Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training, Santia Bradshaw, says concerns have been raised by teachers about the need to reform the curriculum, a position that the Ministry fully endorses.
She told the media earlier this week during a press conference at the Erdiston Teachers’ Training College, that it is important students feel the curriculum is relevant to them and it is providing avenues and opportunities when they leave school, that they can then build on to provide for themselves and their families in the future.
“Right now I feel that in many cases the system has been failing our students in this respect. That is the view that has been expressed by the teaching profession, that sometimes the classes are not relevant to the students or the students are not equipped with the tools necessary to be able to appreciate fully the type of tuition that is being administered to them,” she said.
This reality, she said, is among the reasons the current administration feels compelled to remove the 11-Plus examination and to look at the introduction of specialist institutions as the way forward for the secondary schools. In that vein, she said her ministry has challenged teachers and management of schools across the system to be able to relook the curriculum to aid in the process of creating those specialist institutions.
“There is no point in continuing to place resources in areas on a curriculum where students have continued to exhibit that they are not able to pass… When I say pass, not even obtain Grade 3 at the level in terms of proficiency,” she said.
Minister Bradshaw added, “We have at the Ministry started the process of introducing alternate exams because we believe that the way forward is not to hold on to what has gotten us to this point, but to accept that all children must have the ability to learn, and to do so they must be given as many options as possible to be able to come up with some level of certification.”
Additionally, while noting that times have changed, she said it is imperative that efforts be made to look at teaching children differently to how they have been advancing the current curriculum. Meanwhile, reflecting on the 11-Plus examination, she said it has placed significant pressure on the limited, available resources within the system. She explained that while the student complement within each school is on the increase, equal attention was paid over the years to have additional secondary schools formed to reduce that pressure, and this has put some students at a grave disadvantage. (JRT)