Seven years in high school not smart

Dear Editor,

I hope the Government will not proceed with its half-baked idea of allowing slow students to have seven years to complete their Caribbean Examinations Council courses.

Some of the problems that can arise are the increased cost to the country, the reduction of space for the students coming from lower grades, and students becoming complacent from knowing that they can take seven years to complete the courses.

The more sensible thing would be to give the slow students the extra help that would allow them to graduate with their peers. Slower students could be streamed together and the load of their study reduced to five subjects with great emphasis on maths and English. They could work longer days and through regular vacation to give them extra time to keep up with the other students.

Their teachers should have special training in bringing out the best in the less-gifted youngsters. This would make more sense than keeping them in school for seven years for them to see their peers graduate and for people to start thinking of them as dunces. I wonder who came up with the seven-year pitch?

Orville Brown

Bronx, NY, USA

thewriter.brown@gmail.com