Comparison between the traditional and the new secondary schools in Jamaica

Secondary education in Jamaica has been quite complex, in large part because the system originally was extremely selective and elitist. As demand for secondary education grew over the years, a variety of institutions evolved to meet varying and changing needs. At the beginning of the 1990s there were seven different types of secondary schools. Each type of school had a program of instruction, and levels of accomplishment and academic and vocational skills varied among graduates. One of the objectives of the MOE&C during the 1990s was to develop some sort of curricular uniformity across the different types in order to ensure equity and quality. The Reform of Secondary Education (ROSE) project resulted in the construction of a common curriculum for grades seven through nine in all schools. It is hoped that the introduction of this junior high school curriculum will equalize educational opportunities for secondary students. The MOE&C is also developing and distributing secondary school textbooks.

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