Ascot Primary graduation row sparks national debate on PEP pathways and inclusive school ceremonies

A graduation ceremony at Ascot Primary School has set off a nationwide discussion about how Jamaica marks the end of primary school, who gets to take part, and what message that sends to children left out.

Principal Mark Jackson told the programme that prize giving was held before evaluation and that students in PEP pathways one and two — grouped using ministry results — were included in a transitioning exercise. Other pupils were not dressed the same way. He said the school did not intend to discriminate or humiliate anyone, but after reflection he accepted administrators had been “a little myopic,” focusing on incentives for higher performers without weighing the harm that could follow.

The row sits inside wider PEP policy. Pathways one, two, and three indicate whether a child can move to high school with little or no support, with medium support, or with high support needs. Critics argue that tying a milestone event to those bands can publicly separate twelve-year-olds by academic performance alone.

On 15 June, a concerned Ascot parent wrote to the Ministry of Education calling the principal’s actions discriminatory, humiliating, and at odds with inclusive education, child protection, safe-school policy, and the code of ethics for educators. The parent said the ministry was told; advocates including the Fluid Children Foundation say officials should have stepped in before graduation season, when similar complaints are not new.

Lieutenant Colonel Paul Scott, president of the Association of Principals of Primary Schools, questioned whether prize giving raises the same equity issues as graduation when parents pay equal fees but only some children wear cap and gown. He noted schools may use subvention funds for prize giving but not for graduation costs borne by families. Dr Paul Smith, president of the Jamaica Psychological Society, urged psychological follow-up for pupils who felt shamed and told children they are not less important because the system treated them that way.

Panellists differed on whether ceremonies should end or be replaced with simpler celebrations, but agreed the ministry should issue strict, uniform rules on cost, inclusion, and advance notice of criteria. Sabrina Barnes of the Flowy Children Foundation said children are rights holders and that policy must stop limiting what they are allowed to enjoy.