The National Grade Six Assessment results

Interviews and photos by Desilon Daniels

This week we asked the man and woman in the street what they thought about the recent results of the National Grade Six Assessment examination. Their comments follow

20140707ewon josephEwon Joseph, layman – ‘In terms of the Math, it seems like a world problem; particularly in the Caribbean and North America. In places like Korea, they are excelling in English and Mathematics. The Ministry of Education needs to review those subjects to see what can be done in this particular environment. I recently saw a book written by a Korean and there are things being done at the nursery school there that’s being done at the primary schools here. Also, parents as a whole need to join in because teachers by themselves can’t do it all.’

20140707roseanne smithRoseanne Smith, vendor – ‘Maths and English are the most important things. The children should study more hard; stop playing and focus. I’m not saying give up everything but balance it. We all need the education. The ones at the top, good job and continue the great work. Remember to thank your parents and all the late nights; it wasn’t an easy task.’

 

20140707talibah taylorTalibah Taylor, student – ‘It’s a problem with the parents a lot of the time. They need to sit down with their children more. Most parents are just relying on the teachers. However, teachers should put more effort into teaching the children as well.’

20140707leeta henryLeeta Henry, vendor – ‘I think the children did extremely well this year; especially those from Winfer Gardens Primary. I’d like to say congratulations to those who did well. The success came from not only the schools but the parents. We as parents need to remember that we are our children’s first teachers.’

 

20140707debra graceDebra Grace, businesswoman – ‘The results this year are really ridiculous. We’re bringing up a bunch of illiterate children. Even the ministers we see on TV have no command of English. Everything is down right now in Guyana. It starts from within the ministry and goes down. What they expect the children to do? Me and my friends would talk these issues and just wonder: What has Guyana become? We’re going down and nobody is having the respect for truth and education. Money is now God; money is everything.’

 20140707shawn harrisShawn Harris, businessman – ‘There’s really no one you can blame; you can’t blame parents, you can’t blame the teachers. The children need to buckle down though. There needs to be a lot of research done to find out what the problem is. Maths supposed to be the highest. I personally don’t understand where the problem lies.’

20140707bryan edwardsBryan Edwards, self-employed – ‘Parents need to develop their children better and children need to focus and play less. We need more strict homework too. Parents need to sit down with the children and help the teachers them out with their job.’

 

20140707anthony davidAnthony David, taxi driver – ‘The teachers in the government schools are paying less attention to the children. I also think the Ministry of Education needs to pay more attention to the public schools. We’re seeing private schools get better results because the children’s parents are investing their money and their children are getting a better quality of education for it.’

20140707abiola andersonAbiola Anderson, housewife – ‘Every year the results keep getting worse. I’m not totally impressed this year or last year. A few children coming out successful and the rest failing makes no sense. A lot of parents are undereducated and don’t have much to impart something to their children. The teachers are trying but there’s only so much that can be done. Some parents are trying but they don’t have the tools to do the job.’

20140707hugh octoberHugh October, businessman – ‘I don’t believe the Ministry of Education should make a big fuss about the exam results because if we’re not financially equipped, your child would not get a proper education. The government schools aren’t performing as they should. Therefore, something is lacking in the government and if you can’t afford to send your child to a private school they won’t make it because no proper education is being offered at the government schools. The government needs to improve so that the average citizen who can’t afford to send their child to private schools can have a good education. I personally believe the government schools can do better. Seeing the lack is not a surprise seeing how the country is run you don’t have to be educated to have a leadership position; it’s not who you know, is who knows you.’