Passing grade for Pathways Programme

In a few weeks, the first batch of students enrolled in the Sixth-Form Pathways Programme (SFPP) will leave the high-school system. And although principals say they had to push through resource constraints and find creative means to get their students to see the value of the programme over the two years, they have given the initiative a passing grade, extolling the impact it has had on the development of the country’s youth.

“Many more students are accepting of the Pathways Programme. More students now see it as routine to go back to the sixth form,” Christopher Tyme, principal of Mile Gully High School in Manchester, told The Gleaner.

The SFPP allows students who complete grade 11 to pursue an additional two-year course of study with alternative opportunities alongside the traditional sixth-form curriculum.

Launched in 2020, students now graduate from secondary school with one or more of the following: an occupational associate degree, a certificate or a diploma (within an occupational discipline) or an accredited Council of Community Colleges of Jamaica or University Council of Jamaica Associate Degree.

Students can also graduate with Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) subjects (diploma or certificate) or a CAPE Associate Degree, National Vocational Qualification – Jamaica and or Caribbean Vocational Qualification at levels two or three.

The programme, which is being offered in 167 high schools and 40 post-secondary institutions, saw enrolment numbers increase to more than 24,000 for the 2023-2024 school year.

Tyme said that currently, 47 students have matriculated to the programme at Mile Gully High School. He noted that an average of 95 students graduate from the institution yearly.

Along with traditional CAPE subjects and resitting Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate exams, he said his students are also engaged in skills training. The school offers levels one and two in electrical installation, general construction, food and nutrition, and customer engagement.

These areas, Tyme argues, give the students at his rural-area school a better opportunity to obtain employment. But he laments that even though the administrators often overextend themselves in accommodating them, the attendance level for students involved in the skills-training area of the programme is low.

“Some because of financial reasons, others because they are juggling work and school, and some because of just lack of interest, so their attendance is very inconsistent,” he explained.

“We have had to do some home visits for many of them to determine the reasons. We would have provided some assistance with taxi fare, free lunch, but even with that, some still don’t come consistently,” Tyme added.

Of greater concern, he said, is that students “who need the most help academically” are often the delinquent ones, an issue that is exacerbated by the lack of parental support.

“And the parent, when we speak to them, they may say that ‘him seh him nuh want to do it’, and they just leave them at that. That is where most of the problem is – trying to get the parents to be consistent – and most of them are just concerned about the child going to work to help out the situation at home,” he said.

Yvette Richards Thompson, principal of the Denham Town High School in Kingston, faced a similar challenge when convincing parents to allow their children to participate in the SFPP.

“There are some parents who don’t necessarily see the value in participating in a sixth-form programme,” she told The Gleaner. “I remember one mother saying she did not send her child to school to go to college, and that literally tore me apart.”

Nonetheless, cognisant of the worth that students at the inner-city school could gain from this initiative, Richards Thompson said the school encouraged and assisted many to enrol. Currently, 75 students are on this path.

The school also forged a partnership with the Trench Town Polytechnic College to offer more skills-training courses to students.

At least three times each week, students pursuing courses in business process outsourcing, renewable energy, hospitality and tourism management, geriatrics, and culinary arts are transported from Denham Town High School to the institution.

Acknowledging how the school curated the programmes to offer “real-world education opportunities and job opportunities”, the principal noted that because the school is located in an industrial belt, surrounded by companies with warehouse needs, they recently introduced warehouse logistics as a course.

“The intention is to partner with companies within our space and get paid internships for the students while they study and train them effectively to gain employment when they complete the sixth-form programme,” she said.

But while she is pleased with the benefits students have gained from the programme so far, she stated that maintaining their enthusiasm is a continuous effort as they are weighed down by responsibilities thrust upon them by their parents.

“There are students who the programme has benefited significantly. There are some students, who, even to this day, I don’t think they see the benefit in it. A lot of them are also struggling with the obligations being pushed on them by their parents,” she said.

The SFPP was introduced just two years after the Gaynstead High School in Kingston started its own sixth-form programme and was navigating the challenges of that, Vice-principal Suan Daley told The Gleaner.

With a population of 440 students, she said that not many entered the programme and would generally enrol in other institutions to pursue associate degrees or training courses.

When this happens, Daley said the school is not equipped with the human resource to track them as mandated by the Ministry of Education.

“We have a complement of 25 teachers ... and the workload that we carry is similar to any big institution,” she said. “It’s a lot that we have to do here, so sometimes, some things get lost along the way.”

Currently, only 16 students are enrolled in the school’s Sixth-Form Pathways Programme, four more than last year. Students pursue CAPE certification in physical education, management of business, food and nutrition, communication studies, and entrepreneurship.

Of note, she said, is the fact that the school did not receive any additional teachers for these classes. Neither has it received a grant the ministry disburses to schools as it does not meet the quota of 25 or more students.

And although she believes that the programme is advantageous, she is not convinced that students feel the same.

“There is benefit, but have the students picked up on that? Have they incorporated themselves? No, because right now we’re even rethinking how it is that we’re going to restrategise and come again to get the students interested,” she said.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com