Dear Editor,
The results of the National Grade Six Assessment Examination formerly referred to as the Secondary Schools Entrance Examination, and before that, the Common Entrance Examination revealed that much more needed to be done to reduce disparities in student attainment levels, especially with respect to rural and hinterland schools. A similar pattern is also evident with the CXC examinations where urban schools tend to outperform rural and hinterland schools by a significant margin.
At a national level, the phenomenon of male underachievement continues to be a worrying trend which should be carefully examined by the authorities, with a view to correcting what appears to be a gender specific problematic in respect to learning outcomes.
A more recent trend has been the tendency for private learning institutions to outperform those in the public domain, which raises some serious questions about equity in terms of accessibility to quality education. Private schools charge tuition fees that are way above the average income, which means in effect that the rich can afford to send their children to private schools where their chances of making it to the top of the attainment ladder are significantly better as the recent results so unmistakably demonstrated.
I am of the strong opinion that education must remain secular and the government has the responsibility and duty to create a level playing field for all children, regardless of family background or geographical circumstance.
Yours faithfully,
Hydar Ally
