Rhoda ‘ashamed’ to be a Crawford

State Minister for education Rhoda Moy Crawford has launched a fiery attack on Opposition education spokesman Damion Crawford, saying she was left embarrassed by his recent comments about the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations.
Rhoda Moy Crawford, who shares the Crawford surname with the People’s National Party (PNP) politician, said she could hardly believe what she heard from Damion, accusing him of failing to properly understand the examination process.
“I have never been more ashamed to name Crawford,” she said at a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Area Council 3 meeting in Manchester.
“It’s the first in my life I was ashamed to name Crawford because I couldn’t believe what was coming from Damion Crawford’s mouth,” she said.
“Damion, who is to have better sense than that. Big disappointment.”
The state minister pleaded with media houses to clearly identify the two Crawfords when reporting on education matters. She said confusion could arise because both she and Damion frequently comment on education issues, but from opposite sides of the political divide.
“When you are reporting things that Damion say, I beg you say MP Damion or something. For me, you have to call me Rhoda or Rhoda Moy because I don’t want the confusion,” she said.
“I don’s want people see a headline that says ‘Crawford’ and make any mistake and think of me,” she said.
The education ministry recently reported improved PEP performance, with proficiency in Language Arts rising to 72 per cent from 69 per cent last year, while Mathematics increased to 69 per cent from 63 per cent. New literacy and numeracy assessments also showed 79 per cent of students achieving mastery in literacy and 75 per cent in numeracy.
However, Damion Crawford argued that this year’s PEP examination was not directly comparable with previous assessments because of significant changes to the format. He pointed specifically to the removal of certain sections and a reduction in the number of application-based components tested following disruptions caused by Hurricane Melissa.
But Moy Crawford pushed back strongly, arguing that changes to the format did not mean students were being tested on different competencies.
“If we remove Social Studies and Science, we had to adjust the exams because of what happened with Hurricane Melissa — Mathematics, Language Arts. If you change the format, changing the format of an exam doesn’t mean you change what the exam tests for,” she said.