A TEACHER FACES THE MUSIC

Nov 24, 2010 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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A head teacher at a Christianburg school has found himself in hot water over his decision not to promote some low achievers at his school. This decision which is in contravention of directives from the Ministry of Education has seen the teacher summoned to a hearing before the Teaching Service Commission.
The head teacher who has received support from his community has indicated that he took a stand and will face the consequences of his actions. By now he must realize that those consequences are going to be severe.
There is no way that the Teaching Service Commission is going to condone such a contravention of official educational policy. There is no way that the head teacher will escape serious sanction and therefore it is very good to see that he has said that he will face the consequences of his action.
The authorities would be sending the wrong signal if they simply allow this action to go unpunished. This will only encourage other similar infractions and create more headaches for the education ministry. As such the teacher and his supporters can expect within the next few weeks to be sanctioned by the Teaching Service Commission. That is not an issue that is in dispute.
What is debatable is whether students who have failed their end of year examinations should be promoted to a higher class or should be allowed to repeat. Earlier this year, the Ministry of Education announced that no student should be allowed to repeat classes; even if that student failed, he or she should be promoted.
There were some murmurs when this policy was announced but there were no major public protests or complaints over this issue. That is until now when a teacher is facing a disciplinary hearing for not promoting underachievers.
There are those who would argue that the head teacher is right in not promoting the students since it will mean that students are being promoted to levels at which they cannot cope. But what should be asked is why any student should be failing in the first place. To what extent does the failure of a child reflect the failure of the teaching at that school?
While it would be unfair to ask teachers to be responsible for ensuring all their stewards pass their examinations in order to be promoted, schools should have systems in place to help those who find themselves unable to make the grade.
It is easy to say that children should not be promoted. But consider what happens to a child in an environment where that child has to repeat a class. Imagine the stigma and stress that child has to endure, to be seen and treated like a failure. Imagine the psychological pressures and tensions that child will have to endure, particularly at the hands of his or her peers.
Perhaps the Ministry of Education had this in mind as one of the reasons for opting for the decision that every child should be promoted. The Ministry of Education is not going to take a decision of this nature ill-advisedly.
Not everyone will agree with the decision and therefore there will be many who will argue quite stridently that weak students should not be promoted, since this is tantamount to promoting failures. But what happens if those that fail are not promoted?
Judging from the results of the CXC examinations, the school system is producing massive failures. Some schools are doing well, but there are other schools in which only a handful of students pass with a fair number of subjects at these examinations. So the failure rate is great in many schools.
There are concerns that even some of those who are passing examinations are not up to scratch and are only passing because standards are being lowered to mask poor performances.
If higher standards of examinations are introduced within the school system, as is now being done with standardized examinations at various levels, then what will happen is that there will be massive failures being recorded. This will mean not just thirty students failing, but in some cases, entire classes being failed.
The solution to the problem is not to keep the children back because this will also hamper their development. What is required is for remedial classes to be introduced in all schools where children do not pass their subject areas. Remedial classes may be introduced during the August, Easter and even the Christmas holidays, to help the students, or it may be done on weekends during the normal school terms so as to allow those who are falling back to catch up with those who attain passes.
The goal should be to ensure that everyone passes their examinations. And therefore the Ministry may be on the right track on insisting that no students should be left back. But what needs to be asked is what the educational authorities have in mind to help those who are not doing well and who run the risk of not being able to cope at a higher grade if promoted.
One teacher decided that he did not feel that the underachievers in his school should be promoted. It is now his turn to face the consequences of his decision.

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