EDUCATION MINISTER, Senator Burchell Whiteman, on Sunday condemned the severe beating of a 12-year-old who failed to gain a place in a high school her father preferred.
He also sought to defend the Ministry's method of high school placement of students, following the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) which, he said, had resulted in placements for 99 per cent of the students.
"Clearly, that person is guilty of child abuse and I believe that our authorities must take the necessary action. That is as much a case of child abuse, as preventing your child from going to school," Minister Whiteman said. He was addressing the audience at the dedication and official opening of a new set of classrooms and administrative block, at the Portmore Missionary Prep, St. Catherine.
He urged caregivers to do the opposite and encourage children.
"The encouragement that we give to our children makes a tremendous difference to their achievement and it stays with them throughout life, so far from that parent who abused his child, we should be seeking to encourage all our children, because they learn at different rates, at different speeds, at different points in their lives and there is opportunity within our system always for them to catch up," he said.
The Education Minister suggested alternatives to violent reactions to the GSAT results. He urged all caregivers to commend their child on having successfully completed primary education and to thank the school for having prepared the child.
In addition, they should also "recognise and identify any deficiencies which you as a parent believes exist in that school...If you believe that perhaps your child could have done better in the Mathematics or the social studies, you can say that to the school... and pass it onto the next school," he added.
He asked caregivers to also research high schools before making judgements. "Perception is important but we must not confuse perception with reality. In fact in doing so, the parent and the student may well be the loser."
In defending high school placements, the Minister warned parents against having the "wrong kind of relationship" with their children.
He said that sometimes parents are driven by their children to make certain school choices by stating that this is the school they want to go to and that these are the things they must have, but parents have to be strong enough to say no in their children's interest."
The Minister explained that he has had parents approach him and name schools in which they want their children placed.
"I think it is a little unreasonable," Minister Whiteman said. "Now, we cannot deal with total convenience. We have to deal with what is possible and what is practical."
He outlined that when children were to be placed, the Education Ministry took into account parental choice, the performance of the student, geography and "the need for the schools to have a spread of children from different communities, different abilities, so there can again be the exercise of respect for all and fair treatment of our children."
There have been complaints about the placement of children being biased and that top students are being "creamed off" to go to prominent traditional high schools. But, Minister Whiteman dismissed this.
"We give each school a fair opportunity to do its best for its students. I hear references to students in a particular area of Kingston being creamed off to go outside that area. The parents choose to go. We don't place anybody arbitrarily. The parents choose that their children should go from one community to another, to continue their secondary education. I think we must apply the most aggressive principles we can while we operate in the most practical way and modify the system as we go along.
The task of every school is to add value to the lives, the experiences and the learning potential of every student who enters it.
