By Damion Mitchell, Staff ReporterUNIVERSITY LECTURER Howard Campbell yesterday dismissed as flawed the recently-released Dr. Dennis Minott Report on the performance of Jamaican high school students in the 2003 Caribbean Examination Council (CXC).
"It is invalid. Full stop!" he told The Gleaner.
Mr. Campbell, 32, a part-time lecturer at the University of Technology (UTech) for the past three years, said the faults in Dr. Minott's report ranged from analyses of insufficient data to an inaccurate method of assessing.
Within the last two weeks several schools have also discredited Dr. Minott's analysis, which has given failing grades to dozens of secondary institutions for their performance in the examinations.
Dr. Minott is a member of the Government-commissioned Task Force on Education.
The report rates the majority of 148 schools it assessed between D and E. These include some prominent secondary institutions such as St. George's College and The Queen's School.
"Instantly the report came out, I realised that something was wrong," said Mr. Campbell, stating that he had been closely monitoring the CXC results since 2001.
A former head of the Information Technology Department at St. Andrew High School for Girls, where he served for 12 years, Mr. Campbell's review of the Minott Report cites 27 errors 24 of which are errors of omission affecting 11 of 16 subjects that spread across 23 schools.
"The most glaring case is with St. Catherine High, which did 16 subjects; however, the Minott Report captured only seven of these subjects," Mr. Campbell said, noting that when corrected, St. Catherine High slipped 57 places down the rank. He said that only six of the 148 schools studied were unscathed by "the myriad of inaccuracies". These are Campion College, Wolmer's High School for Girls, St. Andrew High School for Girls, Munro College, Glenmuir High and Ardenne High.
Defends study
Francine Black
Staff Reporter
DR. DENNIS Minott, educator and engineer, is standing by his recently-released study on the CXC performance of high schools, despite criticisms which have labelled the study as inaccurate and unfair.
Speaking yesterday at the inaugural luncheon of the Public Relations Society of Jamaica at the Hilton Kingston Hotel, New Kingston, he stated that the study provided an adequate examination of the present status of schools and this was what the public wanted to know.
"I want to know right now what you are doing. I want to know what the snapshot is saying," he said.
He maintained that his assessment of student-performance using 16 subjects was adequate as five per cent or more of the student population at all institutions sat those subjects and, hence, provided a better representation of performance.
Since the release of the study three weeks ago, questions have been raised about its validity and accuracy; it rated several prominent high schools well below average. Some have called for another study which focuses on a longer period and which examines other issues outside CXC results.
Dr. Minott maintained, however, that the report showed the true status of many institutions which had hidden behind extra curricular activities such as Schools' Challenge Quiz, Spelling Bee, Boys' and Girls' athletics championships and football.
In light of the stark problems affecting the education system, he called for several changes at all levels of the system. At the secondary level, he called for the re-instatement of boarding schools in several parishes throughout the island, including St. Ann, St. Mary, St. Thomas and Clarendon, where travelling long distances to school was impacting negatively on student performance.
"There is an ongoing need for those facilities in those parishes," he emphasised.
Using Hampton, Munro and Westwood High schools as examples, Dr. Minott pointed out that several notable qualities consistent in all schools making the top 10, were more pronounced in those boarding schools.
