By Rayon Dyer, Gleaner WriterBLACK RIVER, St. Elizabeth:
TEACHERS AT the newly-upgraded Newell High School in St. Elizabeth, have expressed concern at the level of illiteracy at the institution.
They said the level of illiteracy at the school was too high and charged that the Ministry of Education had turned a blind eye to some of the problems at the institution.
In an interview with The Gleaner last Friday, Lincoln Watson, who has been teaching at the school for the past 31 years, said that the problem of indiscipline at the institution was rampant. He explained that the boys in particular were out of control, arriving late for school and were often disrespectful to teachers. They also wear earrings to school, Mr. Watson said. "The indiscipline here is bad and we are getting no support from the parents. The parents have little or no interest in their children. When we invite them to Parent-Teacher Association Meetings (PTA) only a handful of them turn out," Watson continued.
GSAT
Mr. Watson explained that under the Grade Six Achieve-ment Test (GSAT), a 12-year- old student has to leave primary school whether or not he/she is able to read and write.
Tanya McDonald, an English teacher at the school, said there were students in fifth form who are unable to read and there are other students who cannot recognise the letter 'A'.
She said: "I have no problem with us being a remedial school in terms of us getting the students with the lowest averages from the GSAT. My problem is that we cannot work off the same syllabus as the traditional high schools because our students here cannot write a proper sentence."
According to Ms. McDonald, Newell High School gets students who perform very poorly in the GSAT with an average of 25 per cent and under.
Ms. McDonald also noted that 65 per cent of the students who are about to leave the school shortly lack the basic comprehension skills. Mr. Watson said the concern of the teachers had been reported to the Ministry of Education through its education officers but nothing has been done.
