Editorial | Adopt UTech values project

The Gleaner applauds the University of Technology’s (UTech’s) recent graduation of its first batch of students from a pilot values and attitudes course, and hopes that it is quickly refined and becomes mandatory in all of the university’s degree and diploma programmes.

Indeed, the UTech curriculum, or similar ones that carry the imprimatur of the University Council of Jamaica (UCJ), should also be compulsory for graduation with a diploma or degree from any institution certified by the UCJ, or for professional certificates offered by any body approved by the National Council on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (NCTVET).

Further, we suggest that whichever party wins the September 3 general election should legislate this requirement within the first 100 days in office. This matter ought not to be left to chance. And no excuse about the complexity for it to be delayed.

Additionally, the new education minister must also urgently cause the expansion of the teaching of ethics and behavioural values in the primary- and secondary-education systems.

LONG-TERM IMPACT

While such programmes, at first glance, seem to be about improving day-to-day interactions between citizens, a potentially deeper long-term impact is enhancing the quality of the island’s governance, including endemic corruption.

The issues of social dysfunction, coarsened values and deteriorating respect have been on Jamaica’s agenda for decades, deemed to be significant contributors to the island’s high crime rate, poor education outcomes, and economic underperformance. But there has been an absence of consensus or cohesion around how to address the matter as a national problem.

Indeed, the former prime minister, P.J. Patterson, first launched his so-called values and attitudes campaign three decades ago. It was aimed at promoting “attitudinal change and social renewal”, which would be grounding in the teaching of, among other things, ethical values, good manners, discipline and conflict resolution.

But, in a politically divisive environment, the initiative was ridiculed and made a farce by government opponents. While the programme limped along for several years, it never ever gained purchase.

Subsequent administrations, under various schemes with other names, have attempted to launch Patterson-style programmes. But none of these initiatives have been robustly sustained.

CRIME REDUCTION

The most recent of these plans was linked to Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness’ proposed crime reduction initiative, about which he spoke in 2023, that would focus on the social dimension of crime. He, at one point, floated the idea of creating a ministry for peace and social development, which would be separate from the national security ministry, that would focus on “reducing the level of violence in our society”.

That ministry was never established. The idea may now be thought to be moot, given the recent reduction in crime, especially murders – by 18 per cent in 2024 and by 40 per cent so far this year.

However, the crime reduction has largely been attributed to new policing techniques by a better trained and better resourced constabulary. Most analysts say that many of the problems that drive the island’s social dysfunction remain deeply rooted in communities.

WELCOMES

It is in this context that this newspaper has long supported all initiatives aimed at positively impacting values and ethics, and therefore welcomes the UTech programme, which was piloted by its Faculty of the Built Environment. Thirty-eight students voluntarily signed up for the 10-unit course, which covered issues such as respect, honesty and integrity, family values, self-discipline, and respecting the rule of law in a civil society.

It is probably over-ambitious to believe that courses like these will (as some promoters seem to feel) directly cause an uptick in the decades-long decline in Jamaica’s labour productivity. Which is not to suggest it won’t help.

In the near term, its great value is likely to get young people thinking about, and taking, personal responsibility for their behaviour, which extends to demanding accountability and ethical dealings from leaders, rather than passively accepting their improprieties.

There is already a possible trigger for this shift, just waiting to be appropriately engaged.

For example, nearly nine in 10 Jamaicans believe that public officials, especially politicians, are corrupt, and half of the country say they would tolerate a military coup to deal with the problem. Only 53 per cent declared unwavering support for democracy, although only a bit over half of that amount felt that democracy, as practised in Jamaica, worked in their interest.

There is a battle to be fought on all fronts to reverse such perceptions. The fight includes having for themselves appropriate behaviour norms and a clear ethical and moral compass, to guide themselves and their expectations of others – leaders among them.

The UTech initiative is a good start to be built upon.