There is definitely an Education Revolution

Editor: The front page stories of the Friday, August 19, 2016 edition of SEARCHLIGHT was the best I’ve seen for quite some time. The SEARCHLIGHT must be commended for their coverage of the excellent job done by the students who did extremely well in the 2016 CXC exams. Some students mentioned were Eric Febuary of the Mountain View Adventist Academy, Jessica Prescott of the Girls’ High School and Gerard Porter, Geran Maule, Alron Harry and Sujith Nedd of the St Vincent Grammar School. My reason for paying attention to these front page stories in SEARCHLIGHT is because of the extreme improvement in our education and the results of this year’s CXC CSEC examination depicted just that.{{more}}

Despite this, some still complain about the Education Revolution. In my opinion there is definitely a revolution because of the impressive changes we are seeing in our children. The Ministry of Education is trying and they should be commended, but one should understand that the family structure should take most of the credit for our children’s success. Sometimes we read the newspapers and we see negative things about young people, so it’s truly great to see and read about the amazing achievements made by our young people in the CXC examinations.

The teachers must also be commended for the amazing effort they put into our children’s life. They must not be taken for granted and I’m asking them to keep doing a good job and to make a greater effort as well, because there is always room for improvement. All is not lost with our young people; the students who did well must be commended and those who struggled for reasons unknown should not be condemned. While I’m not a parent, I’m very happy for those parents who are excited that their children did so well.

I encourage parents to pay close attention to their children and enlist them in organizations which can have positive influences on them, such as the Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and Cadets. These are organizations that teach children about discipline, and this is something that our children need. Let’s face it. If these children who were successful in the 2016 CXC examinations didn’t have discipline, they wouldn’t have been so successful.

The majority of the secondary schools had a high pass rate, and we see improvement made by many schools. Two schools that come to mind: the West St George Secondary School and the Thomas Saunders Secondary. While many of the schools did well, I’m still hoping to see even more improvement. Some may ask if the secondary schools have the infrastructure that is needed? An inquiring mind may ask some questions about if all schools are treated fairly by the Ministry of Education. The development of our children’s intellectual capacity is very essential and it mainly takes place in our schools, so it is the key to provide all schools with the necessary supplies and opportunities. Many persons ask how effective is the PTA (Parent Teacher Association). My opinion is it should be done on a regular basis, so the parents can be aware of their children’s progress and challenges, so they can help at home in any way possible.

We see a great level of improvement by our rural secondary schools and that is commendable, but there is room for improvement. I am encouraging schools like the Emmanuel High School, Mesopotamia to put in an even greater effort next year; the Mountain View Adventist Academy needs to do much better as well, because they had a low pass rate apart from Mr Eric Febuary; they did not stand out, so I’m hoping they can use Mr Eric Febuary’s achievement to encourage them to do better next time around.

Before I come to an end, I must extend my condolences to the family of Kiara Shortte of Richland Park. To the students who will sit the CXC examination in 2017, now is an excellent time to start preparing. I’m hoping our students will display discipline and aim to achieve their greatest potential.

I gone!!

Kingsley DeFreitas