Letter of the Day | Hold your brakes, Fayval
Published:Thursday | November 11, 2021 | 12:08 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
IT WOULD appear that the Ministry of Education (MOE) has finally fallen off its rails with the announcement of a ban on fifth form graduations which invariably extend the tenure of secondary school students from five years to seven. This also means that it will now be mandatory for all students, irrespective of their career path and financial background, to continue to sixth form. This is nonsense on wheels and directly shows that the minister of education along with those who advise her are very much out of touch with the Jamaican context. With this implementation, it is clear the MOE is being driven by a need to be the inventor of dynamic changes, but it must be noted that not all change is good or necessary.
Now, in examining this dilemma one must bear in mind that not all schools have sixth-form programmes in place and for those who do, they can only accept a chosen few. The question that must therefore be asked of the crew at the MOE is, wherein lies the space in these cultured institutions to retain their fifth-formers for two more years? This decision seem to have been arrived at rather hastily with no explanation advanced to the country as to why this ban was imposed. What is the problem it hopes to correct?
What about that student whose career path does not necessarily require him or her to endure two more years in high school? It would be better for him/her to still have the option to pursue a path that is best suited to their situation. The debate has been raging for many years about the failure of the country’s education system and this decision will only serve to strengthen that argument. Within the Jamaican context exists an inequality gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ that is far too pronounced for the implementation of this mandate.
The MOE seems to be in search of a silver bullet to cure the many failures that are inherent within its archaic structures. Well, this will simply not suffice and may very well contribute to an increase in the rate of high-school dropouts or, in this context, ‘push outs’. The sage of old would say ‘Wah nuh bruk, nuh fix it’, it would serve the MOE to heed this caution before the ship runs a reef. Minister Williams needs to immediately rescind this ban and revisit the drawing board, consult with the leaders of our secondary educational institutions to identify plausible solutions to the problems sighted.
The minister has fumbled on this occasion and it does not look good on the Holness-led administration at this time with the impending local government elections that the electorates should be given reasons to question any minister’s handling of their ministry. Many would have already given the MOE a failing grade for its management of the pandemic, and this is now rubbing salt in a festering wound and adding insult to injury.
The crew at the MOE needs to implement more policies geared towards technical training in schools for those students who are more hands-on in their learning. The saying every child can learn and every child must learn is only 50 per cent true, for not every child learns in the same old archaic ways that exist in our education system. Fayval needs to draw brakes on this steam train as she approaches a dangerous crossroads in the nation’s educational advancement as this could even impede national development, which has had its fair share of setbacks and sabotage. I dare say, if any good sense exist within the MOE, it is full time it be allowed to prevail.
JOSEPH WILLIS