As someone who has served 30 years in an administrative capacity in the education sector, and as a parent, I am compelled to hail Dr. the Honourable Dana Morris Dixon’s stellar leadership of the Education, Youth and Information portfolios. I commend the Minister because of the dynamic and results-driven approach she has brought to the key sectors over which she has policy responsibility.

Dr Morris Dixon’s insistence on a more efficiently operated education sector, which focuses on positive outcomes and accountability concerning major investments made, might have made her a few enemies but is impressive when we take into consideration the national good and the interest of our children.

Her passion and strategic push for improvement of standards at the early childhood level and her clear push for additional tangible investment in the sector are what Jamaica needs. Additionally, the Minister’s public insistence on standards being met at the early childhood level in particular is a credit to her superintendence of a crucial portfolio and augurs well for Jamaica.

I do not credit politicians readily, but I must give credit where it is due. It should not be forgotten that under Dr Morris Dixon’s leadership, HEART is now free up to Level 5 (which is equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree) and 400 million have been pumped into transforming technical high school labs.

The Minister has also presided over the creation of the new Tertiary LEAP programme in collaboration with tertiary student leaders and implemented a new funding model aimed at providing more support for school operations, while also giving stewardship to improvements in special education programmes and increases in funding for special education institutions.

The timetabling of reading in all primary schools and notable improvements in PEP and CSEC results despite Hurricane Melissa are among the positive outcomes since the Minister has had charge of a traditionally very challenging portfolio.

Minister Morris Dixon has also insisted on improving the timeliness of operational payments to schools and instructed additional breakfast and lunch support for the most vulnerable students. The level of conscientious leadership of the portfolio and her insistence on results-driven policies and timelines for deliverables is among the reasons why I have no choice but to conclude that since Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ commendable tenure as Education Minister, the sector has not been blessed with a policy leader who truly gets it until the appointment of Minister Morris Dixon.

Her series of initiatives in the education sector, along with her competent management of the Information portfolio, tells us that the Minister is no doubt a credit to the Government and Jamaica as a whole.

It should not be forgotten that when Minister Morris Dixon inherited the portfolio of Information Minister, there was only just over a year to go before one of the most challenging General Elections which her Party of choice has faced, and there were many bitter complaints as the poll numbers appeared bleak when prospects for the historic third consecutive term were contemplated. 

The Minister delivered by stabilising the reliability of communication via the Government with a series of useful media conferences and public engagements which significantly improved the output of information from various Ministries and agencies.

Along with the substance Minister Morris Dixon has brought to the table, her pleasant, humble, assured, and confident demeanour has rendered her an asset to the Government when it comes to the provision of credible information. Let us give credit where credit is due. When success is achieved, many tend to forget the status of a project and the state of affairs prior to the intervention of leaders who have made a difference. Dr Dana Morris Dixon has made a positive difference to the Information portfolio.

I fully expect that more disparaging articles will emerge about the Minister. This is because improving the education sector in particular might involve moving on people who are merely occupiers of posts and have a distant relationship with the vitally important virtues of discipline, accountability, and meeting performance deliverables which are set in the interest of our children. 

It is time for our country to appreciate that education is too important for Jamaica to accept anything less than performance. I fully expect that because she has cultivated a reputation as a stickler for performance and positive outcomes, there will be more attempts to drag Minister Morris Dixon’s name through the mud.

I urge the Minister not to be distracted by these attempts, which are being made by egomaniacs who are simply fixated on their personal ability to reap what they have not sown and folks who do not mean Jamaica well.

They have therefore engaged in a campaign to denigrate the name of the Honourable Minister because she has been brave enough to call out incompetence and seeks to hold people to account for the jobs they signed up to do.

I wish to commend the Minister for being clear in her mandate that the policy we develop, every dollar we spend, every programme we implement, and every institution that falls under the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information must ultimately be judged by one standard: is it delivering better outcomes for Jamaica’s children?

The hard truth is that education is allocated too much money, in fact the largest allocation of taxpayers’ money, to accept lacklustre performance.

That is the standard by which I believe the Ministry itself must be judged, and it is the same standard that must apply to every agency, department, board and institution within the education system.

Support must be given to the Minister’s insistence that accountability cannot simply mean producing reports, attending meetings, or demonstrating that established procedures were followed. Those things are important, but they are not the ultimate objective. Accountability must mean results. We either achieve the results or we don’t. 

What do we teach our children with inaction?

Our children cannot wait indefinitely for institutions to become more efficient. A child should not lose a year or opportunity because a project is delayed, or a programme is poorly administered, or some agency or department fails to execute, and does not get that year back. These are our children’s future at play. This is the reality of the urgency of education. Jamaica must support the Minister’s insistence on a culture of delivery from the Education Ministry and its multitude of agencies.

I am strongly of the view that under Minister Morris Dixon’s leadership, Jamaica’s education system is undergoing one of the most significant periods of transformation in decades.

We are expanding opportunities for skills training and technical and vocational education. Laboratories in our technical high schools are being modernised. I want my son to transition from school into productive work. Things are not perfect, but people like myself may sleep well knowing that we are going in the right direction.  

Even after the unprecedented devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa, Jamaica demonstrated what is possible when the education system operates with urgency and determination. Hundreds of schools were affected, yet through the collective efforts of principals, teachers, school boards, my teams, contractors, communities, and our development partners, teaching and learning resumed across the system in record time! So it can be done. Will we do it?

Again, our children did it. They got a rough hand with Melissa.

Our students continued to demonstrate remarkable resilience and achievement, and they did well in PEP and CSEC. We even outperformed our regional neighbours in Math and English. A Category 5 hurricane and our children. The strong performances recorded in our national and regional examinations are evidence of what Jamaican children can accomplish when they are properly supported.

These are not accidental successes. They are the product of deliberate policy, investment, hard work and a willingness to challenge old ways of doing things and to hold people accountable.

This is perhaps precisely why some of the changes the Minister is proposing and making will generate resistance.

Reform inevitably disrupts comfortable arrangements. This new mode of greater accountability creates discomfort where low performance was previously tolerated. Greater transparency invites questions that some may prefer not to answer. A stronger focus on measurable outcomes means that institutions can no longer rely simply on activity as evidence of achievement.

I must note that accountability must never become political or personal. We must remain objective, evidence-based and focused on outcomes. That principle must guide the Ministry and every agency within it.

I will always support those who are working and whose output is underpinned by positive core principles. There is no doubt Minister Dixon is working and obtaining results. Her visionary leadership and courageous insistence on holding people accountable have placed her on track to being one of the best Education Ministers to have served Jamaica.

We must support Minister Morris Dixon’s performance-oriented approach and push for positive outcomes, because our children cannot afford for us not to.