Dear Editor,
It would be remiss of me not to recognize the sterling performances of Ms Eileen Marray and all the other students who obtained excellent grades at the CAPE sittings of 2010.
My heartiest congratulations to the students, teachers, parents and all other support persons who made every effort towards these successes.
However, the rush by the print media to highlight these successes leaves much to be desired. It is clear that the reporters did not seek to find out from the correct sources the analyses of the examination results in order that more informed reporting could be made to the public at large.
It was poor “journalism” to use the description “Queen’s College dethroned…” to report that a student from New Amsterdam Multilateral School had “topped” the country at the recently published CAPE results.
Students taking CAPE subjects generally fall into one of three categories, viz, Natural Sciences, Business and Arts. Ms Eileen Marray may have secured the highest number of Grade I passes at CAPE. An examination of the subjects offered by Ms Marray would reveal that she in fact did not take any of the Natural Science subjects. It is apposite to analyze the results of the three categories named before reporting on the ‘top’ student.
If we are counting the highest number of subjects obtained to describe our ‘top’ student, we are in fact looking at a numbers game rather than meaningful content. We will end up reading out ‘shopping lists’ which in my own opinion is what we have been doing over the last number of years in respect of the CSEC results. This can be the subject of another essay on which I have a very passionate view.
What of the excellent performances by students in the Natural Sciences? We are placing a lot of accent on qualifying in Science and Technology and in fact encouraging our students to pursue this path in order that they can make meaningful contributions to the development thrust. Give them the recognition due.
Do a proper analysis on the CAPE results of 2010 and offer the wider public an informed view of the manner in which our young people seek to make their way in a highly complex world.
And please, what about the students who are not ‘counted’ in the top 10 or top 20, etc, when ‘analyzing’ the results? Are you saying that the students who are not in the ‘top’ 10 because they have secured passes in less than 7 subjects ‘also ran’? Universities, including the Ivy League, accept passes with good grades in the core subjects for pursuing degree courses.
Do our young people justice. Recognize their achievements!
Yours faithfully,
Rudolph D Mahadeo
