World countries will not only have to deal constructively with negative attitudes and values in relation to practical and manual labour, but they will also have to find ways of initiating employment-generating strategies, so that students who have been prepared for the world of work will have the opportunity to enjoy the right to work. In Third World countries like Jamaica, which are caught in the grip of political and social strife exacerbated by a vicious economic squeeze, these are gulfs which seem too wide to breach at present.     

Preparation of the youth for the world of work: The effectiveness of programmes linking education with production in the commonwealth Caribbean

In the wake of rising youth unemployment, Third World countries have been urged to diversify their schools' curricula by introducing programmes that link education with production (EWP) in an effort to prepare the youth more effectively for the working world. This study presents a typology of EWP programmes in the Commonwealth Caribbean and examines the extent to which they have achieved their stated objectives. Although programmes in the nonformal education system appear more effective in achieving economic objectives, the author advises against a rejection of EWP programmes in the formal system and draws attention to the plight of vast numbers of youths who do not have access to such programmes.