Education in Jamaica
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After the British took over Jamaica, they imposed their educational system on the island. Before the implementation of the Act of Emancipation in 1834, there was no system used to teach the indigenous people and slaves. The many changes affecting the education in Jamaica followed some of the most influential events in Jamaican history, such as the abolition of slavery in 1834, the advent of suffrage in 1944, and the achievement of independence in 1962; as the people needed to push off the pressures that were placed on the island and on the Caribbean region as a whole. After the abolition of slavery in 1834, education was seen by the British as a tool to integrate former slaves into the community.
The current challenge
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According to Esther Tyson (2013), the present debate concerning the outcomes of the education system in Jamaica relates to “the decreasing thrust to teach Standard Jamaican English (SJE) at tertiary institutions and rather to focus on the use of Jamaican Creole (JC) in the classrooms.”
The world is now a global village, and Jamaicans are living in all corners of the earth. This means that the Jamaicans need to be prepared to communicate with people from different nations. Added to that, economically speaking, Jamaica does not have the ability to provide jobs for the many graduates.
And so Tyson believes that the best way to prepare students for the global market is to teach Standard English being the acknowledged language of business around the world. The training institutions recognize that children come into school at an early age using Jamaican Creole as their first language. Therefore, teachers need to be trained to be able to help these children acquire Standard Jamaican English as a second language. All in all, Standard Jamaican English should become the sole language of instruction.
The world is now a global village, and Jamaicans are living in all corners of the earth. This means that the Jamaicans need to be prepared to communicate with people from different nations. Added to that, economically speaking, Jamaica does not have the ability to provide jobs for the many graduates.
And so Tyson believes that the best way to prepare students for the global market is to teach Standard English being the acknowledged language of business around the world. The training institutions recognize that children come into school at an early age using Jamaican Creole as their first language. Therefore, teachers need to be trained to be able to help these children acquire Standard Jamaican English as a second language. All in all, Standard Jamaican English should become the sole language of instruction.