Government’s education reform plan is coming under heavy criticism from the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) whose leader has offered suggestions for what he says is a better approach.
DLP president Dr Ronnie Yearwood contended on Sunday that the Mia Mottley administration had to first address several issues, such as determining what is really occurring in the education system, before making any attempt at change.
“I challenge the Government to produce a digest of education statistics. How are you reforming a system if you don’t know what is going on in it?” he questioned as he addressed the final DLP zonal meeting at JD’s Bar in Chelston Avenue, St Michael.
“You should produce the statistics, tell us what is going on, and then we could have a serious conversation in this country about education reform,” he added, claiming that research showed that 30 per cent of secondary school students were not entered for Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams.
The law lecturer at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus added that inclusivity must be a part of education reform.
“We have to look at inclusivity in our education system and cater to diverse types of students. What type of students are we catering to? Students who have disabilities, who have different learning styles, students who come from different family backgrounds? All of the curricula have to address these things,” he said.
The DLP leader further suggested that authorities devise a structure for early childhood education and early intervention and assessment and evaluation of teachers and students. He also said there must be a focus on career readiness and lifelong learning.
“These are the kind of themes that when you talk about education reform you have to include,” he said.
The DLP’s spokesperson on education Melissa Savoury Gittens, who also addressed the modest crowd at the meeting, added that reform should look into the standard of education from the nursery level.
“How are we helping them? By just talking about reform and doing nothing? Children are graduating from schools every year and again we are doing nothing. [The DLP’s] idea of reform starts at nursery and comes all the way up with the resources that our educators need,” she said.
Savoury-Gittens also called for the Criterion Referenced Test to be administered prior to the start of the school term. The test, which is done from Infants B, gauges students’ understanding of their work and shows teachers where they can adjust their lessons to create a better learning environment.
“I think it would make more sense to be done in May or September at the beginning of the school year, and this would help teachers to plan and for students to do better,” she said.
“We are blaming 11-Plus for a problem that did not start there. It started long before that child even started to take an exam. Let’s stop blaming this one exam. Stop blaming parents and teachers for your failures within the system. Fix the inequalities and inefficiencies in the system first, especially those with special needs,” Savoury-Gittens said in a message to the Mottley administration. (MR)
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