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Gov’t keeping automatic promotion in schools

Feb 14, 2013 News

– Says consultations still underway

The government is still holding consultations on the “No child left behind policy” and as such is not ready to abolish the system which sees children being promoted automatically.
According to Education Minister Priya Manickchand, recently, the “non repetition and automatic promotion” policy was introduced because research has shown that having a child repeat a class does not automatically translate into better performance.
Responding to a question posed by Parliamentarian Vanessa Kissoon, in the National Assembly, the Minister said that research by the Ministry found that the students at risk of failing, would pass some of their subjects but fail others.
As such, she said these students require special attention. Once these students are identified early, remedial work by teachers and parents can start.
She said that having a child repeat a class generally places the burden of underperformance solely on the student and absolves the parents, teachers and school.
According to Manickchand, teachers sometimes do not complete the curriculum for a given term, so that the examination will cover material that was not taught in school. If the child fails in these circumstances, then it is not their fault but that of the system, the Minister stated.
Further, she said research shows that having a child repeat a class is directly linked to dropout rates. Findings in the secondary schools have shown among first repeaters approximately 65 per cent would drop out of school and among second repeaters 90 per cent would drop out of school. This phenomenon is disproportionately affecting boys.
Manickchand posited that repetition places a psychological burden on the child that is left behind while their peers move ahead.
“The repeaters are often labeled as failures,” she stated. Manickchand said these findings guided the Ministry of Education to adopt a more “enlightened” approach since 2010. This approach included replacing repetition with systematic and consistent remediation.
She said the policy emphasizes early diagnosis and intervention where teachers should consistently measure the competence levels of their students and devise early intervention strategies to prevent problems.
She said that remediation will be done during the July-August vacations and mandatory afterschool remediation programmes in all schools throughout the academic year have been implemented.
There is now early intervention to decrease the probability of failure, with the Ministry introducing several strategies for both primary and secondary levels, Minister Manickchand added.
The Ministry has been reorienting teachers towards adopting a more student-centered, competency-based approach to education.
She said that approach will ensure early detection of problem students and measures would be put in place to prevent them.
In addition, parent-teacher conferences and consistent performance updates are now required of all schools to inform parents of their children’s performance; so any deficiencies could be collectively addressed.
“No longer should parents be informed at the end of the term that a student has failed. Imminent failure should be recognized, discussed and effectively addressed by all parties involved,” Manickchand stated.
As a result of these actions, the Ministry of Education in June last year started a series of consultations on this particular policy.
These consultations are ongoing and the feedback received will inform the future direction of this policy.

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