My Two Cents » Changing our Culture – Education : A Jamaica Gleaner Blog

Changing our Culture – Education

For the last thirty years Jamaicans have been accustomed to receiving ‘free education’. The reality is that education is not free but is simply paid for out of taxes collected by the government. Given the current world economic crisis it is time to revisit that culture of freeness especially given the fact that so many Jamaicans refuse to pay their taxes.

Today many persons who wish to send their children to school adopt a practice of waiting until the last minute to find the resources necessary to buy the required school items. This puts significant stress on the parents who struggle to put together the money to pay for auxiliary fees, books and uniforms. Although this is not a new phenomenon the cost of these essential items has risen to a level whereby many can no longer afford them.

Nowhere is this more evident then when we look at the cost of tertiary education. The government currently pays about 80-85 percent of the expense of university education leaving the student to find the remainder. Many students apply to the Students Loan Bureau for a loan to finance their studies but in these difficult times find it hard to obtain a job from which they can repay their loans. In addition the Students Loan Bureau does not have sufficient resources to lend to all who apply and thus has to limit the number of successful applicants.

It is time for us to change our culture of seeing education as free and to recognise that times have changed. The costs associated with education have increased beyond our capability to finance at the last moment. We need to adopt the practice of other countries and recognise that from the moment a child is born we should begin saving towards financing the education of that child. Education must be seen as a priority and as the means of improving one’s economic mobility. If it is hard to obtain a good job while having qualifications it is almost impossible to do so without any. Education opens the door to any opportunities here and also provides the option of a job elsewhere in this global world in which we live.

It is time to see the importance of education and to change our spending habits so that we have resources to help finance our children’s education. It will reduce the stress that is associated with back to school activities and may be the only chance that one’s child has of attending a tertiary institution. It is never easy to change what one has become used to but for the benefit of our children’s future it is a change that we must make.

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6 Responses to “Changing our Culture – Education”

Ras Howard Henry says:

October 20, 2010 at 10:58 am

They need to forward to our African culture and refrained the continuation of alienic cultures, teach our children from whence they came and who they really are,

Westernize/alienic culture is whats been used to devide us, all these injected surinames disabling us from cherishing the fact of we are all one, seem they dont realize the jamaican motto the way it’s been mention, lets change the format its been potrayed today to out of two we are all one, maybe such format will activate some memories in my people.
Paul Ward says:

October 21, 2010 at 8:04 am

What a sad contrast to the Letter of Today published on 21 October which introduces some new thinking.

This blog just repeats what the small-minded, or self-serving elite would have us believe – that there is no longer the money / resources in the world to provide essential social services to everyone. The blog is also hopelessly contradictory, acknowledging the difficulties that many have in paying the non-free educational fees but at the same time saying everyone should save (substantial amounts) towards their childrens’ education.

It seems we are determined to live in an ever-more divided world where only those who can presently afford it can prosper whilst we conveniently blame the others for society’s / the economy’s failure.
Omugabe says:

October 21, 2010 at 10:01 am

“…. it is time to revisit that culture of freeness especially given the fact that so many Jamaicans refuse to pay their taxes”.

If “education is not free”, then how can there be a “culture of freeness” with respect to education?

And if SOME citizens aren’t paying their taxes, why not AS A PRIORITY, go after those delinquent citizens who refuse to pay their fair share (taxes) to sustain the nation?

While it is wise for every parent to make good effort so as to ensure the education of their children, education is so vital for the stability, progress and prosperity of the society that the law should be more vigorously employed to ensure tax compliance.

However, there is usually not enough courage to go after those who refuse to pay their taxes; because the tax cheats are usually mr and mrs BIG!

And so, we see much ‘courage’ is invested in wailing on those who are least able to pay for their children’s education.

This is sheer COWARDICE to insult and go after mr and mrs small, who HAVE LEAST to contribute to vital education of Jamaican citizens!
Where is the courage to call out the tax cheats?

Why not go after ‘the head of the snake’, rather than the tail?
After all, who is withholding the greater amount of resources from education, the mr and mrs little or mr and mrs BIG TAX CHEAT?
Rachel Rothechild says:

October 21, 2010 at 10:20 am

The lottery in the country is a way of financing that education program an pass a law allowing marijuana to be used for civilian purposes which includes and not limited to automobile transportation or into disel fuel. It can be used to make furniture, soap, the list goes on. In turn the product can be exported under the same guise.
BOB says:

October 30, 2010 at 6:16 pm

I take it that this Author don’t believe that we all born with a talent ans should work to develop it rather than force feed the same thing that every body has been forced fed for generations. and some how the world is not getting any better!..

I for one can survive with out an education!.. I have multiple talents. that I can survive from should the job market get so bad that I couldn’t find a job working for others!…
what we should be doing is simply teaching people to count and read to understand!..

University should be for those who can afford it 100%. none tax financed!,, because that’s unfair when poorer people cant have their kids attending university, but those who get tax payers help some of them once graduated they left the country and the poor who help to educate them does not benefit from their work!…

The main thing that the government should do is to help student develop a skill!.. after that let them go to work and save to go to university. to become a lawyer or so on!..
Jamaica Transport says:

June 12, 2011 at 12:05 am

Thanks for writing this entry. I really liked it. Keep up the quality work, dude!