Parent group dismayed with ‘overdue’ remedial plan amid language deficits report

The Group of Concerned Parents said Thursday it is not pleased about the Ministry of Education’s timing to roll out a remedial programme to assist students with learning challenges after a recent report indicated that scores of primary and secondary school children have significant English Language deficiencies.

Head of the parent advocacy group Paula-Anne Moore said in a statement that such a programme was long overdue and questioned why the ministry now saw it fit to address the problem, which she said was evident over the past several years.

Her comments follow Wednesday’s announcement by Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw that the ministry had created a national task force on literacy education in January after results from national examinations over the past few years suggested that many pupils lacked or had insufficient literacy skills.

Dr Archer Bradshaw revealed that the results for the criterion reference test – a diagnostic examination set for primary school students around age seven – from 2012 to 2021, showed weak foundation skills for most students in Infants B and Class 2.

She also said there were language gaps based on the 11-plus examination for entry into secondary school and the latest assessment of high school students.

The education chief said: “Data derived from the Barbados Secondary Schools Entrance Examination (BSSEE) for the same period reveals that an average of 20 per cent of students scored less than 50 per cent, 13 per cent of students scored below 40 per cent, while an average of eight per cent scored less than 30 per cent. And this is in English. A cursory glance at the cumulative data suggests that while some deficits identified at the Infants B and Class 2 levels were remediated, some students continued to underperform at the BSSEE level.

“Moreover, data derived from the National Assessment of Secondary Schools 2023, which was administered to determine the English proficiency of second, third, and fourth formers, showed that the mean performance of students in English was 47 per cent. Of concern was the number of schools which recorded students who scored zero per cent as a minimum score at the three form levels. Out of the 21 secondary schools, 11 of them had students who gained zero per cent as a minimum score at the second form level, seven schools with students who scored zero per cent as a minimum score at the third form level, and four schools with students gaining zero per cent as a minimum score at the fourth form level.”

Dr Archer-Bradshaw added that the task force was part of a strategic reading action plan for 2024-2025 to address the literacy deficiencies.

But Moore said that the ministry’s report highlighted many flaws in the current education system that officials must properly remedy before any attempts to reform the system are executed.

She also questioned why it took the ministry this long to try to address the learning challenges.

Her statement read in part: “The statistics revealed in this report are damning indictments of our education system. How long has this been our reality and why has this not been remediated long before? More of this data should have been publicly available, including how many children leave each secondary school without Caribbean Examinations Council certification annually and what happens to them after. The profound tragic learning deficiencies revealed should be the first focus of education reform.

“What is even more scary is the statistics not yet publicly revealed relating to numeracy scores, which tend to be lesser than literacy ones. Basic numeracy and literacy skills, not robotics and coding, are needed for children to have a fighting chance to participate in society.”

Moore suggested the relevant authorities carefully go about reforming the education system and she called for frequent diagnostic testing.

“As we, the Barbados Union of Teachers, seasoned education professionals and many others have said, [the ministry should] fix the deficiencies at primary school level first, in the short term, and implement a long term education reform strategy including neurodivergent and other testing, [while acquiring the skills] of primary and secondary school level specialists for literacy and numeracy remediation,” she said.

The parent advocate added that, to her knowledge, there was only one psychologist dedicated to testing the entire public school system. She questioned why that was so.

“If true, how is that possible in 2024? That makes it almost impossible for those families without financial means to obtain the testing and other help they need for their children. Fix that deficiency immediately to show that we are really serious about education reform. There is much research which shows a clear connection between those with poor learning outcomes, limited economic resources and crime. There was a recent CARICOM [Caribbean Community] ministerial summit on
this topic. Our national development is contingent on our children’s success. 

“Therefore, these statistics that the ministry must have had for decades show that the targeted focus of education resources for remedial help of our most at-risk children is long overdue. We hope this latest task force, which is welcomed, results in real fundamental change in learning outcomes this time, as research reveals that there have been similar national task forces on education, with similar objectives, in the past.” (SZB)