Private schools should be encouraged to improve their status

May 09, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,
The proliferation of private schools and their system of operation is cause for much speculation. Many of these so-called schools are fly-by-night operations which tend to amaze parents, who are of the view that these schools can perform magic and transform their children who are having difficulty in learning to become bright.
There are the more established private schools which operate from permanent buildings of their own and are trying their utmost to match the government schools in most of their practices.
These schools must be encouraged and given the necessary guidance by the Ministry of Education. Many of these schools have, for the longest while, sought recognition. The appropriate authorities have not seen it fit to accede to these requests as yet.
This gives one the impression that the Ministry of Education is abdicating on its responsibility in being the agency responsible for the country’s education.
This ministry should exercise control, proper control over the state-run schools as well as the privately-run schools. And the first step is to eliminate the lesson syndrome that encourages bottom house schools, and to move purposefully in regularizing the schools with the minimum of acceptable standards. However, there are even some state-run schools which are operating with the minimum academic standards.
After recognition of a number of these schools, they must be allowed to participate in mainstream activities as those of the state-run schools. While the Education draft proposals would have recognised most of the present concerns of the schools, it must be noted that the requests for assistance are not forthcoming, in the sense that if the schools are not visited for assessment purposes how could they be assisted?
One disturbing fact is that in many cases parents of children attending state-run schools are being exploited by having to pay for lessons – being forced in a subtle way by teachers for their children to attend after-school classes.
In the present school situation, one wonders if there were no private schools what would have become of the children, seeing that the present schools are all overcrowded.
This is very much pronounced especially at the secondary level in Grade seven in September.
Hence, private schools have absorbed much of the inconveniences that state-run schools would have been saddled with, especially in finding places for thousands of children in the schools.
Many of these private schools have found an asset in the hiring of retired teachers who were disregarded and discarded by the government system.
These people are giving yeoman service to these institutions by imparting their experience and skills.
They are still in the process of helping to shape a nation’s destiny for less than thanks from the state.
Private schools should be encouraged to improve their status in their effort to help children in their quest to discover. As such, greater efforts by the relevant authorities to certify them would be helpful.
Name and Address Withheld

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Private schools should be encouraged to improve their status

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