THE EDITOR, Sir:
I WENT to school in Jamaica between 1955-1971. As a youngster, I always observed that the schools that I was connected to pursued an élitist system of education where students were stratified as being either bright or dunce.
While attending primary school between 1960-1964, the teachers used to divide the classes in two the so-called dunce students were placed on the left while the bright ones were placed on the right. The teacher spent most of her time and energy with the bright students while ignoring those who were in dire need of her help especially in areas of arithmetic and English.
Consequently, the brighter students ended up in the choicest high schools such as Wolmer's, Kingston College and Immaculate while the weaker ones ended up in the graveyard, dead-end all-age schools. In 1965, I was privileged to attend one of the élitist high schools where the same system prevailed. In first form, the students with the best Common Entrance grades were placed in the A and B streams while those with lower scores were placed in the C and D streams.
Again, the better and more capable teachers were given to brighter and more capable students in the A and B streams while the less capable and dull teachers were sent to teach the struggling students in the C and D streams. Ultimately, this led to non-achievement, failure and low self-esteem for many students.
Sir, I am not saying that the foregoing is the only problem with education in Jamaica but from my vantage point, this is a major barrier to learning. Many students from weak backgrounds or poor family structure have had their future ruined because of the élitist system of education where schools on a whole are stratified into bright and dunce.
We had better get our act together in this country if we intend to achieve a literate and numerate population: a goal which has eluded us for many decades.
I am, etc.,
DERRICK CLARKE
vladimirz1@yahoo.com
Meadowbrook Estates
Kingston 19
