Proponents for the disbanding of the Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination (BSSEE), familiarly known as the Common Entrance or 11-plus exam, have found a strong ally in the form of the head of the School of Education at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus.
As a matter of fact, Professor of Education and Director of the School of Education, Joel Warrican, contends that Barbados and the rest of Caribbean are subjecting Class 4 children to an assessment system that is racist in its origin.
“The funny thing is that this exam came out of an unjust system. It’s an exam that we inherited from the UK, started through a psychologist called Cyril Burt. He devised this exam basically to separate the sheep from the goat, to ensure that the best students go to top schools and the others somewhere else. Later, Cyril Burt was discredited as being racist. He did not like blacks, did not like Pakistanis and so forth. This exam is really to make sure that the best white persons go to the top schools,” explained Warrican.
In his interview with Barbados TODAY this morning the academic noted that even though the demographic makeup of Barbados is predominantly black, the elitist construct of the Common Entrance Exam has not changed.
“We have kept it. We hear officials say to us that it is the fairest way to ensure that our people get the best education. Well, who are our people? Is it just the few persons who are going to do extremely well and benefit from the so-called top secondary schools? What happened to the large percentage of students, who through this exam, are sent to certain schools? They are not well supported, and they end up quite often becoming a stress on our society,” said Warrican, who acknowledged that in recent years the success rate of the “second tier” secondary school had improved tremendously.
However, the educator said that it would not be an easy task to convince the decision-makers in the education system that change was necessary, as many of them are the beneficiaries of the elitist structure and therefore want the system of exclusivity to remain intact.
“I contend that many people like it because many of us have benefited from it. Many of us have gone to those same top schools and do not want certain types of students going into these schools and we want to keep the status quo” he charged.
Warrican told Barbados TODAY that he was not against assessment before entering secondary school but rather was concerned about the manner in which the garnered information was being currently used. He argued that instead of using Common Entrance results as the benchmark for school allocation, they should be used to correct the students’ deficiencies.
“I think it should be disbanded, totally disbanded. I support an assessment system because it is not just about disbanding an exam. You can use an assessment to get the relevant information, the necessary information about a child so that you can help them. So, when the student goes to secondary school, it should not just be a transfer from primary to secondary school,” he stressed.
Last week former Member of Parliament for St Michael South East, Hamilton Lashley, made a similar call for scrapping the 11-plus examination. He linked social segregation in the island to the BSSEE. He suggested that the exam has led to division among young children who passed for older secondary schools and those enrolled in the newer secondary institutions.
“I am one of those persons who believes that the examination should be scrapped. I do not understand why in a modern era when we have so many different models of primary education that we cannot find the right model. What has me puzzled is why do we continue with an examination that determines the success of a child based on two subjects English and Maths. It lends a sort of inferiority complex to some of those children who fail the 11+ exam,” Lashley said at the time.
England scrap it but we still holding on smh
Professor…with all due respect, if a racist starts something
I hope that you all realise that you seem only to be talking about the ones who do not do well in the 11+
Why all of a sudden being “bright” is not ALSO being embraced
But put down and frowned upon
Why not change the attitude of the parents the teachers and the children fron the way that they see and treat the 11+
Why not find ways to cater to all levels of students once they have been placed by the exam
It’s not the exam, it’s the system that’s NOT in place for those few after they have been placed
Fix the education system
Leave the 11+
The exam is not the problem.
So that all the rich people children would get in all the high schools leave the damn exam
And what will we replace the CE exam with? Why all of a sudden we have these “experts” fuming about the legitimacy of the CE when they have admittedly benefited from said exam? I’m so sick of hearing the old arguments against this or any other standardized exam such as “racism” “elitism” etc ad nauseum.
The CE exam is not perfect, but at least it gives us important information such as the suitability of students to attend schools such as Lodge, Harrison’s etc where the academic environment is rigorous. I suppose the next big thing is to have students write their own exams and grade themselves.
We have enough problems in Barbados as it is so why trifle with such a foundational issue at this time?
Kick down the ladder now.
May be now they will listen, for over 25 yrs I have been saying that something needs to be done about this exam. I have been abused, told all kinds of things by people who just want to hold on to the idea of good school, bad school. Every year I see praise heaped on those top 10 and those who got into the 2 top older Secondary Schools, every body seems to forget the others who were in the same class as them. Even a blind man can see that this was meant for only the best to get though, years ago I read a book by Robert Kyosaki. He was borned in Hawaii and said that at school he noticed that fellows who he thought should have gone on to High School were not going. He asked his teacher father who had no idea, as he got older he dug deeper and found out why. There was a system in place that made sure that some students were held back, you had to keep some for Sugar Cane crops and low paid jobs. 11 plus as it is now is no better than that.
So many problems need to be rectified from Primary School. I can’t wrap my brain around how so called educated people can think that to take children in class 4 to other schools on a particular day, give them a test only on Maths and English and the results from that should determine the course those children’s lives take.
Maybe now a Professor has said the same thing the people that can change it will listen. As I said before I en went to nuh big up school, my Father paid school fees fuh we to go to school, so dey not going to listen to uneducated me.
scrap it
@Committed Bajan – u have look at the other side of the coin. well done.
I do not see the issue. Are the books that these assimilated white cloned big heads using in the schools written by blacks? NO. Are the professions black originated? NO. A white person did devise the 11+ like everything else which encompasses the societal development of this people. All that this lot want to do is to move from an old white British orchestrated system of learning to a modern white British orchestrated way of learning. And u can bet ur bottom dollar that any system must be on the level for which is accepted by white people in Great Britain.
Yes! Yes! Yes! And Yes a thousand more times!
The exam is not the problem, the lack of the necessary elements to feed black minds within the curriculum is the problem. All races will teach their people from their books and culture whether it be china, india, japan etc. But this people continue on the same trajectory daily from another race of people, blatantly leaving out the psychological needs of their own people/children.
If u have sheep still learning how to behave and live like goats what do u expect to happen. Cyril Burt had a real point and this people should have done paid attention to him.
And yes the medical comparison is strictly based on White for Black people.
And when u finish with the school system try to tackle the church and justice systems too. Them wash up with similar conjectural elements.
Let us be honest, we all want our kids to go to certain schools and if they don’t get in we are upset. The name on the school is the problem and also the solution, if Lodge is the most popular school we can have Lodge north, Lodge south, Lodge east and west, same with Harrison’s and the other popular schools. Even if all the schools were equal in popularity individuals are not, we all have differing strengths and weaknesses.
Please remember, ” What we learn in school is more important than where we went to school.”
Mr WARRICAN ,, this is a whole heap a crap you talking, go back for the last 20 or 30 years and ask those teachers who thought at primary school, if them were disappointed when them saw the results of the 11 plus, if any of the children fell short, and they would say to you no, cause the students who always did well,, did well in the exams,you can even ask present day teachers the same question, you now want to come to talk about racist this and that, to beat down a good education system that here in barbados, you want to lower the bar (standard), barbados can always boast of it high education, why you think our children does excel so far when them go over sea to live, because them well advance in education, as the old pppl would say, well god do something wrong with you,, then since you talking bout racist and all that crap bout dividing and class and race ,then why the UWI dont open up and let student with 2 or 3 A LEVELS come and study full time,would you allow that, if you so concern bout the education, no you wont allow it, so let me hear now who racist,, class and who dividing, this is the same system you and your children use and it aint fail you or them ,,, its not the system the problem is the good fa nothing parents who wont look after them children, who want to be on the block day in and day out smoking, drinking partying, let them help look over the school work and make sure them do the school work, not looking for society and teachers to raise them unmannerly children, cause them dont teach them none, cause when you can hear parent say them cant control a 6 or 8 years old child then some thing wrong, you expect the teacher to do it, the children who were always bright did well in the 11 plus, and those who were so bright went to the so called lesser schools, and some of them who been to the lesser school picked up as they went along and made it to the UWI as well, my kids were like that and all 3 picked up as time went one and went UWI, and all them now work for way over 4000 a month in barbados canada and the usa, and them all in they 30s, so Mr WARRICAN dont flog the 11 plus, beat kill the parents, and as i say ask the teachers if them disappointed with the result as far as the children they teach are concern, and they would say no, so go rest ya self, education aint common sense and you are showing it clearly
Good points@Reg.
Professor Warrican: “The funny thing is that this exam came out of an unjust system…. Cyril Burt…devised this exam basically to separate the sheep from the goat, to ensure that the best students go to top schools and the others somewhere else…. He did not like blacks… [and this] exam is really to make sure that the best white persons go to the top schools.”
It would be interesting to hear the perspective of those who harp on the plight of the “poor Black man” on an educational system that is maintained to suppress the development of the vast majority of Blacks in Barbados to largely benefit a few.
Let me say that scrapping the Common Entrance Exam (11+ Exam) does not preclude academic high achievers from going on to the so-called “top schools” in pursuit of academia. This writer would prefer to even scrap the term “secondary schools” in favor of “Centers of Excellence” in a new dispensation. But that is wishful thinking since to attend or to have attended an older secondary school in Barbados still consumes everyone, even in 2019.
Our society needs high achievers but it must also cater to those who score well below 50% in a single-sitting 11+ Exam that allocates students to secondary schools based on scores in English and Math, only. Those children are still forced for the next five years to pursue academic subjects, mostly in which they have no interest. We should not reduce the standard of the so-called top schools, but rather raise the level of the other schools as well as the course offerings. If these deficiencies in our educational system are not addressed, we will be forever complaining about high crime and indiscipline.
The point here is we have failed to identify the academic abilities, skills, talents and interests of our students at the primary school level and channel them in that direction for career development. The best way to do this is through a system of continuous assessment and working with parents to determine the strengths and weaknesses of each child. Remedial measures must be part of the mix. By age 11, educators and parents will have a fairly good idea which Center best suits the career path for each student.
Every student will not be an Einstein but each one has the potential to go on to do extraordinary things in this world. Let’s start by developing more rounded students and making them fit for life, instead of just finding a job later on. The model in countries like Sweden, Finland and Denmark works well. The end result is a more disciplined society with a very low crime rate.
It is unfortunate that we live in a society where every May only those who gain top marks in the 11+ are paraded and highlighted while all others feel like failures. That must be psychologically damaging to those who receive low scores and are sent to the “not-so-good” schools. The truth is nobody fails the 11+ Exam since everyone advances to a secondary school.
It is understandable why some people want to maintain the 11+ status quo because it works for and benefits them in every way — access to Barbados scholarships, pride of attending “top schools”, first choice at best jobs, the “school tie” network, avoidance of prison for white collar crime etc.
Do nothing at, our peril, about the present educational system at the transition point from primary to secondary school, and be forever complaining about our societal problems in a changing world where there is easier access to guns and illegal drugs by wayward youth.
Weather the exam is removed or not u all big thinkers must fall in line with tge standard of the said white British system. In the UK there is sn exam by another name (,sats) with some zoning , which results in parents buying homes in certain boroughs near to their desired school due to the schools overall yesrly score results. All this talk and any change will end up back to this very standard I.e UK as this people must always. play their game.
We the people r dealing with varing levels of societal division. And what should actually be dealt with is clearly being overlooked. And it has been since so called independence. A parent cannot feed a child what it does not have and this has been the scheme all along. Hence…. Keep the lost sheep lost and nibbling dry
Grass.
The 11+should stay and allow the high achievers go to the same schools but just 3 of them and then institute a tonal policy for the others. Simply they will be going to the schools th a t is nearest to their homes which will call for less transportation woes and a community spirit will develop in the respective schools. With that I’m sure that the overall standards with improve in all the schools as all the low achievers wouldn’t be in one or two schools but spread among other sharp ones.
Should be “zonal policy”
Shortly after posting my above comments, a friend sent a WhatsApp message asking me to expand a bit more on how these Centers of Excellence might work.
Let me say that scrapping the Common Entrance Exam (11+ Exam) does not preclude academic high achievers from going on to the so-called “top schools” in pursuit of academia. This writer would prefer to even scrap the term “secondary schools” in favor of “Centers of Excellence” in a new dispensation.
There will be Centers for academics, technology, computer repair, tradespersons (carpentry/joinery, masonry, mechanics/automotive repair, fashion design, esthetics etc), modern and traditional agriculture etc. Included in the programs each student will be taught courses in Civics, Barbados and Caribbean History, Politics, English, Communication, Math/Arithmetic, Foreign Language/s, Personal Development, Money Management, Business Management, Basic Accounting, Spirituality/Religious Knowledge among other courses geared at developing a well-rounded individual, fit for life and the world of work. The Center where academics is pursued will have the CSEC and CAPE subjects but students will also have to complete electives in those “life-building” courses.
Each person in the non-academic programs would have attained a certificate on completion (NVQ/CVQ, HND, City & Guilds etc.). These programs could build on current offerings at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Technology Institute (formerly Polytechnic) and the Barbados Vocational Training Board, both of which would become one of those Centers.
There has been no physical expansion of postsecondary education facilities in eons, forcing many applications to be rejected each year due to lack of available space, and applicants falling by the wayside without hope. With this new model, all existing secondary schools will become Centers, thereby removing the need to construct new buildings.
The resultant savings can be diverted to retrofitting/upgrading facilities, teacher retraining and equipment purchasing and so on. These mandatory Centers will capture persons between ages 11 and 18, ensuring that everyone leaves with certification, confidence and a sense of achievement. It would now be possible to enter the world of work, start a business or pursue higher education.
But that may be wishful thinking since to attend or to have attended an older secondary school in Barbados still consumes everyone, even in 2019. It would require a radical paradigm shift in our thinking about how we educate the nation’s children. It also makes economic sense since more than half of the students taking the CSEC currently do not obtain passing grades in five subjects in a single sitting.
Do nothing, at our peril, about the present educational system at the transition point from primary to secondary school, and be forever complaining about societal problems in a dynamic and fast-changing world where there is easier access to illegal guns and drugs by wayward youth — most of whom scored low on the 11+ Exam and were pushed like cattle into one of the “bad” schools to waste time for the next five years.
To scrap the exam in it’s current form certain things should be set in motion first. One would be to establish a few “vocational” secondary schools to cater to those who might be otherwise skilled or choose that route over the traditional arts or science route. This would act as a good feeder for future entrepreneurship, or for those choose to further pursue their skills academically. Why waste 5/6 years in a secondary setting that is not conducive to a student’s skill set/interests….whether it be robotics, computer tech, etc. That way they can hone in on the particular academic subjects to go with a specific skill set.
i live in the USA , and we copy every thing them do, and some thing are not in bajan best interest, first the usa got a good school bus system which is paid for, and you have a number of buses going to one school, bajans cant afford to pay, so if you zone as ppl say then some children who going to a school in they parish will still have to end up going to town or some place in a bus route to get school, so what is the sense of zoning, dont let WARRICAN put barbados in a place that wont help us here in barbados, those so called educators are stupid and cant only have head but no brain,