Dear Editor,
The recent announcement by Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites, that students who sat the recent Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) will be placed based on where they live, does not sit well with me. I simply cannot fathom why Thwaites believes this idea is workable. Once again he is missing the real issue, which lies in the truth that all schools are not on the same level. For the minister to assert that zoning would be the deterrent for students who idle at the transport centre in Half-Way-Tree and the bus park downtown, if nothing else, shows that the realities of today's Jamaica are lost on him. For him to punish the nation's young achievers because a few gallivant at bus parks is an obstacle to the future leaders of Jamaica.
Development, growth and the competitive nature that Jamaicans so desperately need would be defeated by this decision. I find his very thought not only unbelievable, but outright primitive. Jamaicans must rubbish the argument that placements closer to home will prevent students from idling at these hubs. It is safe to say we all know better than the savvy Reverend does.
We've all seen students who live in Portmore and attend Ascot at the HWT Transport Centre in the evenings. No matter where you place them, if they want to gather at these centres, they will. Why allow the good to suffer for the bad in a nation that needs its youth more motivated now than ever before?
If previous ministers of education thought like he does now, then the goodly minister would have never experienced St George's College and may never have become a Rhodes Scholar or maybe even have seen his full potential.
I left the hilly terrains and bad roads of St Andrew to Jamaica College (JC) for seven years and benefited greatly from the experience. I disagree completely with the minister and encourage him to ensure children are placed in schools based on performance. Thereafter, parents can decide to seek a transfer if there's a challenge with transportation. If a parent has the means to transport a child from Portmore to JC or Wolmer's each morning, why should that child not be placed at one of those schools? The top-tier students must be able to go to a school with like-minded colleagues, regardless of where they live.
Zoning is a terrible idea considering the state of schools at all levels of the education system. Zoning should not be considered. It is true that some schools have far more resources and far better passes and remains unfortunate that our education system reeks of such great inequality. As far as I know, GSAT was designed to matriculate based on performance, not on geographic location. This new position taken by the minister, if nothing else, is elitist and nonsensical.
Rohan D B Walsh
St Andrew
bryanwalsh@hotmail.com
Zoning is primitive
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The recent announcement by Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites, that students who sat the recent Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) will be placed based on where they live, does not sit well with me. I simply cannot fathom why Thwaites believes this idea is workable. Once again he is missing the real issue, which lies in the truth that all schools are not on the same level. For the minister to assert that zoning would be the deterrent for students who idle at the transport centre in Half-Way-Tree and the bus park downtown, if nothing else, shows that the realities of today's Jamaica are lost on him. For him to punish the nation's young achievers because a few gallivant at bus parks is an obstacle to the future leaders of Jamaica.
Development, growth and the competitive nature that Jamaicans so desperately need would be defeated by this decision. I find his very thought not only unbelievable, but outright primitive. Jamaicans must rubbish the argument that placements closer to home will prevent students from idling at these hubs. It is safe to say we all know better than the savvy Reverend does.
We've all seen students who live in Portmore and attend Ascot at the HWT Transport Centre in the evenings. No matter where you place them, if they want to gather at these centres, they will. Why allow the good to suffer for the bad in a nation that needs its youth more motivated now than ever before?
If previous ministers of education thought like he does now, then the goodly minister would have never experienced St George's College and may never have become a Rhodes Scholar or maybe even have seen his full potential.
I left the hilly terrains and bad roads of St Andrew to Jamaica College (JC) for seven years and benefited greatly from the experience. I disagree completely with the minister and encourage him to ensure children are placed in schools based on performance. Thereafter, parents can decide to seek a transfer if there's a challenge with transportation. If a parent has the means to transport a child from Portmore to JC or Wolmer's each morning, why should that child not be placed at one of those schools? The top-tier students must be able to go to a school with like-minded colleagues, regardless of where they live.
Zoning is a terrible idea considering the state of schools at all levels of the education system. Zoning should not be considered. It is true that some schools have far more resources and far better passes and remains unfortunate that our education system reeks of such great inequality. As far as I know, GSAT was designed to matriculate based on performance, not on geographic location. This new position taken by the minister, if nothing else, is elitist and nonsensical.
Rohan D B Walsh
St Andrew
bryanwalsh@hotmail.com
Zoning is primitive
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