Commentary

Good plans for all-age schools

The plans to abolish all-age and junior high schools cannot happen too soon. Successive governments over the years have allowed these non-performing schools to be around to make up numbers and to add to the class barrier that still exists to this day. The students who do absolutely nothing on their Grade Six Achievement Test, those that average in the low to mid-20s and 30s, slow learners and those with behavioural problems are placed in these schools.

The students of grades seven to nine in primary and junior high schools are most times illiterate or functionally literate and are performing way below their counterparts in the traditional and non-traditional high schools. These functionally literate students are allowed to sit the Grade Nine Achievement Test to matriculate to technical and other high schools.

And to make matters worst, these students in two years' time are the same ones who write papers at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate level without proper screening, resulting in the very low performance we have been accustomed to over the years. How is a teacher expected to perform at his or her optimum level with this situation in addition to the overcrowding what exists in our classrooms?

How can we help our children? In addition to the physical infrastructures that must be developed, reading and writing are also key to helping our children to develop. The socio-economic background of those we teach may be exposed to negative stimuli and the onus is on us as teachers to help these children convert these exposures into creative reading and writing.

Rodwin Green

rodwingreen@yahoo.com

Siloah PO, St Elizabeth

Manatt nightmare

At the risk of being overly zealous, and of even seemingly being against the Jamaica Labour Party, I must press this Manatt, Phelps & Phillips issue a bit further.

The prime minister's latest utterances seem aimed at turning the general public against private-sector groups. What he must realise, however, is that governments come and governments go, but the groups are always here. Their role is more critical to the stability of our economy and social order than the prime minister is making it appear. I am sure he knows that. This is why I believe he's being manipulative.

Again, I would remind the prime minister that he does work for the people of Jamaica, and it can't be on his terms that he answers questions asked of him. Even if he feels that these questions are frivolous and mischievous, was he never ragged in school? The raggers hate it when you cooperate; it gets boring. The ones who resist, make it interesting, and that's when the pressure is turned on. You're still not getting it right Mr Prime Minister.

Charles Evans

charles.evans@ncu.edu.jm