What do we really mean when we say a child is doing well in school? For many Jamaicans, the answer is – passes, grades, subjects, rankings. From an early age, children learn that success is counted, not questioned. How many subjects did you get? How many distinctions? What school did you attend? Results become identity, and education becomes a series of hurdles to clear rather than a process of growth.

This is not because people do not value education. In fact, we value it deeply. Parents stretch already tight budgets to pay for extra lessons. Teachers work under immense pressure, often with limited resources and overcrowded classrooms. Students carry heavy workloads and even heavier expectations. Yet, despite this collective effort, too many young people leave school unsure how to think independently, adapt to change, or apply what they have learned beyond an exam.

That gap is structural. Jamaica’s education system remains heavily exam-driven. Even with reforms, high-stakes assessments continue to shape how schools teach and how students see themselves. What will be tested becomes what matters. What cannot be easily measured often gets pushed aside. Creativity becomes optional. Curiosity becomes risky. Learning narrows to what can be marked, not what can be used.

However, the world our students are entering does not operate on exam logic. Employers are no longer looking only for subject knowledge, but for problem solvers, communicators, and adaptable thinkers. Climate change demands innovation rather than memorised definitions and formulae. Economic uncertainty calls for entrepreneurship and resilience, while social challenges require empathy and collaboration.

They are practical skills that determine whether young people can navigate adulthood with confidence. Ironically, Jamaican children already display many of these qualities. We see it in their music, their storytelling, their humour, and their ability to improvise solutions under challenging circumstances. Creativity is not missing from our society. What is missing is an education system that consistently recognises and nurtures it.

SUPPORT LEARNING

Reimagining education does not mean abandoning standards or rejecting exams altogether. Assessment has its place. But exams should support learning, not define it. They should measure development, not limit it. When assessment becomes the destination rather than the tool, education loses its purpose.

The shift must begin with how learning happens inside classrooms. Project-based work, collaborative problem solving, and real-world application should be embedded across subjects, not treated as add-ons or reserved for a few schools. Science should connect to the environmental realities that students already live with. Social studies should engage community issues. Technology should be used for creation, not just consumption.

This approach is not theoretical. Across Jamaica, schools such as Ardenne High School, Campion College, St Jago High School, and Glenmuir High School have shown that, when debate, robotics, environmental projects, arts initiatives, and entrepreneurship are meaningfully integrated, student engagement and confidence improve. The challenge, then, is not effectiveness but scale. Too often, these approaches depend on individual principals, external funding, or exceptionally committed teachers. A serious reform agenda cannot rely on exceptions. Creativity and critical thinking must sit at the centre of the system.

This shift also requires us to rethink how students experience school itself. Too often, learning feels disconnected from real life. Subjects are taught in silos, assessments reward recall over reasoning, and students are rarely asked to grapple with problems that reflect their own communities and realities. When education feels distant, relevance is lost, engagement drops, and potential quietly disengages.

Students should instead be encouraged to question, respectfully challenge ideas, and see learning as active rather than passive. Schools should feel like spaces where curiosity is welcomed, and mistakes are part of the process, not failures to be avoided. When young people are trusted to think, they rise to the expectation. The opposite is also true. When they are only trained to repeat, growth stalls.

CONSTRAINED

Teachers are essential to this transformation. Yet, too often, they are asked to innovate while constrained by rigid syllabi, large class sizes, and limited support. Professional development must go beyond content delivery and equip teachers to guide inquiry, facilitate discussion, and encourage independent thinking.

Teachers need space to teach, not just to cover material. Policy must also reflect the realities students are facing. Curriculum reform should prioritise skills alongside subjects. Digital literacy must be treated as foundational. Climate education should cut across disciplines, not be confined to a single class. Career guidance should begin earlier and reflect diverse pathways, including creative industries, technical trades, and entrepreneurship, not just traditional professions.

Equally important is how we define success. A student who excels in design, leadership, innovation, or problem solving should not feel secondary because those strengths do not translate neatly onto an exam paper. When achievement is defined too narrowly, potential is quietly sidelined. When success looks the same for everyone, too many students are left believing they do not belong.

Reimagining education is about raising ambition of the students and for Jamaica itself. We cannot continue to operate exam factories and hope creative thinkers emerge by chance. Education should prepare young people for life as it is, a complex, uncertain, and demanding initiative. That requires a system that values thinking as much as testing, creativity as much as correctness, and development as much as results.

Our students are capable. Our teachers are committed. What is missing is not talent or effort, but alignment. If education is meant to prepare young people for life, then our system must reflect the world they are already navigating, not the one we are nostalgic about. Jamaica cannot afford to keep mistaking examination success for educational success.

Tiffany McLeggon is a youth leader and communications professional. Send feedback to mcleggontiffany@gmail.com