Jamaica--Culture Smart! by Nick Davis

Author:Nick Davis [Davis, Nick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-85733-565-1
Publisher: Kuperard
Published: 2011-04-05T00:00:00+00:00

At the age of eleven, students take exams to determine which secondary school they will attend. The Grade Six Achievement Test, or GSAT, is a source of great stress for parents, teachers, and especially pupils, across the country. Students choose five secondary schools, and based on their results they are placed in a school of their choice.

At secondary schools students aged sixteen take their Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate, and if they progress to the sixth form their CAPE (Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exams). These are the equivalent of the GCSE and A Level examinations in the United Kingdom.

The education that pupils get is structured and disciplined. It more closely resembles the way children were taught during Jamaica’s colonial era nearly fifty years ago than the British system now. Children learn a lot by rote, but have a deeper understanding of subjects at an earlier age. The use of corporal punishment is not allowed by teachers in class—only the head teacher is allowed to use it in certain situations—however its use is an ongoing debate in the country. There have been some serious cases that have prompted moves to ban its use in the country completely.

Children all wear school uniform, and the dress code is strictly enforced (though boys like to wear their khaki shirts outside their trousers and their ties short). In school pupils will be told off for trying to break the dress rules, and may be punished. In the street you may see pupils trying to look casual and “cool,” and the police and even members of the general public will castigate these “schoolers,” as they are known, and tell them to pull their pants up and tuck their shirts in. They’ll also tell them to head home, especially if they are just hanging around. The view is that no good can come of children doing nothing when they should be doing homework.

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