Stephen Vasciannie
THE DUST has now settled on this year's Schools' Challenge Quiz Competition. I write because I must.
When will TVJ begin to show sensitivity to the interests of students? This year the final match of the Schools' Challenge Quiz competition was held two days after the first examinations faced by students at the Advanced Level. It is simply unacceptable that students were required to prepare for a quiz final in the midst of their examinations. TVJ has no reasonable excuse for this they should make sure that it never happens again.
Nor is this a new problem. With an increasing number of schools in the competition, the date for the final match has moved further and further towards the time when students have their major examinations. At one stage, when Marcia Forbes was general manager at TVJ, the station indicated that it would change the timing of the quiz season with student concerns in mind. This has not happened.
STRETCHING INTO MAY
Why does TVJ persist in allowing the quiz to stretch into May? To begin with, there is probably an economic argument. It goes something like this: generally speaking, TVJ is concerned about its revenue stream for the entire year. If the quiz is held so that it ends in, say, February, there will be a problem generating advertising revenue for the station in its prime time slots following the end of the quiz. In other words, March, April and May might be tamarind season for TVJ without the quiz.
Also, if the quiz were to end in February, it would have to begin in October or November, and lead into Christmas. But, Christmas is not a dry season for revenues. Thus, to have the quiz leading into Christmas would not be good timing from a business standpoint.
Of course, the biggest problem with this approach is that it places the commercial interests of TVJ far above the interests of the students who participate in TVJ's competition. The cash cow is to be kept going even if it results in some children underperforming in their 'O' and 'A' levels. That cannot be right.
But TVJ has not actually said that the competition continues into May for financial reasons, and I do not wish to attribute the argument to the station unjustifiably. So, I invite them to say exactly why the competition actually goes into the time for examinations. I am prepared to offer them this column space for them to provide a reasoned explanation of their position.
Another possible argument for the late ending of the quiz is tradition. The quiz has traditionally started in January or February. And, some schools probably build their quiz programmes on this timing schedule, so that training for the competition starts, say, in September. But, if a tradition is bad, or leads to harmful results, then it should not be continued; tradition cannot be an answer to poor arrangements. Also, if the date for the start of the quiz is changed, schools will adjust - particularly if the reason for the change is to benefit students.
HARMFUL
Does the current system actually harm students, or am I making a mountain out of a molehill? Anyone who doubts that Schools' Challenge preparation can cut significantly into the time for examination preparation should speak with quiz coaches at any school that takes the competition seriously. Training takes place on at least three days per week - no, at very least - and students are expected to undertake wide reading on matters outside the school syllabus in order to do well.
There is value in such extra-curricular reading and training. But, really, TVJ cannot fairly expect students to be pursuing such work on the very day of their major examinations. In this context, it is self-evident that student performance may be affected for the worse; this is a matter that does not require statistical analysis.
But if further evidence is needed, perhaps TVJ should note that the best school in Jamaica (in terms of academic performance) has shunned the quiz; and the next best two schools (again in academic terms) do not usually reach the late stages of the quiz. This, I believe, is partly because these schools realise the obvious risks involved in serious quiz participation. It is also true that many of the top Sixth Formers simply opt not to take part in the quiz - increasingly, they are voting with their feet.
TVJ's timing is not quizzical it is fundamentally wrong.
Stephen Vasciannie is a professor at the University of the West Indies and a consultant in the Attorney-General's chambers.
