Jamaica Education Stats
Author: chris.lockyer781
The Jamaican education system is firmly entrenched on the premise that every child can learn, every child must. The country’s education system formally starts with what is known as the Basic school at age 3 but sometimes as early as age 2. The first recognized basic school in Jamaica, was started by the Rev. Henry Ward, in Islington, in the north eastern parish of St. Mary in the late 1930s. The school still exists as the Islington Early Childhood Institute.
Primary school attendance is mandatory for all students between the ages of 6 and 12 or grades one to six. A literacy and numeracy test is given at grade four and the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) is administered at the end of primary education. This test helps to filter students into secondary education.
Secondary school attendance is provided for students between the ages of 12 and 19 or grade 7 to 13. Following the completion of a mandatory 5 years up to grade 11, students have the option of moving on to grades 12 and 13 or sixth form as it is more commonly called. Matriculation to the sixth form usually requires passes in 5 or more subjects in the external examinations called Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate or CSEC for short. Those who do not matriculate often take up skills training in the national training agency called Human Employment and Resource Training – HEART.
Over the last decade, a plethora of opportunities have emerged for young people to benefit from tertiary training and more significantly, associate and undergraduate degrees.
However, there are three main universities, the University of the West Indies, the University of Technology and the Seventh Day Adventist run Northern Caribbean University. There are also seven colleges dedicated to the training of teachers.
Definitions
- Adult literacy rate > Total: Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life."
- Average years of schooling of adults: Average years of schooling of adults is the years of formal schooling received, on average, by adults over age 15. (Data Source: Barro-Lee Data Set www.worldbank.org/html/prdmg/grthweb/ddbarle2.htm)
- Children out of school, primary: Children out of school, primary. Out-of-school children of primary school age. Total is the total number of primary-school-age children who are not enrolled in either primary or secondary schools.
- Children out of school, primary per 1000: Children out of school, primary. Out-of-school children of primary school age. Total is the total number of primary-school-age children who are not enrolled in either primary or secondary schools. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
- Children out of school, primary, female: Children out of school, primary, female. Out-of-school children of primary school age. Female is the total number of female primary-school-age children who are not enrolled in either primary or secondary schools.
- College and university > Gender parity index: Country's gender parity index for college and university enrollment. For countries with a rating of over 1, more females are enrolled while countries with a rating under 1 have more males enrolled.
- Compulsary education duration: Number of years students are required to be enrolled in school for all levels of education. For instance, compulsary education lasts for 12 years in the United States.
- Government spending on education > Proportion of GDP: Percentage of public funding for education out of country's total GDP.
- High school enrolment rate: Progression to secondary school refers to the number of new entrants to the first grade of secondary school in a given year as a percentage of the number of students enrolled in the final grade of primary school in the previous year.
- Literacy > Total population: This entry includes a definition of literacy and Census Bureau percentages for the total population, males, and females. There are no universal definitions and standards of literacy. Unless otherwise specified, all rates are based on the most common definition - the ability to read and write at a specified age. Detailing the standards that individual countries use to assess the ability to read and write is beyond the scope of our source. Information on literacy, while not a perfect measure of educational results, is probably the most easily available and valid for international comparisons.
- Primary education, duration > Years: Primary education, duration (years). Duration of primary is the number of grades (years) in primary education.
- Primary education, teachers per 1000: Primary education, teachers. Teaching staff in primary. Public and private. Full and part-time. All programmes. Total is the total number of teachers in public and private primary education institutions. Teachers are persons employed full time or part time in an official capacity to guide and direct the learning experience of pupils and students, irrespective of their qualifications or the delivery mechanism, i.e. face-to-face and/or at a distance. This definition excludes educational personnel who have no active teaching duties (e.g. headmasters, headmistresses or principals who do not teach) and persons who work occasionally or in a voluntary capacity in educational institutions. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
- Pupil-teacher ratio, primary: Pupil-teacher ratio, primary. Pupil-teacher ratio. Primary is the number of pupils enrolled in primary school divided by the number of primary school teachers.
- Pupil-teacher ratio, secondary: Pupil-teacher ratio, secondary. Pupil-teacher ratio. Secondary is the number of pupils enrolled in secondary school divided by the number of secondary school teachers.
- Secondary education, duration > Years: Secondary education, duration (years). Duration of secondary education is the number of grades (years) in secondary education (ISCED 2 & 3).
SOURCES: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics.; UNESCO; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Population figures from World Bank: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; United Nations Statistics Division. Source tables; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Source tables; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Source tables; CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Population figures from World Bank: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.
Citation
Jamaica Education Profiles (Subcategories)
5
The Jamaican education system is firmly entrenched on the premise that every child can learn, every child must. The country’s education system formally starts with what is known as the Basic school at age 3 but sometimes as early as age 2. The first recognized basic school in Jamaica, was started by the Rev. Henry Ward, in Islington, in the north eastern parish of St. Mary in the late 1930s. The school still exists as the Islington Early Childhood Institute.
Primary school attendance is mandatory for all students between the ages of 6 and 12 or grades one to six. A literacy and numeracy test is given at grade four and the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) is administered at the end of primary education. This test helps to filter students into secondary education.
Secondary school attendance is provided for students between the ages of 12 and 19 or grade 7 to 13. Following the completion of a mandatory 5 years up to grade 11, students have the option of moving on to grades 12 and 13 or sixth form as it is more commonly called. Matriculation to the sixth form usually requires passes in 5 or more subjects in the external examinations called Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate or CSEC for short. Those who do not matriculate often take up skills training in the national training agency called Human Employment and Resource Training – HEART.
Over the last decade, a plethora of opportunities have emerged for young people to benefit from tertiary training and more significantly, associate and undergraduate degrees.
However, there are three main universities, the University of the West Indies, the University of Technology and the Seventh Day Adventist run Northern Caribbean University. There are also seven colleges dedicated to the training of teachers.
Posted on 28 Mar 2014
chris.lockyer781
396 Stat enthusiast
