ABSTRACT
Contemporary issues in Jamaican education are defined in terms of those issues that have arisen over the past decade. They are the items placed on the national educational agenda since the first oil crisis in the 1970s. This chapter discusses these issues from the perspective of: those associated with the interrelation between education and the economy, the social structure, culture and the political system on the one hand; those related to the internal efficiency of the educational system itself on the other hand. It provides some background by briefly stating some relevant historical aspects of Jamaican education as well as outlining in a little greater detail post-war educational development in that country. The post-war period in Jamaican history is replete with major developments. Until the oil crisis of the 1970s, the Jamaican economy recorded impressive growth in the post-war period.
