Quality early childhood education provides students with basic academic and social competencies that enable them to learn over the course of their lives. This prepares them to master their abilities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). STEM is a driver of national development for modern economies (Rothwell, 2016). With timely investment in early education, both general and STEM-specific skills can be acquired. This augurs well for society at large.
STEM and National Development
Technology plays an ever-more visible role in a global society. The fields of STEM are of immense importance to a country’s development. They catalyze economic growth, social well-being, and global competitiveness. Through research and development, STEM professionals have revolutionized industries, enhanced productivity, and opened up new frontiers of knowledge. For Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like Jamaica, STEM expertise is indispensable to solving issues of national, regional, and global issues. These issues include climate change, resource scarcity, and public health crises.
STEM education is crucial for building a skilled workforce. Nobel Laureate James Heckman demonstrated the role of early childhood education in socio-economic development and its outsized return on investment, which is particularly relevant to private companies that are considering the potential benefits of investing in education. By equipping students with a solid foundation in STEM, countries can foster a generation of critical thinkers, problem solvers, and innovators. STEM education nurtures creativity, curiosity, and analytical skills. It enables individuals to adapt to ever-changing job markets and contribute meaningfully to society.
Diversity in STEM
Moreover, diversity in STEM can promote equity, ensuring that opportunities in these fields are accessible to all (Gibbs, 2014). This is possible as STEM education and skills give people of different identities and backgrounds opportunities to participate and contribute their perspectives to societal issues. However, we can only successfully build a talent pool to propel economic growth and prepare the Jamaican workforce to function in a digital economy if children are given the necessary tools from a foundational stage.
Early childhood education creates the foundational space for a child’s development. Scientific research has consistently highlighted the importance of the first five years of a child’s life as having a decisive and long-lasting impact on their cognitive and character skills. It has also been recognized that if a country wishes to reduce economic deficits and grow its economy, the highest rate of return for each child comes from investing as early as possible. This can have positive benefits for society by improving the workforce’s productivity. It reduces the gap between children from advantaged backgrounds and disadvantaged backgrounds. Additionally, it reduces adverse social costs such as crime.
Quality Basic Education Improves STEM Outcomes
In Jamaica, the Early Childhood Commission recommends a pupil-teacher ratio no higher than 10:1. Unfortunately, due to the paucity of data on the issue, the exact figure is not known. Yet, the pupil-teacher ratio in Jamaica is suggested to be significantly higher than the Commission’s recommended ratio, which underscores the pressures on educational institutions. Furthermore, early childhood teachers are poorly paid (at least before the recent wage restructuring process). A significant number of those trained are absorbed in the brain-drain phenomenon. This disadvantages Jamaica’s socio-economic development.1 There are also concerns linked to the underinvestment in early childhood education, such as inadequate training opportunities. As a result, the entire early childhood educational system suffers. How, then, can we “start it right, [and] mek dem bright?”
Two initiatives in Jamaica aim to tackle the material deprivation from which early childhood centers suffer. The Crayons Count and Little Leaders programs,2 while addressing the material deprivation issues, also identified the human resource inadequacies. Both of these have a combined negative impact on children’s early cognitive development. It was a common occurrence to hear, “The children don’t have crayons.” This substandard reality does not set in place the foundational educational needs required for a child’s early cognitive development. It further prevents them from contributing effectively to society and thriving later on.
A Valuable Investment
Investing in early childhood education is critical in building a sound foundation in key competencies that prepare students to contribute meaningfully to society. It can also provide opportunities for students to pursue a STEM education in particular. Given the current and persistent inequalities, particular focus should be paid to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Targeted investments would allow students to access quality teachers, resources, and opportunities that will equip them to use their expertise in STEM to contribute to societal issues.
Not investing in STEM would be counter-productive to the universally agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Jamaica’s very own Vision 2030 agenda.3 The education system must support and equip students by training and developing their talents, interests, and curiosities from an early age. The early mastery of basic academic and social competencies has a compounding effect over time. As one learns, one also develops the ability to learn. This enables them to assimilate important concepts more readily later in life, even without the direct support of an educator. In other words, improving basic education for all can translate to better academic performances in education and thereafter. This results in a greater capacity to apply those academic skills to real-life problems.
Quality Basic Education Links to Skilled Labour
Early childhood education is crucial in fostering innovation, implementing best practices, and adapting to automation. Early childhood education also lays the foundation for creative and innovative thinking. In addition, it helps promote the adoption of evidence-based practices in teaching and learning. This includes using research-backed strategies, individualized instruction, play-based learning, and incorporating technology appropriately to enhance learning outcomes. By integrating technology appropriate for learning at the basic level, children can develop digital literacy skills. They can later apply these skills to their fields of study and work. In this way, early childhood education creates and contributes to an adaptable skilled worker pool, where automation and innovation are increasingly important processes.
STEM From an Early Age
If children are introduced to various STEM concepts from an early age, a country’s early childhood education system influences career decisions later in life. Early exposure to foundational concepts at the basic level increases the likelihood of long-term engagement in STEM learning. It also produces workers who are collaborative, productive, technologically literate, and able to collaborate and communicate ideas effectively. These workers will possess the ability to ask questions and seek answers. Such curiosity can contribute positively to national development through innovative solutions, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills.
Social and Emotional Development
Early childhood education fosters social and emotional development as children learn to interact with each other and regulate their emotions (Allen and Kelly, 2015). These skills are essential for effective teamwork and conflict resolution. These positively impact fostering an inclusive, diverse, and tolerant society. Effective early childhood education can also be credited with developing executive functioning skills, such as self-control, attention to detail, and planning. These skills are essential for effective decision-making, time management, and goal achievement. All of these are valuable attributes in the workplace and society at large. Educational institutions and other entities like governments and private companies, therefore, stand to benefit from investments in basic education.
Private companies have a stake in improving local education, and early childhood education is, arguably, the best avenue to do so.
With the importance of a competent workforce established, it may be a surprise that individual companies are unlikely to see a commensurate return on the initiatives that invest in education. Nonetheless, these companies have a social responsibility to the people who support their businesses and to the wider national community, which warrants some action to improve the state of education in Jamaica. Even then, interventions must be aimed at areas that require urgent attention and simultaneously yield high returns. In this regard, early childhood education is the best possible investment.
Experience Has Taught Emphasis
Experience has taught us that the emphasis should be on early childhood education as a long-term approach to prevent deficiencies that can constrain STEM outcomes. Our experience reinforces the notion that it is a difficult and expensive task to retrain older students. By that time, an individual may have progressed through a major portion of their entire academic life without having developed foundational competencies. Unfortunately, much of the labor force has not developed the skills that enable them to function in the context of a technologically advanced, world-class company, and that is what we have seen and experienced at Continental Baking Company. This experience has reinforced our commitment to pivot our strategy to instead invest in quality early childhood education as the precursor to the benefits to be derived from STEM later on.
Conclusion
Investing in early childhood education has been established as a critical part of national development. Quality early childhood education strengthens individual competencies so students become lifelong learners and workers. Without this investment, there is a loss of human potential. This undermines the individual’s chances of success in STEM and their ability to contribute to societal development. Given companies’ reliance on a STEM-based skillset, investing in the education system, specifically in early childhood education, should be an exercise in corporate social responsibility.
References
Allen LR, and Kelly BB, (2015). Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK310532/doi: 10.17226/19401
Rothwell, J. (2013). The Hidden STEM Economy: The Surprising Diversity of Jobs Requiring Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Knowledge. Available at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/brookings_lectures_events/57
1. Some statistics suggest that 85% of Jamaica’s university graduates emigrate, a number second only to that of Samoa.
2. Continental Baking Company was the single largest donor to the Crayons Count campaign and was relaunched as their owned initiative called “Little Leaders,” which sought to provide learning kits to early childhood institutions across Jamaica.
3. Jamaica prioritises STEM in its Vision 2030 Development Plan.
About the Author
GARY “BUTCH” HENDRICKSON
Gary Craig Hendrickson, more popularly called “Butch”, serves as Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of the Continental Baking Company Ltd. and Coconut Bay Beach Resort & Spa in St. Lucia. In addition to his businesses, he is also a member of the Board of Directors of Rainforest Seafoods and sits on the board of The Kings House Foundation.
He is a former Director of Desnoes & Geddes Ltd, Kingston Wharves Ltd, the former Vice President of the Private Sector of Jamaica (PSOJ) and Stationery & Office Supplies, and the former Chairman of EXIM Bank, the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) and the Council of Voluntary Social Services (CVSS).
Mr. Hendrickson actively participates in programs focused on early childhood education and local manufacturing in Jamaica and is a major contributor to charities such as Mustard Seed Communities, Laws Street Trade Training Centre, Food for the Poor, and St. Patrick’s Foundation, amongst many others. He, along with other business leaders, spearheads the STEM for Growth Task Force, whose mission is to “create a vision of Jamaica as a STEM nation and to enlist [the private sector’s] input and support for practical steps we need to take to make this a reality.”
Mr. Hendrickson, who once described himself as “the worst student that ever walked on this planet,” attended Jamaica College, the Miami Military Academy, and Fordham University and has been a member of the American Society of Bakery Engineers for over 30 years.
