Inclusion without intervention is not inclusion
Published:Saturday | January 24, 2026 | 12:09 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
Leighton Johnson’s recent letter on the realities of inclusive education in Jamaica deserves serious national attention. His account reflects what many educators have long known but rarely see acknowledged publicly: placing students with significant learning needs into mainstream classrooms without adequate support is neither fair to students nor teachers.
What is often missing from this discussion is a clear picture of national capacity and how unevenly it is distributed. At the recent University of the West Indies/Teachers’ Colleges of Jamaica (UWI/TCJ) graduation, Sam Sharpe Teachers’ College produced eight graduates in special education, Moneague College three, and Church Teachers’ College 31. This disparity alone highlights the structural imbalance in how Jamaica prepares teachers to support learners with special educational needs.
It is also important to note that Jamaica already has working models of assessment and intervention. Institutions such as Mico Care Centre and the Educational Assessment and Intervention Centre (EAIC) at Church Teachers’ College provide structured teaching intervention for students who have undergone psycho-educational assessment. These centres demonstrate that inclusion, when properly resourced, can move beyond physical placement to meaningful educational support.
In February 2021, data from the EAIC revealed alarming levels of low intellectual functioning and literacy among assessed students at both primary and secondary levels. That research warned that without early diagnosis, sustained remediation, and coordinated intervention, learning gaps would deepen and follow students into secondary schools ill-equipped to address them. Five years later, the realities described by Mr. Johnson suggest that this warning was not heeded.
The issue, therefore, is not a lack of knowledge or professional expertise. It is the absence of scale, policy coherence, and legislative backing. Inclusion without intervention is not inclusion; it is deferred failure. Teachers cannot reasonably be held accountable for outcomes when they lack specialist training, access to intervention services, and institutional support.
Mr. Johnson is correct to call for reform. That reform must include early and compulsory assessment at the primary level, expanded state-supported intervention centres, equitable deployment of special educators, and a modern legislative framework that clearly defines student entitlements and institutional responsibilities. Jamaica already knows what works. The urgent task is to move from isolated centres of excellence to a coordinated national system of care.
DUDLEY MCLEAN II