5.4 The Case of Jamaica

A. Context
B. Factors
C. Recommendations

A. Context

a. General

Jamaica is a republic founded in 1962 following the demise of the Federation of the West Indies through which the majority of the former British colonies in the Caribbean had gained independence in 1958. It is by far the largest in land area (some 11000 sq. kilometres), and population total (now well over 2 million) within that group of states collectively known as the 'Commonwealth Caribbean'.

Jamaica enjoys an equable sub-tropical climate though with periodic devastating visitations by hurricanes. With the higher part of the island being in the northeast and in the path of the trade winds there is a marked contrast between the leeward and windward sectors. Kingston the capital (and its environs) has grown rapidly in the past few decades on the leeward slopes below the Blue Mountains and the conurbation now contains more than half the island's population. The overall population density is about 200 per square kilometre.

In general Jamaica is culturally homogeneous, predominantly anglophone, and about 80 per cent Afro-Caribbean. However, there are significant ethnic minorities of Indian, Chinese and Levantine origin and a variety of Christian denominations (20 per cent Anglican, 20 per cent Baptist, 10 per cent Church of God, 8 per cent each of Catholic and Methodist) all of which have made significant educational contributions. The long standing North American connection has provided the link for the development of Rastafarianism from the 1920s on, and this has spread to other Commonwealth Caribbean states as well as the West Indian diaspora, with some educational effects.

By the standard indices Jamaica ranks as an 'upper-middle income country', that is to say the highest group within the developing world, with a per capita income of well over $US1000 p.a. For a relatively small island state the economy is quite well diversified, with extractive industries and export agriculture in the primary sector, a small but not insignificant manufacturing sector, and a tertiary sector that includes tourism, financial services and the main campus of the University of the West Indies which produces an advantageous multiplier effect, though of course the Government of Jamaica contributes more than any other to the capital and recurrent costs of this regional institution. For the past two decades the economy of Jamaica has been in a critical state and in recent years subject to strict IMF controls, including on public spending, and therefore education at all levels.

b. Education

The diagram on upper (T. N. Postlethwaite, 1988, p.399) shows the educational system of Jamaica. The pupils surveyed were in Primary 6 classes, the last year of the primary cycle.

Table 1 below shows clearly the more regular attendance of girls at school in both urban and rural areas. Girls not only attend school more regularly but also achieve more steadily than boys as can be seen in Table 2 which analyses "repeaters" in the school system.

Table 1: Percentage Attendance In Primary & All Age Schools By Location And Sex

PARISH	SEX	PRIMARY			ALL AGE
		URBAN	RURAL	TOTAL	URBAN	RURAL	TOTAL
Kingston	M	79	-	79	69	-	69
	F	83	-	83	74	-	74
St. Andrew	M	79	71	75	77	61	64
	F	80	67	74	78	66	72
St. Thomas	M	76	63	70	69	55	62
	F	75	70	73	70	60	65
Portland	M	71	63	67	60	54	57
	F	83	68	76	63	61	62
St. Mary	M	70	56	63	67	64	66
	F	75	54	65	70	69	70
St. Ann	M	73	71	72	68	62	65
	F	72	75	74	75	70	73
Trelawny	M	71	68	70	71	59	65
	F	69	74	72	76	65	71
St. James	M	82	66	74	70	62	63
	F	86	69	78	78	65	72
Hanover	M	69	69	69	63	62	63
	F	75	72	74	75	68	72
Westmoreland	M	67	59	63	65	56	61
	F	73	61	67	74	62	73
St. Elizabeth	M	63	64	64	62	55	59
	F	68	68	68	68	57	63
Manchester	M	76	72	74	68	62	65
	F	76	74	75	68	71	70
Clarendon	M	69	72	71	57	57	57
	F	72	73	73	64	64	64
St. Catherine	M	78	63	71	64	60	62
	F	79	70	75	68	64	66
TOTAL	M	76	65	71	68	64	65
	F	78	69	74	72	64	68
GRAND TOTAL		77	67	73	70	63	67

(Source: Ministry of Education. Education Statistics 1987-88. Kingston. 1989, p 39)

Table 2: Number of Repeaters by Grade, Sex and Type of School

	SEX	GRADE 1	GRADE 2	GRADE 3	GRADE 4	GRADE 5	GRADE 6	TOTAL
Primary	M	1040	257	216	225	259	1089	3086
	F	653	173	148	144	180	1640	2938
All Age	M	1052	480	264	230	176	506	2708
	F	656	232	168	149	111	748	2064
TOTAL	M	2092	737	480	455	435	1595	5794
	F	1309	405	316	293	291	2388	5002
TOTAL		3401	1142	796	748	726	3983	10796

	SEX	GRADE 7	GRADE 8	GRADE 9	GRADE 10	GRADE 11	GRADE 12	GRADE 13	TOTAL
All Age (7 - 13)	M	273	174	473	-	-	-	-	920
	F	252	218	486	-	-	-	-	956
New Secondary	M	13	41	153	34	50	-	-	291
	F	2	34	66	51	12	-	-	165
Secondary High	M	7	69	159	179	362	6	6	788
	F	25	59	89	136	279	11	3	602
Comprehensive High	M	9	14	14	13	93	-	-	143
	F	5	1	20	7	51	-	-	84
Technical High	M	-	1	11	19	31	-	-	62
	F	-	-	-	5	17	-	-	22
TOTAL	M	302	299	810	245	536	6	6	2204
	F	284	312	661	199	359	11	3	1829
GRAND TOTAL		586	910	1471	444	895	17	9	4033

(Source: Ministry of Education, ibid, p 59)

Girls are consistently entered for the selective Common Entrance Examination for secondary high school places in greater numbers than boys and win more places. The results for the years 1980-86 are shown in Table 3. Overleaf, Table 4 shows how this pattern is typical throughout Jamaica.

Table 3: Entries and Awards In The Common Entrance Examination 1980-86

	ENTRIES		AWARDS
Year	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls
1980	13796	24310	3735	5031
1981	13659	23762	3999	5317
1982	15534	26933	4199	5187
1983	17948	30065	4086	5292
1984	18083	29744	4200	5480
1985	17694	29201	4284	5784
1986	17523	28560	4303	5541

(Source: Ministry of Education)

Table 4: Common Entrance Examination for Entry To Secondary High Schools: Numbers of Entries and Awards By Type of School, By Sex and By Parish

PARISHES	ENTRIES									AWARDS
	GRAND TOTAL			ALL-AGE & PRIMARY			INDEPENDENT			TOTAL	GOVERNMENT SCHOLARSHIP		FREE PLACES		CANDIDATES ENTERED FROM
															PRIMARY & ALL AGE SCHOOLS -		INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS
	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total		Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
Kingston	1764	2646	4410	1534	2451	3985	230	195	425	972	4	8	405	555	265	406	140	149
St. Andrew	5262	7185	12447	4482	6248	10730	780	937	1717	3139	11	4	1419	1705	940	1134	479	571
St. Thomas	537	1076	1613	530	1069	1599	7	7	14	431	1	-	167	263	164	261	3	2
Portland	407	918	1325	399	900	1299	8	18	26	231	-	-	107	124	103	118	4	6
St. Mary	549	1110	1659	540	1094	1634	9	16	25	366	-	-	117	249	111	244	6	5
St. Ann	866	1720	2586	834	1669	2503	32	51	83	697	-	-	241	456	223	430	18	26
Trelawny	449	788	1237	449	788	1237	-	-	-	-	-	-	111	186	111	186	-	-
St. James	1407	2040	3447	1359	1954	3313	48	86	134	735	-	1	316	418	298	371	18	47
Hanover	225	714	939	225	714	939	-	-	-	164	-	-	71	93	71	93	-	-
Westmoreland	658	1238	1896	637	1205	1842	21	33	54	246	-	-	119	127	113	121	6	6
St. Elizabeth	571	1392	1963	549	1354	1903	22	38	60	518	-	1	224	293	207	265	17	28
Manchester	819	1577	2396	739	1491	2230	80	86	166	560	1	1	249	309	194	253	55	56
Clarendon	1177	2567	3744	1064	2402	3466	113	165	278	870	-	-	388	482	318	397	70	85
St. Catherine	2604	4358	6962	2533	4279	6812	71	79	150	1616	-	-	738	878	688	837	50	41
TOTAL	17295	29329	46624	15874	27618	43492	1421	1711	3132	10842	17	15	4672	6138	3806	5116	866	1022

Ministry of Education (ibid) p67

Table 5 gives the most up-to-date figures for enrolment in government aided high-schools and shows the preponderance of girls in selective secondary education.

Table 5: Enrolment in Government-Aided High School by Sex and Parish

	1986/87			1987/88
	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female
Jamaica	55,810	23,566	32,244	54,558	22,649	31,909
Kingston	8,281	5,263	3,018	8,218	5,260	2,958
St. Andrew	19,018	6,750	12,268	19,030	6,605	12,425
St. Thomas	1,276	568	708	1,303	564	739
Portland	2,380	974	1,406	2,564	1,066	1,498
St. Mary	1,863	627	1,236	1,884	595	1,289
St. Ann	2,593	884	1,709	2,718	954	1,764
Trelawny	1,360	434	926	1,477	414	1,063
St. James	3,391	1,152	2,239	3,431	1,228	2,203
Hanover	-	-	-	-	-	-
Westmoreland	1,579	711	868	1,597	725	872
St. Elizabeth	1,356	671	685	1,372	686	686
Manchester	2,467	929	1,538	2,473	905	1,568
Clarendon	3,860	1,774	2,086	4,057	1,885	2,172
St. Catherine	6,386	2,829	3,557	4,434	1,762	2,672

(Source: Ministry of Education, ibid p 67)

Table 6 demonstrates the preponderance of female teachers a' all levels of the school system and particularly in the primary sector.

Table 6: Number of Teachers in Infant, Primary and Secondary Schools By Qualification, Sex and Parish

PARISH	TRAINED GRADUATE		PRE-TRAINED GRADUATE		TRAINED TEACHER		PRE-TRAINED TEACHER		TOTAL		GRAND TOTAL
	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F
Kingston	46	182	49	56	370	1,060	30	36	495	1334	1829
St. Andrew	95	430	44	104	548	2,074	48	58	735	2666	3401
St. Thomas	9	23	8	4	121	463	11	32	149	522	671
Portland	12	14	9	6	119	483	16	23	156	526	682
St. Mary	14	32	5	8	136	633	16	28	171	701	872
St. Anne	9	31	3	4	153	781	4	20	169	836	1005
Trelawny	12	16	5	-	96	435	7	10	120	461	581
St. James	34	69	5	11	188	800	10	15	237	895	1132
Hanover	10	17	-	1	86	385	11	14	107	417	524
Westmoreland	16	35	4	5	153	662	5	19	178	721	899
St. Elizabeth	21	41	10	9	202	855	30	26	263	931	1194
Manchester	16	65	12	16	212	792	13	11	253	884	1137
Clarendon	35	64	9	8	325	1,236	29	33	398	1341	1739
St. Catherine	28	132	16	34	395	1,822	26	76	465	2064	2529
TOTAL	357	1,151	179	266	3,104	12,481	256	401	3,896	14,299	18,195
GRAND TOTAL	1,508		445		15,585		657		18,195

(Source: Ministry of Education, ibid, p 15)

c. Primary Perceptions

In Jamaica the pupils surveyed were in Primary 6 classes in rural, suburban and urban schools and covered an age range of 11-13, the most compact we came across. There were 142 pupils, 60 per cent girls and 40 per cent boys. The skew was caused by including a top set from one school in which there were 41 girls and only 18 boys. The ratio of girls to boys in this particular class and elsewhere is an indicator of attendance, attitudes and achievements in Jamaican primary schools: in general, girls out-perform boys.

As regards helping at home, rural boys in the survey were slightly more likely to help in the fields than girls, but both sexes are involved in other tasks such as fetching water, caring for siblings, preparing food, sweeping and shopping. Although 87 per cent agree that girls help at home more than boys, there was a statistically significant number of boys disagreeing about this in the rural and urban groups. The percentage of pupils who said they sometimes could not come to school because they had to help at home varied according to rural/urban location and socio-economic background: rural and poorer children were more likely to miss school (46 per cent).

Almost every child in the survey declared his or her mother to be good at "reading and writing". This was the highest percentage in the six countries and reflects the high degree of female participation and achievement in education in Jamaica. Support from mothers for their children's education was 100 per cent. Only 13 per cent of the pupils (the lowest in the survey) thought that perhaps girls "didn't really need to go to school". Only 2 per cent of the children thought they might be dropping out of school at the end of the year (a greatly lower percentage than anywhere else) and practically 100 per cent wanted to continue their education.

Jamaican children however seem very aware of the direct and indirect costs of education. In fact 93 per cent agreed that "it costs a lot of money to go to school". Urban pupils were particularly conscious of this and the concern may be linked to transport costs.. Over 90 per cent of the children wished school were nearer to their homes.

As regards marriage, 89 per cent expressed an intention to marry and the vast majority wanted children. Rural pupils, particularly boys, wanted more children than those in urban and suburban schools. Boys in general wanted not only more children but more sons than did girls, to a statistically significant degree. As regards careers, both boys and girls made varied and sophisticated choices. Boys had a wider number of ideas, but girls' choices were not as stereotyped and limited as in other countries in the survey - they included 'detective', 'archaeologist', 'aircraft fire-fighter' and 'divorce lawyer', along with the more usual 'dress-maker' and 'nurse'. Very few pupils had a mother who was not working and girls took it for granted that they too would have jobs after they had completed their schooling.

B. Factors

i. Geographical

This factor is complex in its influence and effect due to the irregular juxtaposition of urban and rural in a small state and the relative lack of catchment regulation. Access can in practice be difficult and journeys up to 25 miles from home to school are not unknown. The pattern becomes bewildering within the Kingston/St. Andrews metropolitan area. For the mass of pupils, public transport is the only regular means of reaching school. As the bus companies have been deregulated and are in cutthroat competition, they do not find "schoolers" sufficiently profitable and leave them standing at the stops. Once onto the bus young adolescent girls who should be paying reduced fare are verbally abused in view of their mature physical state and required to pay full fare or get off. The result is a daily battle with pupils arriving tired and angry. Rural pupils with longer journeys may not reach school at all.

Teachers, especially the younger ones with little capital, and also females tend to prefer moving or returning to rural areas after graduation whence they too commute into the urban centres. For historical reasons most of the well-established schools at secondary level are in Kingston or its environs and parents go for the prestigious names.

Common Entrance selection procedures from primary to high school have particular geographical dimensions since there is no official catchment, but parish boundaries and demographic patterns are taken into account. As girls form two thirds of the high school pupils they and their parents are directly enmeshed in this Byzantine situation.

Jamaicans form a 'migration society', internally, regionally and internationally, with females to the fore. Given the socio-cultural nature of that society, mothers as migrant role models strongly influence their daughters. They migrate for work, and this in recent decades means the tourist areas in particular, as well as continued drift to Kingston.

ii. Socio-Cultural

This is strongly matrifocal society. Jamaican women are accustomed to gainful employment, to handling money, to taking decisions and commanding respect. Not surprisingly, daughters learn survival strategies from their mothers and boys learn to be dependent on females. This dependency is reinforced at the primary school by the predominantly female nature of the teaching force. This is resented by boys because, despite (or perhaps because of) the 'free ranging' life of the adult male they have also absorbed an ideology of male domination. This tension may be a cause of some of the male rejection of the school system, even at primary level. In any case, boys are encouraged by mothers to "do their own thing" and move easily into a streetwise culture where membership of a gang (not necessarily violent) compensates for the absence of a father figure. Such a pattern is deep rooted in Jamaican society, as is a relatively high incidence of homosexuality.

Girls, by contrast are protected by the home, with a positive role model to follow and strong support for schooling. This may not be so easy in practice in the more remote rural regions and in very poor families where, if access to school is difficult and more than adequate clothing, including shoes, is not available, then girls may be kept away from school. It would be tolerable for a boy to go ill-shod, even barefoot, but not a girl. The sartorial presentation of girls in particular is a strong cultural trait.

Boys are also deterred from school by the lack of one of their special interests, sport, which has declined markedly in recent decades. In view of their poor performance in class, boys may be over-represented in the All-Age Schools which have no suitable sporting or other amenities for them, including vocational and technical.

Teenage pregnancy is common, some estimates put the incidence at about 25 per cent of this age range, and strongest in the lower socio-economic classes. There is a feeling that one has to prove one's fertility by the mid-teens. This introduces a significant female problem in relation to education that contrasts with the general gender profile. In the past most such girls would have dropped out but several initiatives (see below) have been introduced to keep them in schooling and on line for the gainful employment that can follow the successful completion of schooling. This problem also exists in the lower middle and middle classes but mothers are usually very supportive.

Despite being accustomed to employment and responsibility, Jamaican women still tend to defer to male authority at senior institutional levels and in public life, though a break through may well come in a big way.

iii. Health

There can be significant medical effects of early child bearing, especially if combined with poverty, yet despite family size, Jamaican women have a higher life expectancy and lower mortality rate than men. Boys surveyed in primary schools looked forward to having large numbers of male children.

A rather difficult aspect to deal with is the psychological effects of failing to gain selection in the Common Entrance Examination, both for the child and the family.

iv. Economic

During the 1970s and early 1980s women and girls proceeded through the system into jobs in the growing modern sector. It is not so easy now, but if qualified beyond school level, for example as a teacher, there are still opportunities. So the predominantly female teaching force is prone to be transitory, en route to better paid and more highly regarded occupations, and the small male component even more so. This is a purely economic decision, as teaching formerly carried some prestige in Jamaica.

Traditionally both sexes helped at home, boys more on the land, and this is still so. In the urban areas, some of the boys are in the street economy, entering the informal work sector earlier. Consequently they are more often absent from school and drop out sooner. For generations boys have been into a 'money culture' and some do very well without any formal education. Others remain poor for life, mostly in the ghettoes of E and W Kingston, where the efforts to send girls to school are surviving (in the interests of the family income). In the event of poverty preventing all children in a family going to school "the one with the book" i.e. most likely to succeed in the academic environment (whether boy or girl) will be sent. In the primary school survey, the urban school pupils registered one of the highest levels of appreciation of the significance of both cost and the distance from home.

v. Religious

As usual not a direct factor in that all religions and denominations in Jamaica (and there is great diversity) favour the education of both sexes and indeed help to provide it. However, some strong criticism was voiced to the effect that the patriarchal ethos in some way supported male domination. The Anglican church in Jamaica had voted against the ordination of women after vigorous debate. This supports the 'deference to men in high office' syndrome. However, the United Theological College, a multi-denominational seminary linked with UWI, strongly supported the Women and Development Studies programme there.

One practical legacy is that Christian denominations founded many of the prestigious high schools and thereby determined their locations which now contribute to the somewhat bizarre pattern of provision in geographical terms.

vi. Legal

There were no comments on this factor, but it might be noted that unlike some countries, schooling is not compulsory. In the social context of Jamaica, this probably affects the boys' drop-out (or non enrolment) to some extent.

vii. Political/Administrative

Perhaps because of the devolved nature of the system, there was very little direct comment on this factor. However, there is a Women's 'Ministry' within the Government structure and major parties address the issue of women in Jamaica. Much that would normally come under this heading, of necessity falls under the following section for obvious reasons. The administrative operation of the Ministry of Education is in process of decentralising, with six local offices, in an attempt to work more closely with communities from which it hopes more direct, including financial, support for schooling may come.

viii. Educational

In the circumstances described, the Ministry of Education becomes more of a coordinator and referee, but as difficulties deepen it does intervene more. For example, it was decided to upgrade eight 'New Secondary Schools' to the status of High School, ostensibly in order to rationalise the chaotic mobility outcome of the status and significance of the Common Entrance examination. This was widely believed to have been a purely political decision.

The basic unit of educational provision is the Board of Governors of each school and these bodies tend to seek male principals of schools, despite the predominantly female nature of the teaching profession. This is said inter alia to be to do with controlling boys, but is also part of the 'deference to males in high places' syndrome.

Findings from primary school surveys on this project confirm the documented pattern of the relatively high achievements of girls, their better attendance and domination of the Common Entrance successes. By this stage the top set has become markedly skewed in sex ratio terms (for example at an urban primary school there were 41 girls and 18 boys in set A and 31 boys and 20 girls in set B).

The entire system of schooling is predicated on the Common Entrance, including the nature of the curriculum where traditional patterns and styles occur in both primary and secondary sectors. Sex stereotyping in books and other materials is common and the options structure in the secondary sector, reflects this. The common pattern of 'girls' subjects' and 'boys' subjects' is there, with the latter tending towards the sciences. In the high schools of course, the largely middle class male component performs as well as the girls, though perhaps because of the thrust from earlier years the profile of girls in the CXC examinations and in the higher education sector is strengthening year by year. Top students in the applied sciences, like engineering, are now female. Curiously, however, at school level there is still a gender difference in mathematics that tends towards the boys and is found in some other countries In general girls do better in single sex schools. ix. Initiatives

· Crisis Centres have been established for pregnant girls and young mothers where education can be continued while looking after the baby. These are doing a good job but cannot meet the demands produced by the high rate of teenage pregnancies.

· There are more crèches appearing in work places.

· The Van Leer Foundation has a project for teenage mothers in three locations.

· An unofficial but sanctioned abortion clinic operates in Kingston, largely for the benefit of pregnant teenagers who wish to take this option. The standards are high as it is de facto part of the medical system.

· The YWCA have established an Educational Institute for girls which provides vocational/technical education for products of the 'All Age Primary Schools' who emerge without qualifications and too young for employment. It is a 'second chance' for such girls and is doing an excellent job. Funding for the teachers' salaries is from the Government but not for other salaries (ancillary) or for materials which are inevitably expensive in this type of work. For this reason perhaps an academic element leading to public examinations has been introduced. There are good relationships with both private and public sector employers who take girls on placements. The regime is strict. Failure to comply loses a girl's placement and therefore her prospect of gainful employment. The main Institute is in Kingston but two others have been founded elsewhere on a very small scale without any
Government support as yet.

· The Sisteren movement, though not directly educational at school level, provides support for women and girls who are in difficulties and in particular who have been abused. The fact that they are in so much demand throughout Jamaica illustrates the continued disadvantage of females, mainly in the lower social groups, despite the formal educational profile. Sisteren will help girls of school age on an individual basis and also has a travelling theatre to present and explore the problems it is addressing and some initiatives to resolve them. It is concerned with income generating skills for women and has a retail outlet for its products. Other sources of funding are very limited.

· Women and Development Studies Programme in UWI. This is a cross-faculty and cross-campus initiative which has the strong 'moral' support of the male dominated hierarchy of the University but not the funding. Over a decade or more it has operated a number of successful regional meetings, workshops and programmes and by so doing has contributed significantly to the understanding of gender issues in the Caribbean region. It is now looking even wider for recognition and funding and hoping to examine Gender in a Single Europe. It is not directly concerned with the educational and other experiences of Jamaican females in particular but does provide a theoretical and academic framework for some of those who do work 'on the ground' for the improvement of the position of women and girls. Unfortunately, for reasons of internal institutional policies, the Faculty of Education is not yet linked with this initiative, though some tutors are, on a personal basis.

C. Recommendations

Our major recommendations (not necessarily in order of priority) would be:

i. that support be considered for feeding schemes in the primary and secondary schools, such as already exist but need developing further; they are currently run from the Ministry of Education. If such a development is not forthcoming, in the circumstances of economic down-turn there could well be an increase in the drop-out rate of both sexes, even at primary level;

ii. that research be funded into the gender dimension of the (New) Secondary Schools and All Age Schools. To date almost all research has been on the High Schools. It would be useful, perhaps especially for boys in Jamaica, to know more about this important sector;

iii. that support be considered for projects aiming to eradicate gender bias from primary and secondary textbooks and other materials.

iv. that support be considered for the YWCA Educational Institute for Girls model, for its extension to other locations in Jamaica and for the proper resourcing of the existing programmes, which inevitably involve mechanical, electrical and other apparatus;

v. that support be considered for a boys equivalent to the YWCA model to be established;

vi. that support be considered for the development of Community skills centres and other skills training programmes to promote employment prospects for teenage girls (and boys), but taking into account lessons learnt from the generally disappointing HEART initiative;

vii. it would seem that some sort of health/sex education initiative is needed for adolescent Jamaicans in order to combat the high rate of teenage pregnancies which may well adversely affect the educational profile of up to 25 per cent of young Jamaican females;

viii. associated with the previous recommendation, support for further development of family planning schemes should be considered, especially to take account of the educational needs of teenage mothers who wish to return to school;

ix. that support be considered for the reform of educational administration under way that will place the Ministry of Education on a decentralised operation linking with local communities. As in other countries visited, the level of local educational administration is a vital one in terms of reaching the real problems and being able to respond efficiently;

x. that support be considered for rationalising the provision of schooling in large urban areas, especially Kingston where complex patterns of demand and transportation can be disadvantageous;

xi. that support be considered for Women's Centres for pregnant teenagers;

xii. that consideration be given to aiding selected women's organisations like Sisteren which are clearly needed by many Jamaican women and girls.