Caribbean experts have called for targeted mentorship for boys to address the widening education gap in the Region, where boys are twice as likely as girls to repeat grades or drop out at primary and secondary levels.
The experts have also urged more inclusive teaching, skills, entrepreneurship training, and stronger home-school partnerships.
The recommendations came from a Regional Symposium and Policy Dialogue on Transforming Education in the Cayman Islands.
Dr Verna Knight is the Coordinator B.Ed Programme, and Coordinator of the Eastern Caribbean Joint Board of Teacher Education at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill.
Knight explained that in today’s 21st-century educational era, educators have learned that they cannot assume that educational access means success for every child.
“In many classrooms across developing countries one third of our students are known to be physically present but disengaged from learning. They are in school but achieving no greater academic success than the child who is out of school,” Knight said.
Mr. Lanre Chin, Mentorship Officer at the Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC), stated that instead of solely focusing on academic performance, the system can pivot towards more practical skills.
“We are in an environment with several needs. The system should be creating entrepreneurs not workers, so the mindset of the boys needs to be shifted. This is why they’re not being engaged,” Chin asserted.
According to reports, boys in the Region face disproportionate challenges at all stages of education.
UNESCO data indicates that at the tertiary level, there are 124 women enrolled for every 100 men in Latin America and the Caribbean, compared to the global average of 113 women for every 100 men.
