ABSTRACT
The educational system in Jamaica has evolved from efforts to serve the needs of the island's diverse population. It consists of a number of tiers (see Figure 1), with progression from one level to the next being contingent on students' facing and clearing various selection hurdles. There are several different types of institution found at each stage - some privately funded, most owned or aided by government - and they inevitably represent a hierarchy which reflects the economic and cultural disparities existing within the Jamaican society. It is perhaps at the secondary level that this is most pronounced, for the goal of all Grade 6 students, their parents and teachers, is to gain one of the coveted places in a limited number of traditional high schools. Some idea of student enrolment in secondary-level institutions for 1979-80 is given in Table l.
