Crawford traces Jamaica's productivity slump to weaknesses in the education system

Jamaica's persistent struggles with productivity can be traced back to deficiencies in the country's schools, according to Opposition spokesman on education Damion Crawford, who cautioned that poor learning outcomes are leaving a generation ill-equipped to contribute meaningfully to the economy.

Speaking during the Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Crawford characterised the shortcomings of the sector as a connected, system-wide breakdown that runs from early childhood centres all the way through to the workforce.

"The evidence of failure is documented, consistent and undeniable. Causes of failure are structural, chronic and policy-driven and the inadequate responses are generally immaterial and has fallen catastrophically short of what is necessary. Failure, as we indicated Madam Speaker, is consistent across every level of education. The evidence of failure is not isolated and is systematic," Crawford said.

He contended that the schooling system was not delivering on its core obligation to ready young Jamaicans for productive work and economic engagement. "The duty of education [is] to transition our children off each floor and eventually across onto the bridge of productivity and economic participation. However, that failure is stark," he said.

To back up his case, Crawford referenced data showing a steep climb in the number of Jamaicans working without any formal qualifications, from about 727,000 in 2020 to 887,000 in 2025. "In just five years, approximately 160,000 more persons have entered the workforce without qualification. This is larger than some of our parish's population," he told the House.

He also flagged a growing cohort of young people classified as NEET — meaning they are not in education, employment or training — pointing out that the count had climbed from roughly 108,000 in 2020 to more than 124,000 this year.

Some of Crawford's sharpest words were aimed at the HEART/NSTA Trust, which he accused of falling short on certifying those entering the labour market. "One would therefore be wondering if Heart Trust NTA is coming to the rescue. However, Madam Speaker, the simple answer to that is a categorical no… In 2024-2025, Heart NTA enrolled 137,442 persons. One would be surprised to note that the certification rate of those persons was only 39.3 per cent," he added.

The Opposition spokesman also pushed back on the Government's recent boasts about better CSEC mathematics results, suggesting the headline pass rates obscured the fact that fewer candidates were actually entering the examination.

Turning to inequities between institutions, Crawford argued that pupils enrolled at well-resourced schools enjoy a marked advantage in access to devices, meals, classroom support and learning resources compared with their peers in under-served schools. He criticised the administration's school technology programme, saying that although thousands of laptops had been handed out, some schools had received none and others only a handful to be shared among hundreds of children. The result, he said, was that pupils in some institutions were getting just a few minutes of digital access each day, well below the Government's own benchmarks.

Hunger, Crawford added, was another underestimated obstacle to learning, with studies suggesting that between 25 and 33 per cent of Jamaican students show up to class on an empty stomach. He described the Government's school nutrition response as insufficient and took issue with the level of funding directed to feeding programmes.

He also raised alarm over the outflow of teachers from local classrooms, which he said was producing serious staffing gaps, especially in mathematics and the sciences. Resignations among educators, he noted, had spiked over the past ten years as many sought better-paying posts abroad.