[{"bbox": [95, 152, 1136, 1108], "category": "Text", "text": "secondary schooling, Jamaica has a severe learning crisis, in that a majority of students at the end of primary school remain illiterate and innumerate and most leave secondary school with no marketable skills. The ETR noted that in 2017, over 85% of students achieved “mastery” of their Grade 4 literacy test, and 66% in their test of numeracy. Performance at the end of secondary schooling was also cause for concern. In 2019 some 32,617 students sat the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations (54% females/45% males), of which only 42.5% passed 5 or more subjects including English and/or mathematics. Overall, only 28% passed 5 or more subjects with English and Mathematics. Within this context, boys in Jamaica exhibit high school drop out rates as well as a high level of underperformance. This trend of sub-optimal engagement continues at the tertiary level. The ETR revealed that at the tertiary level, 69% of enrolled students are females, and only 31% are males. Women also graduate from this level at three times the rate of men. A 2020 UNESCO report¹¹ states that, while girls continue to face challenges and are more marginalized globally, it is boys who are at risk in Latin America and the Caribbean. Noting that negative teacher attitude towards academically weak students, often boys, is a reported feature of the Jamaican education system (Evans, 2001); the UNESCO report revealed that in Jamaica, the drop-out rate for boys in the 8th to 10th grade is 8% nationally, while in the western end of the country it is almost doubled (14%). UNESCO emphasized that disengagement is a multi-dimensional concept, more than dropping out of school, it also includes turning up at school but not turned on to school. A 2016 Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) study on crime and violence in Jamaica found that most victims and perpetrators of homicides are male, young, uneducated and poor. Another study found that Jamaican boys who successfully complete their secondary-level education are up to 10 times less likely to become high-risk crime statistics than those who drop out before the ninth grade¹². Against this background, education is seen by government and national planners as a means of stemming the tide of criminality. The UNESCO report also noted that Industries such as Construction, Agriculture, Retail and Wholesale and Repair of motor vehicles and equipment, absorb men with lower educational achievement; and that this sometimes serve as a disincentive for boys to stay in school¹³. Unesco found that while many initiatives have been introduced to keep Jamaican boys in school and improve their academic performance, no formal impact studies have been done to determine the effectiveness of these measures and none of these initiatives have been introduced nationally and system-wide. UNESCO opined that, in the age of the fourth industrial revolution which is further eroding traditional low-skilled jobs and requiring greater levels of literacy for the simplest of paid work, Caribbean boys are reducing their options regarding being employable. The UNESCO report concluded that (1) Jamaican boys have higher enrolment numbers than girls do at the start of their schooling. However, these numbers decline as they progress through the school system. (2) Many more boys have a special education placement than do girls. (3) Boys have higher repetition rates and higher out-of-school rates at the upper secondary school level than do girls. (4) At the primary, level girls outperform boys in academic assessments. (5) Fewer boys access the CSEC examinations and those who do, perform below the level of their female counterparts. (6) Girls have begun to access and are doing better than boys in traditional areas of study such as physics, Additional Mathematics and Electrical and Electronic Technology. (7) The poorer performance in CSEC exams exclude many males from accessing tertiary education."}, {"bbox": [95, 1133, 1136, 1241], "category": "Text", "text": "Noting that a multiplicity of factors influence disengagement including poverty, parents' gender beliefs, school policies and culture, school leadership and faculty, and the legal and policy framework governing schools, UNESCO posits that a multi-sectoral approach will have to be taken to improve the engagement and academic performance of boys."}, {"bbox": [95, 1265, 1136, 1479], "category": "Text", "text": "Effective policy action to address the afore-mentioned (digital divide faced by both teachers and students, the need to ensure the education system caters effectively to the diverse learning needs of boys and girls and identifying and deploying strategies to stem the high drop-out rate of boys, while building on the positive trajectory of girls) and other related challenges, is key to support Jamaica's human capital development agenda. Key stakeholders in this mix are teacher educators and teachers. According to the ETR, the quality of teaching is influenced by several factors, of which, the quality of teachers is the most consequential. The quality of teachers the ETR posits, refers not just to the personal characteristics of the individuals entering the profession, but also the quality of their preparation. There are ten public Jamaican institutions designated by the Ministry of Education & Youth (MoEY)"}, {"bbox": [85, 1523, 1144, 1572], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹¹ https://www.summaedu.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/4.-PPT-Christopher-Clarke-Jamaica.-Webinar-GEM-2020-LAC.-Sesi%C3%B3n-5-G%C3%A9nero-2019-09-26.pdf"}, {"bbox": [85, 1572, 927, 1599], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹² https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20210507/educated-boys-less-high-risk-drop-outs-gayle"}, {"bbox": [85, 1597, 817, 1622], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹³ https://digital.sandiego.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1104&context=dissertations"}, {"bbox": [1037, 1680, 1144, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 8 of 42"}]