The headlines itself speaks to what is wrong with Jamaica and that is the five P’s.
Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.
Parents worked hard with their children, many worked extra hours to find that extra cash so their kids could get extra lesson, so they could get good grades. Many were hoping that with decent grades, they would have been able to get their kids into a “decent” high school ( Traditional High School).
Now that there hard work has paid off at the kids have achieved a high level of mastery, they are now faced the the difficult decision of placing their high achiever in schools not know for academic excellence, but in many cases are known for disruptive and uncouth behaviour. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting that all non traditional or upgraded high school are like this, but many are.
The salient point is, what did those in charge of the education ministry expect, did they not think that GSAT results would get better? Did they not believe that the work that was being put in by educators ( teachers and administrator), parents and students would eventually lead to better results?
If the answer is no, then shame on them, if the answer was yes, then shame on them once again. Many may be saying huh?
Well let me make it simple, if we truly believed that the results would have gotten better, it would therefore stand to reason that the higher grades would get even higher and the lower grades would also get higher. It therefore means that the upper bar would have been set higher ie those attending the creme de la creme schools would have to score close to 100% .
It would also stand to reason that with a fixed amount of space, eventually you would run out of places in the traditional high school to place these kids and therefore you would be left with no choice but to turn to the upgraded high schools.
Now we have a dilemma because over the years our so called incompetent leaders simply changed the name of most of these schools and did not do much to ensure that we were prepared for this day. This is where the 5 P’s come in play and where have failed our kids once again and I must say in a big way.
We cannot simply pluck students with 80′s and place them in an upgraded schools and expect them to prosper without certain basic things being firstly put in place. We cannot expect the these brights kids will improve the image and performance of the school simply by being their.
We are running the danger of having these kids believe that they have failed and so become failures, by this experiment that is being conducted by the ministry of education.
Most of the top schools in Kingston are located uptown ( take out George’s and KC) so does that mean that these schools will now be reserved for those from those geographic areas aka “uptowner”? I certainly hope that is not the plan by our administrators, but we all know how ” d ting setup in Jamaica already”.
Word also on lips of some persons are as bad as GSAT may have appeared to be as soon as “poor people” pickney start get very good results dem want fi zone wi pickney dem and get rid a GSAT.
Cynicism is Jamaica is high and the reason for that is based on what persons have seen been done in the past by the social elites amongst us who are hell bent on maintaining the status quo.
I clearly understand what the ministry is trying to do and its something we have spoken about for years, the problem is, not enough work was done to ensure that these schools were ready for today.
I must note at least one school in Portland that has done extremely well since being updgraded and that is the Port Antonio Comprehensive High SChool formerly Port Antonio Secondary or Boundbrook School. The PTA,the school administrations and past student association have done a tremendous job and while it’s not yet at the level of Titchfield, they are doing very well, so all is not lost.
I am sure there are more success stories like these in our parishes and as such I would like readers to highlight these and let the kids going these schools know , they have a chance to get a good education.
I will have another piece on what needs to be done with those kids who are gaining 35 – 50%, because we simply cannot dump them by the wayside.
Courtesy : Jamaica Gleaner
Filed under: Education, Public Information
Oh Jay, Wished you were on the ball as you are now whilst the JLP were in office?
What does the JLP have to do with this and my other post, lets address the problem on hand nuh man.
I know that you meant Improved GSAT results, instead of Improved GCT results????????????
Thanks for that catch
The results are also better because the exam this year was “easier”. At least, so say many that took it! Check out the headlines from March when they all sat the exam. This was bound to happen.
Personally, I think a better strategy would be to help the “feeder” primary schools improve their results (behavior and academics) thus improving the non traditional schools. Placing “uptowners” in non traditional schools does not buy instant credibility.
AXE COMING FOR EXTRA LESSONS !
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120625/lead/lead5.html
I am surprized with the number of bloggers who posted on the gleaner blog who applaud this move, thinking it a good idea but nothing could be further from the truth.
I went to extra lessons in the 1970′s in preparation from my common entrance exam and I found it to be fun and very helpful.
This move by the education minister is utter rubbish and is addressing the wrong problem if one can call it a problem.
What you will find if Ronnie pushes forward with this will be the social elites will be the only one being able to afford these extra work( private lessons), which is often required to prepare their kids for exam, while the working class Jamaicans will be left to the mercy of the 60 students per teacher in the public classroom,
Eventually what you will end up with is those who are best prepared obtaining the better results and gets into you guess it, the better schools.
Are we on our way back to where we don’t want to go, with only the best for the most wealthy by creating a system, which ensures that this is what happens.
I am sure this is not what Ronnie is thinking but this is exactly how its likely to play out if he pushed ahead with this move.
Jamaicans , please wake up and go beyond the headlines !
I disagree with you here. The whole concept of “extra lesson” is geared towards the preparing students for the GSAT exam. This, in itself, would suggest that the normal teaching apparatus is deficient, since in order to do well at the exam, one would have to fork over additional funds and gain additional knowledge. Yes?
We did not do “extra lessons” in high school in preparation to sit GCE/CXCs/A’Levels/CAPE. When I went to primary school, only a small faction of the student body took “extra lessons” and those were the ones whose parents could afford to pay for such lessons. This would indicate that current system is elitist. Yes?
The American Educational System does not rely on anything remotely close to this “rubbish”. Yet “most” of their students are prepare for Tertiary Education of one form or the other after high school.
See the my comments below…….
Great topic/write-up Jay! One of the things you have to realize is that the more high-performers that are placed in these Non-Traditional High Schools, the more “attention” they will receive and the better parent involvement that will be achieved at these schools. I can probably name at least 10 Non-Traditional HS that can compete with the very best of the Traditional High Schools. These schools also tend to group the better students in one or two classes per grade. So, for the most part, like-minded students will be together throughout the five years in high school.
The other thing you need to realize is that attaining high GSAT scores is not a good predictor of long term success at high school and beyond. I remember some of my peers during primary school who did exceptionally well at GSAT, only to peter-out during their high school years, leaving with mediocre CXCs results. Even more alarming are the number who eventually go on to University and fail to complete a first degree because they were not prepare for the vigorous University work, especially in the Sciences and Engineering. I’m sure you can identify a large number of your High Schools peers who started out at Titchfield High School with great promise, only to end up with lackluster results when they eventually graduated from HS.
I went to a University in the US, with a sizable Jamaican population at the school. I met Jamaicans from pretty much all the top High Schools in Jamaica. Very few was able to complete the Engineering program, took six years or more to complete the program in the recommended four-years, end up dropping out of the University or switch to much “easier” majors. On the other hand, I met some students from some of the “better” non-traditional or Technical High Schools who would run circles around most of the students from these Traditional High Schools. Most went on to do advanced degrees in various Engineering disciplines at some of the best Engineering Graduate programs in the US.
GSAT, for the most part, is dependent on memory recall, which decreases with over time and as such, by the time these students start doing Physics, Chemistry, and more advance Mathematics which requires deductive reasoning skills, they are lost.
Bottom line is we need to start paying more attention to these Non-Traditional High Schools, since they educate about 70% of our High School Students. There a number of exceptionally good Non-Traditional HS and we should investigate what their success strategies are and apply them across the board. BTW, which high school did the former Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition attend? What about the current Prime Minister?
I welcome your take on what I said above.
I share your sentiments here as it relates to high performers in GSAT or even GCE/CXC not making in in sciences.
I can vividly recall a guy who barely made it into the Engineering program based on his grades, but left University with First Class Honours .
BTW – I am not shunning suggesting the Non Traditional high school as you would note in my last two paragraphs, I know at least one and am encouraging others to post these other upgraded or non traditional high schools who are producing high performers.
Jay, I know you read this article in the Observer:
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Tivoli-triplets-win-big_11762982#ixzz1ykp303hy
and these three girls grew up in the ghetto and did quite well despite their living environment and the Non-Traditional High School they attended.
Actually i did read it, did you notice my comments on that article.
Couple of points. One of the reasons for the hue and cry is that kids from previously poorly performing schools increased their scores dramatically while those from a lot of previously top performers did not do well so what has happened is that kids from Bridgeport primary, for instance, have taken the place of those that went to St. Peter and Paul in Campion and those uptown kids now have to to Tarrant. My point, recognize which pig is squealing in the pen. The second point is that education has always been the top 1,2 or 3 biggest ministry in terms of budget but with free tuition the limited budget has become even more so, that’s the trade off, recognize it. At the end of the day zoning has to happen and whosever pickney dem was first was bound to bawl, rightly so, because dem feeling it. However these same proactive parents are the same ones who will make these non-traditional schools better as they get involved in PTA, etc and demand performance from all and sundry. Could it have been handled better, less clumsily? Of course! Generally things always can be better handled and criticism is due for that but as usual we Jamaicans, as with the recent song nonsense fail to see the forest but for the trees and focus on the more negative aspects of things which really just makes us look immature. Here’s the headline, GSAT scores have increased dramatically! I’ll leave the general negativity and nonsense for others who like playing in the dirt.