Dear Editor,
Although Mr Imam Baksh in his letter of July 19, 2008 in SN, raises some good points, I must disagree with the caption ‘Common Entrance reform has been a failure.’ As one who has strongly advocated reform in this aspect of education, I must stress the fact that the move to continuous assessment still holds great promise for education in Guyana. The important point to note is that it must be implemented correctly for this to be realized. Given the fact that the 2008 cohort is the first batch of students to complete the Grades 2, 4 and 6 assessments cycle, the Ministry of Education is now ideally poised to evaluate the process and make the necessary changes.
Mr Baksh further makes a few points which need to be addressed:
Firstly, he contends that the “…curriculum remains irrelevant to any kind of real education.” A ‘real education’ can be a highly subjective concept, and although he does not explain what he perceives as such, one can hardly imagine that on the primary level he would expect much more than is currently being offered. Furthermore, I would argue that we need to first master the basic expectations of a primary education, to create a foundation upon which higher education is built and produce a literate and numerate population, before one can expect or demand more from the system.
Secondly, he avers that “the exam continues to impose pressures on young children that break their minds away from the love of learning.” He contends that the new structure of the examination creates more stress for students and points to the fact that parents are sending their Grade 2 students to lessons as evidence of this. Although I agree and have also criticized the latter, it must be pointed out that this is not an element of the assessment, but a manifestation of the long existent exam culture the country has developed. If anything, the assessment is so structured to relieve such pressures significantly, if, as earlier stated, it is implemented correctly. There is no need, as Mr Baksh pointed out, for parents to send their children to lessons for the Grades 2 and 4 assessments since these assessments are strategically placed more to inform teachers, parents and students as to the strengths and weaknesses students possess.
Parents’ time would be better spent ensuring that teachers share with them, in detail, how their students performed on these assessments and consult with them on the plans the school has devised to address the deficiencies unearthed. The general concept is that if these deficiencies are adequately addressed, by the time the students get to Grade 6 the pressure alluded to should be significantly reduced. The reality, however, is that our parents and teachers are not working in tandem to ensure our students’ success on the primary level. The emphasis needs to be shifted from performance at exams to overall competence of our students — therein lies the true value of continuous assessments.
As the SN editorial on Sunday, July13, 2008 aptly noted, the education issues currently being faced are highly complex and require a multifaceted approach if they are to be solved.
What needs to be equally emphasized is the need for widespread participation in improving education since we all stand to gain from this. There is enough evidence from research to show that schools with high levels of parental and community involvement outperform those without. This should be a signal to all parents that schools cannot accomplish this gargantuan task by themselves and the success of their children is as much their responsibility as that of the schools.
Yours faithfully,
Olato Sam
