Barbados Hot Topic : Education Changes
One Caribbean Nation.
BY ANESTA HENRY
Veteran educator Jeff Broomes has no issue with the 11 Plus Examination but he thinks the allocation of students is the real problem.
Broomes said irrespective of what methodology was used, students must be assessed before they transition from primary to secondary school.
The educator, who has assisted hundreds of primary school children in preparing for the annual examination, said the Ministry of Education’s allocation process was faulty and must be addressed.
“So I am very much in support of any attempt to reassess the allocation process. But don’t tell me you are going to touch any of the pillars of education, and assessment is one of them.
“Now in the whole issue pertaining to Common Entrance, allocation and the transfer system from primary to secondary school, there are a number of issues to be dealt with. First I feel the idea of this mass movement of children should stop.
“Therefore we should be talking about fine-tuning zoning because it is a major challenge on our transportation system which we don’t have.
“Two, we need to stop with this quality of school talk. All schools have the same teachers from the same schools, the same training college and the same university,” he said.
On Monday, during her Estimates presentation, Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw announced that this year might be the last for the Barbados Secondary Entrance Examination (BSSEE), also known as the 11-Plus.
Bradshaw said no alternative has been chosen as yet.
However, Broomes, who indicated that he was waiting a national consultation where members of the public would have their say on the issue, dismissed concerns from sections of society that suggested that if the examination is abolished only certain classes of citizens would be able to attend particular schools.
He made it clear that all Barbadians are required to pay taxes and should therefore be able to send their children to any school.
“I don’t think the people that live in The City area and the people that live in the heights and terraces pay different taxes.
They pay taxes to the same Government and they are to get the same roads, get the same hospitals, get the same schools and get the same exposure for their children’s education.
“People have got to understand that this is Barbados. The people who live in the Orleans or the people who live in Deacons or the people who live in Gall Hill or Boscobelle or Crab Hill are Bajan citizens too and are entitled to all the rights and all the quality education,” he said.
The retired principal said he struggled to understand why a child should leave one part of the island to travel to another, to attend secondary school.
And he also argued that while persons often suggest that participation in extracurricular activities helps to form a rounded student, “students having to travel long distances have problems getting involved in after school activities”.
Additionally, Broomes pointed out that students travelling long and late hours to get to and from school create opportunities for predatory exposure.
And while admitting that some children found difficulties in understanding the syllabus in preparing for the examination, Broomes indicated that in the past he advocated for remedial systems to be put in place at secondary schools to assist these students so they would not be left behind.
“I agree when students go into secondary schools there are still problems because if we are not doing the corrective work in the primary schools we are going to have a problem. I believe that children who don’t reach a certain standard should be given an extra year in first form.
“Get them organised and then put them into the actual first form and obviously that would give them a guaranteed extended time at secondary school. Along the way, teachers are guaranteed at least five non contact lessons, most of them got seven or eight and can give up one or two to work with children in small groups of about three and four,” Broomes suggested.
The educator said it was also time that management at secondary schools explored the possibility of using senior students to give junior students struggling in particular subjects, one-on-one lessons. anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb
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| Jeff Broomes |
Broomes said irrespective of what methodology was used, students must be assessed before they transition from primary to secondary school.
The educator, who has assisted hundreds of primary school children in preparing for the annual examination, said the Ministry of Education’s allocation process was faulty and must be addressed.
“So I am very much in support of any attempt to reassess the allocation process. But don’t tell me you are going to touch any of the pillars of education, and assessment is one of them.
“Now in the whole issue pertaining to Common Entrance, allocation and the transfer system from primary to secondary school, there are a number of issues to be dealt with. First I feel the idea of this mass movement of children should stop.
“Therefore we should be talking about fine-tuning zoning because it is a major challenge on our transportation system which we don’t have.
“Two, we need to stop with this quality of school talk. All schools have the same teachers from the same schools, the same training college and the same university,” he said.
On Monday, during her Estimates presentation, Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw announced that this year might be the last for the Barbados Secondary Entrance Examination (BSSEE), also known as the 11-Plus.
Bradshaw said no alternative has been chosen as yet.
However, Broomes, who indicated that he was waiting a national consultation where members of the public would have their say on the issue, dismissed concerns from sections of society that suggested that if the examination is abolished only certain classes of citizens would be able to attend particular schools.
He made it clear that all Barbadians are required to pay taxes and should therefore be able to send their children to any school.
“I don’t think the people that live in The City area and the people that live in the heights and terraces pay different taxes.
They pay taxes to the same Government and they are to get the same roads, get the same hospitals, get the same schools and get the same exposure for their children’s education.
“People have got to understand that this is Barbados. The people who live in the Orleans or the people who live in Deacons or the people who live in Gall Hill or Boscobelle or Crab Hill are Bajan citizens too and are entitled to all the rights and all the quality education,” he said.
The retired principal said he struggled to understand why a child should leave one part of the island to travel to another, to attend secondary school.
And he also argued that while persons often suggest that participation in extracurricular activities helps to form a rounded student, “students having to travel long distances have problems getting involved in after school activities”.
Additionally, Broomes pointed out that students travelling long and late hours to get to and from school create opportunities for predatory exposure.
And while admitting that some children found difficulties in understanding the syllabus in preparing for the examination, Broomes indicated that in the past he advocated for remedial systems to be put in place at secondary schools to assist these students so they would not be left behind.
“I agree when students go into secondary schools there are still problems because if we are not doing the corrective work in the primary schools we are going to have a problem. I believe that children who don’t reach a certain standard should be given an extra year in first form.
“Get them organised and then put them into the actual first form and obviously that would give them a guaranteed extended time at secondary school. Along the way, teachers are guaranteed at least five non contact lessons, most of them got seven or eight and can give up one or two to work with children in small groups of about three and four,” Broomes suggested.
The educator said it was also time that management at secondary schools explored the possibility of using senior students to give junior students struggling in particular subjects, one-on-one lessons. anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb
Compliments Barbados Today, Friday February 28th., 2020
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