(2) To provide additional facilities for technical education

(3) To increase the number of secondary school places and the number of awards for free tuition as the first step towards the ultimate goal of free secondary education

(4) To provide additional scholarships for study at University level to persons with sufficient ability to qualify for the professions and for key posts in the Government Service, in order to implement the policy of filling posts in the Civil Service and private industry with suitable local candidates

(5) To intensify the local training of Civil Servants and to ensure full efficiency in the administrative arm of Government

(6) To provide facilities for the training up to Government standards of a greater number of people

(7) To increase the information available to the public by intensifying adult education and full use of Government Broadcasting time.'

Likewise, Barbados initiated in 1955 a 5-Year Development Program, including provision for educational development, and extended it in 1957 to 1962. British Guiana, a non-Federation territory, included in its 10-Year Development Program for 1946-56 substantial allocations for education. Modifications and extension of this Program into a new 5-Year Development Program for 195660, inclusive, took place after the visit of an International Bank for Reconstruction and Development Mission in 1953-54. In its education aspects the British Guiana plan has emphasized expansion of physical facilities to meet increasing enrollments and replacement needs. With respect to the British Guiana education budget generally, there is the same upward trend in the matter of percentage of total funds devoted to education in Jamaica and that which exists elsewhere in British Caribbean territories. In the 3-year period 1954-57, the percentage of total government revenues devoted to education rose from 10.7 percent to 13.6 percent. More of the territory's funds were spent on education in the latter year than on any other function except medical services."

9 British Guiana Education Department, Triennial Report, 1954-57, mimeo., p. 7–8.

CHAPTER IV

Elementary and Secondary Education

PRIMARY, or elementary, education on the one hand and secondary

education on the other have historically been regarded in the British Caribbean areas as two different and unrelated types and systems of education. Students have not progressed more or less automatically from the elementary to the secondary schools. "Secondary" education has been academic education for which one might be selected after about 6 years of elementary schooling. Those not so selected might continue their general education in elementary schools. Thus, in early adolescence some students might be attending academic secondary schools and a larger number elementary system schools. One trend in modern educational thinking and practice in the British Caribbean stems from the birth of a new concept of elementary and secondary education as a continuing process of instruction.

Elementary Level

The terms "primary" and "elementary" education have been used somewhat interchangeably in the British Caribbean. Whichever term is used, it usually refers broadly to general education which is at an "elementary," as opposed to an "advanced," level, and is given at one of the regular primary or elementary system schools, and not at an academic secondary school. Such education has generally been regarded as covering the years from age 5 or 6 to 14 or 15, though some students in these schools are older due to retardation or other factors. The usual situation in most territories has been that unless a student "wins a place" in an academic secondary school, or goes into some phase of "technical," or vocational, education, formal schooling is completed in a primary or elementary school. This has embraced about 8 years of schooling in most territories. In Trinidad the primary system also included in 1956 eight so-called intermediate schools, which extended it to 11 or more years. These are "all-age" schools for those from age 5 to 18, and continue education for a limited number of students from 2 to 4 years beyond the combined 9 years of pre-primary and primary education given in the usual primary school in Trinidad.

In recent years there has been a tendency toward reorganization of schools in the traditional primary or elementary system into

departments known as infant (ages 5-6), junior or primary (ages 7-11), and senior or post-primary (ages 12 to 14 or 15). There are the beginnings of a trend for the last of these to be established in separate schools. They are regarded by some as the equivalent of the secondary modern school in England, and as the means of giving a combined academic and "practical," 3-year, post-primary education. In some quarters and in certain areas, such as Barbados, postprimary education for the 12 to 14 or 15 age bracket has come to be regarded, therefore, as secondary education, particularly when it is imparted in separate schools. There will be further discussion when secondary level education is considered. Because the term "primary" is coming to refer in some cases to one department within a school, the term "elementary" will be used in referring to education for the 5 to 14 or 15, or older, age bracket in the same schools. In the British Caribbean area itself, the term "primary and all-age schools” is also used in the same context.

Enrollment Increases

The fundamental problem of elementary education in the British Caribbean is that of remedying an already existing deficiency in buildings, books and equipment, and teaching staff, in a situation in which it is difficult to make headway because the numbers of children reaching school age are increasing so rapidly. Thus, the Government of British Guiana stated in 1957 that there was an increase of 6,000 pupils in its primary (elementary) school enrollment each year. It noted that "the increase in school population has resulted in severe overcrowding and this, with a shortage of adequately qualified staff, has adversely affected the organization and work of schools." 1 The estimated absolute and percentage increases in the 5 to 14 age bracket between 1946 and 1961 in the British Caribbean areas were noted in Chapter I. Further light on the magnitude of the problem is shown by estimates of this trend projected to 1970, as prepared by the Vital Statistics Adviser to the West Indies Development and Welfare Organization, for the aforementioned 1957 Regional Conference on the Training of Teachers. Three different estimates, each based on a different set of assumptions, were made. The lowest of these projected a population increase in the 5 to 14 age group between 1955 and 1970 from 844,500 to 1,273,700, or 50.9 percent, for the region as a whole. Other recent figures show that close to 25 percent of the total population in the area is in this age bracket.

At the same Conference, other figures were presented showing percentages of children of elementary school age not enrolled in school in the different territories. These varied from 2 percent in

1 British Guiana Education Department, op. cit., p. 9-10.

Barbados, Antigua, and Montserrat, to 10 percent in British Guiana, 12 percent in Trinidad, 15-20 percent in Jamaica, and 30 percent in Dominica. The higher nonenrollment ratios in some of the territories is generally attributed to an insufficiency of schools in view of the compulsory attendance laws in most of them. Barbados, which with two other territories had the lowest nonenrollment ratio, has no compulsory attendance law. Viewed historically, the nonenrollment ratio in most of the territories has decreased since the 1930's. For comparative purposes it may be observed that in the neighboring republics of Latin America generally, the overall nonenrollment ratio is estimated to be in the neighborhood of 40-50 percent, with some of the Caribbean area republics having a higher nonenrollment ratio than this. The relatively favorable position of the British Caribbean area, with similar economic and other conditions, is noteworthy.

The matter of actual attendance is another problem. Although figures are generally lacking showing the ratio of average attendance to total enrollment, it is known in some territories that there is frequently a considerable discrepancy between the two, especially in rural areas. Thus, in a number of territories it is recognized that there is a particularly noticeable number of absences at the beginning and the end of the school week. Chronic tardiness, or drifting into school up to an hour late, is still another problem.

Building Programs

Insofar as the shortage of classroom space is concerned, intensified school building and expansion programs have been underway in most territories since the 1940's, with the assistance of Colonial Development and Welfare funds. The various Development Plans already noted look to a further reduction in the shortage of classroom space and a relieving of overcrowded conditions. For example, it is the objective of the Plans of both Jamaica and Trinidad to provide sufficient "places" for all children of elementary school age. In British Guiana the major emphasis in educational programs in recent years has been on school construction.

The magnitude of the problem of school facilities is evident when it is realized that the traditional elementary school building in the British Caribbean has been the large hall, perhaps 120 by 30 feet in dimensions, often used as a place of worship on Sundays and a meeting center on workday evenings. The building with separate classrooms is the exception rather than the rule, and even separation of classes by movable partitions or blackboards is not universal. The vast majority of elementary schools are rural schools and have an

2 For recent statistics on this point see UNESCO, "British Caribbean Region," etc., op. cit.

enrollment of 200 or more, resulting not infrequently in as many as 500 children, divided into a number of classes, being accommodated in one large room. The one- or two-teacher school is not common in the British Caribbean areas.

The trend in school construction is to have new buildings with separate classrooms and corridors, and to replace existing buildings where possible with new-type facilities. However, in view of everincreasing enrollment and limited construction funds, existing buildings of the old type continue in use. The 1957 Regional Conference on Teacher Training took cognizance of this situation by recommending that "each class should, wherever possible, be given a separate classroom." 3

The problem of adequate teaching staff, quantitatively and qualitatively, for the mushrooming school age population is, of course, acute, and is regarded by many as having a higher priority for its solution than that of additional and improved space facilities. Trends in teacher training are discussed elsewhere in this bulletin. The gravity of the teacher shortage from the quantitative point of view is indicated by the fact that the 1957 Regional Conference on Teacher Training saw fit to include among its recommendations one to the effect that "Governments should work towards the principle that no class-room should contain more than 50 pupils." While the average pupil-teacher ratio in most territories does not exceed this figure and in some cases is less, it happens not infrequently that there are class groups in which there are 60, 70, or 80 pupils per teacher.

Adaptation to Local Environment

Another trend in elementary education has been a recognition of the need for an increase in the supply books and teaching materials generally, and specifically for books and materials having relevance to the local environment. The 1957 Teacher Training Conference took note of the lack of textbooks in the British Caribbean and the unsuitability to the region of many of those available. It regarded improvement "as depending on both spending more money on books and also producing more suitable books within the region." 4 It observed that in Jamaica a Production Unit for Educational Publications had recently been established and had begun to produce books suitable for children of the 7 to 12 age group. With the assistance of a UNESCO specialist this work was subsequently expanded also to include books for other age levels and general reading interests beyond immediate educational needs. The fact that progress is

3 Teacher Training Conference Report, p. 35.

4 Ibid., p. 36.

5 See UNESCO House News, Vol. II, No. 25, Dec. 31, 1958, p. 5.