By Garwin Davis, Assistant News EditorJAMAICANS SEEM mixed in their views on whether students who do well on their Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) should be scattered throughout the high school system as opposed to be sent to a few so-called 'élite institutions'.
In a Go-Jamaica The Gleaner's official web site ongoing poll, the following question was asked: Should GSAT students who do well be spread throughout the high school system instead of being kept together in top-of-the-line schools?
From 171 respondents so far:
| Yes | | 39 per cent |
| No | | 30 per cent |
| Maybe | | 31 per cent |
The debate an ongoing one since the inception of GSAT nearly four years ago was again placed squarely on the table several weeks ago when Minister of Education and Culture Maxine Henry-Wilson raised the point at The Gleaner's Editors' Forum.
"The practice of bunching children who do well on their Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) into schools considered élite institutions will eventually harm the country's education system," she said, arguing that there were clear inequities in the system which the society as a whole will have to address.
Noting that her Ministry was seriously looking into the situation, Mrs. Henry-Wilson said there would be long-term benefits to be derived if students were "scattered throughout the system".
PICTURE
"One of the things that I did was to get a report of the GSAT scores which painted a telling picture," the Minister said. "I know we boast of schools that get 10 O'Levels all the time and get all the scholarships. The question we have to ask ourselves is whether they are really the best schools or do they get the best students? The initial response must be that they get the best children."
Mrs. Henry-Wilson said the situation was one that created an élite system among the schools with parents preferring to send their children to the so-called 'name brand schools'.
"Over time this will uplift the standard in other high school. If a child is strong academically, with the right help and attitude that student will still do well no matter what school he/she attends," the Minister added.
No sooner had the Minister
finished speaking when the responses started pouring in fast and furious.
"The teachers at the other schools will have to work much harder to get their results on par... considering the pay-by-result plan of the Government," said one respondent.
RATIONALE
Added another: "The child should go to the school closest to him/her rather than travelling miles to go to top schools and half the time too tired to learn."
Another said: "It is unfair to hold them back. It's not the most productive way of fixing the system. It may help to spread the good teachers around instead. This would help some of the children to work harder if they do not want to be at the bottom of the class because of the competition they would be up against. They would also get help from the more brilliant students. My reason for tickking no is that the upgraded secondary schools are not on par with the traditional high school. The names are just changed nothing else."
The long-standing method used to place students coming from the primary level into the high schools the Common Entrance Examina-tion was phased out in 1999. However, many parents and teachers have been complaining that its replacement, the GSAT, has only served to reinforce the inequities Mrs. Henry-Wilson described and badly needs to be amended.
Others too weighed in on the debate.
"The inequities in the system are ultimately everybody's concern. And the levelling down, equalising correction towards which the Minister seems to be drifting is of equally great concern. If the bunching will harm the country's education system, the unbunching will harm the students, the system and the country in its own way. The Minister has inherited an inequitable system which will be hell to change at fundamental levels. And the cure certainly must not be worse than the disease," was the position taken by columnist Martin Henry.
Educator Aisha Spencer said: "I agree wholeheartedly with the principle of what Mrs. Henry-Wilson is proposing but I feel that at some point we need to represent all sides of the story, and not just one.
QUALITY EDUCATION
"There would be no problem with spreading these high performers across the many high schools in Jamaica, if parents could be assured that their children would receive the same quality of education as well as opportunity for holistic growth and development from all secondary institutions."
D. Anthony Williams, another respondent, agreed. "Education Minister Maxine Henry-Wilson is educationally correct," he said. "The inequities in the awarding of high school places are real, but then, if a child performs well during exam shouldn't this child be sent to the top of the class, as against those who didn't do too well? Even the schools themselves jostle to accommodate the best performers. As a result, many children never take up the place at the school to which they were awarded."
The Minister, noting that she welcomed the debate, however sought to clarify her position. "I have not yet put forward any proposal about dispersing high performance students throughout the schools," she said. "I was simply putting forward the pros and cons... of finding an acceptable approach. I am happy that the public has weighed in on this issue and anticipate a vigorous debate."
