THE EDITOR, Sir:
WE HAVE known for a very long time that there has been a crisis in the education sector. While I agree that there are numerous variables which affect one's learning process, Dr. Minott's study should never be disregarded or discounted. I believe that even if Dr. Minott had evaluated results over the last 10, 20, 30 years, the first and second place schools would have still held those two positions and the other schools would be shuffling for the other eight spaces.
The CXC results showed that the schools were worthy of being ranked in the way that they were. The phenomena were based on the CXC results and nothing more (or less). Education is everyone's business even though we have a way of laying blame on the Government for every misfortune. Why do we continue to believe that any single entity is responsible for our well-being?
I recall my days at Immaculate and how hard my teachers worked to ensure that we all did well. Just before one summer vacation, my maths teacher called me aside and told me that she thought I could be doing much better than I was doing at the time. She informed me that she was calling my parent to suggest a month of summer school as CXC was the following year. I thought to myself that she would never find out where my parent was employed to even call her. I arrived home that evening, to be told that I was going to summer school because my teacher had made contact.
Do we still have teachers like that who take a personal interest in a child's performance? If so, where are they? Many may claim that private prep schools are the reason why some excel and some don't. I disagree totally. I know many persons who attended Government primary schools and turned out well and in some cases, exceptionally well. Therefore, parents need to buckle down with their children, teachers need to show more interest in their students, principals need to take responsibility for the school's administration. It is as simple as that.
Therefore, let us not waste time crying down the results of this study and work on what needs to be worked on. By the time you look around, the 2004 results will be out and the time spent arguing and disputing could have been channelled into making our children the best they can be. The only hope this country has is the efficient use of human resources. We need to capitalise on this and move forward.
I am, etc.,
NATASHA PARKINS
nparkins@cwjamaica.com
Via Go-Jamaica
