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Educator told to follow guidelines in circular

Dec 01, 2010 News


TSC sanction of Linden Headmaster…

Headmaster of the Wismar Multilateral School, Cleveland Thomas, who was recently sanctioned by the Teaching Service Commission for not promoting students who failed, has received a written response from the TSC.
Mr. Thomas in an invited comment said that the Commission sent him a letter during the latter part of last week. According to Thomas in the letter he was merely advised to “follow the guidelines of the circular”. In addition, Thomas said he was further advised in the letter that he should continue with the remedial classes.
However Thomas said he will maintain his position as it relates to the automatic promotion and he will remain unmoved.
“I am not going to just push people’s children through the system then they will come back to haunt me a couple of years down the line,” Thomas said. The headmaster added that he strongly believes that at the end of a child’s tenure in school that child should be functionally literate. He added that it is his hope with all the publicity the issue is being given, in addition with the outrage shown by parents, that the Ministry would at least modify the policy.
“With this current policy what you will find is children writing CXC at 15 and 16 years…but if they do stay back until they are prepared then you will find that you will have more mature minds fully prepared to sit the exams and in the end come out with better grades,”.
Thomas went onto to explain that keeping the children and properly preparing them will benefit the country economically in the long term.
“The country’s economy will be better off if children stay in school and qualify themselves…our economy is sustained on exports and taxations, if our children are not properly qualified for jobs then the tax base will continue to decline.”
“What the Ministry is doing will have a whole domino effect on the country,” Thomas lamented.
He further pointed to the whole issue of “baby criminals” who in recent times have been plaguing the society.
“I believe that Jesus was sent to save us, just as education is a way out of poverty.”
A week ago, Lindeners staged a massive protest in front of the Teaching Service Commission to show solidarity to Mr. Thomas, who was ordered to appear before a disciplinary committee for not following the Ministry of Education’s new policy to promote students who failed their end of term examination.
The Ministry had announced last year a “no child left behind” policy.
During the demonstration exercise angry parents and other residents said they do not agree with the Ministry’s position.

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