#BTEditorial – Measure twice, cut once for common entrance

- by Barbados Today February 26, 2020

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4 Replies to “#BTEditorial – Measure twice, cut once for common entrance”

1. So true trying to start something like this so suddenly will surely confuse the whole thing phase out not just cut off like that

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2. What’s wrong with the 11 plus if it’s not broken leave it alone. I totally agree with Ralph Thorpe hope that the BTU make a stand on this.

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3. Seriously…. She really want to start planning for this come March, knowing that common entrance is in May? The way government was talking I was
   under the assumption that they were in the final stage of planning not about to plan. SMH.

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4. It is a shame that the focus is on the redundant 11+ examination, that discriminates and stigmatises Barbadian youth at such a young age, and not on fundamentally overhauling and improving the quality of teaching in Barbados. Why does a child at age 11, when they are still developing, required to be assessed, and for this to determine which school they will attend at Secondary – what purpose does this serve for the child?

   Why is the Government not instigating a continuous education and improvement programme for all teachers across the secondary schools, bringing them back to college on a part time basis so that they are learning and developing modern and more effective teaching techniques and lesson plans. Teaching needs to become an aspirational position, one that is valued highly and continuously invested in. This would better prepare the youth for the modern working environment, rather than the compliant little workers that just do as they are told and are too fearful to ask questions or suggest a better way of doing a task.

   Why not rotate the teachers around the different schools, old and new, so that the quality of teaching is improved and redistributed across all of the schools, and we no longer have the this ridiculous and counterproductive hierarchy of schools. How has it been allowed for some schools to be labelled as failing, why is the focus not on improving the quality of teaching in these schools so that it is at a higher level across the board? Wouldn’t it be better if you knew your child was going to get the same quality of teaching no matter which school they attended?

   Remove the requirement to complete homework “at home”, as many children from less privileged homes do not have a parent home in the afternoon or evening to assist, or even a place for them to complete their homework. When is it that young kids who are unsupervised get into trouble and cause mischief and trouble on the streets, than when they leave school in the afternoon and have no home to go to. Remove this form of discrimination by creating after school homework clubs where children are required to complete their homework at school, being monitored and assisted by volunteers, older students, teacher trainees, or retired teachers, who can assist them in their learning in a secure and safe environment. This is a French approach that was utilised to bring greater equality into their schools, and to stop disadvantaging those who come from less fortunate backgrounds. It would also hopefully free up more of a teachers time, from having to mark the endless quantities of homework they are expected to set, and can use this time to further their own personal development as a teacher, and plan and organise new lessons rather than repeating the same formats and standards year after year.

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