DaCay
04-27-08, - 12:53 AM
http://www.thenassauguardian.com/editorial/325578165571131.php
Back in January of 2001, the Institute for Economic Freedom (IEF) - a New Providence-based economic think tank - revealed that since 1992 (up to that time) the Government of The Bahamas had spent over $480 million on education. Despite this fact, even back then, the mean grade average for our public schools was a 'D.' Some seven years later, this is still the case.
Clearly, this suggests that there is a need for serious consideration to be given to introducing some new approaches to imparting education to the youth of this nation. The IEF made some very worthwhile suggestions in 2001 that are deserving of consideration. Included among them were:
* Develop a voucher system, where the government will issue slips to parents for the amount spent per student in the public system. These vouchers could be redeemed at a school of the parents' choice (private or public), for the
promise of better results to slowly transform the Ministry of Education into private schools.
* Government schools should be 'sold' off to interested teachers and investors: This will help eliminate the horrific bureaucracy at the Ministry of Education, or at least simplify it and put the focus back on education.
* Reduce summer vacations to three or four weeks from the present eight weeks: Also, restrict the Christmas break to two weeks to help ensure that children are brought up to their proper grade levels. Teachers are paid for the holidays, so here again, we could get better value for money spent.
* Extend school hours from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. : The extra two hours could be used for managed homework and participation in youth programs. It is imperative that civics, community service and law and order be stressed to at least have these ideas shared with our children.
* Segregate fast learners and the brightest children in a new Government High-type system used in the early 1900s: There will always be children who are smarter than others, and these kids should have every opportunity to succeed in an environment that encourages learning.
* Ensure that students stay in school and prepare them for college: The important aspect of education is that when students finally stop going to school they should be in a position to be productive members of society. Children who are not academically inclined should face a challenging curriculum that would include the fundamentals of reading, writing and arithmetic, in addition to basic computer and a wide range of skills. The present system of social promotion should be stopped immediately. While this may help children's self esteem today, it leaves them functionally illiterate when they are 'pushed' out of the educational system. For students who are not academically inclined, a trade is where they must turn.
* Base teacher's pay on results: We all have to be held accountable for what we produce. Those teachers who excel by producing students with passing grades should be rewarded somehow. Conversely, those teachers who do not perform to the agreed standards should be shown the door if they cannot or will not improve.
With the school year scheduled to end in June, officials at Ministry of Education should mull over these suggestions to see whether any or all of them could improve the system of education that is now in place, with a view to implementing whatever changes may be proposed by the beginning of the school year in September.
Read this in the editorial of The Guardian and had to gape at how incredulous some of these suggestions are. Let me ignore the voucher suggestion because I am not sure how I feel about that. The selling off thing might make sense but usually how "selling off" goes down round here I wouldn't be too hot up for it. It's really difficult for Bahamians to be fair and impartial (not just politically speaking). Vacation does not be reduced at all. Children do need a break you can't expect them to be using their brains all the time. In fact this is the same break any student receives in college you would think it would be more for younger children. If the parent feels like the child needs more academic work I agree that the MOE should host summer schools where teachers are paid their base salary plus incentive for working. I agree the teachers shouldn't have as long a break. They should be formulating a new curriculum because the one that is in place now is hogwash. Especially when it comes to Mathematics, BGCSE math is a waste of time. Extending school hours is a terrible suggestion because it will cause even worse traffic and children are not working jobs why should they be in school for 8 hours. I thought the purpose of homework was to learn self-discipline. How can you learn that when you are in school all the time? So when are teachers going to have time to mark homework, plan tests etc if they in school until five? They have families to you know! I believe in segregating classes however in the family islands this is not feasible as there are not enough teachers or students to do this. I believe in primary school they need a specific class for just reading because a lot of people don't know how to read. Agree with the point on having a challenging curriculum. Now the last part is the MOST STUPID suggestion ever! How can one base a teacher's pay on grades. in grade 8 I was in a class of 34 students only 5 of us passed and made it into grade 9. All of my teachers would have been fired. Are you blaming the teacher this year that they have a crop of eggheads? Sorry to say every school has years where their BGCSE and BJC groups are not strong this has nothing to do with the teaching ability this has to do with the mental capacity of the students. In this case almost all Mathematics teachers would fail as Math is failed most by students ALL over the world. The MOE goes around every year doing teacher's evaluations wasting government money and nothing comes out of them. The principals do evaluations nothing comes out of that. The schools that perform the best in national examinations do not get rewarded. Students who receive the best BJC and BGCSE results don't get rewarded. I believe it's because 6 out of the past 9 years the BGCSE top government student has come from NGM in Long Island and in BJC's top performer overall 5 times in the past 9 years also from NGM. But of course no one hears about this.There are good points in the system we choose not to highlight them. I think the core curriculum needs to be expelled how can expect the average to be above a D if the highest most students can get is a C. Alien, I know u mentioned this already. The curriculum needs to change and change drastically. The coursework system needs to be revamped. I get upset when people start flinging around ridiculous ideas. The Ministry needs to stop giving out scholarships to their friends (I know of this) and people who could afford school. They need to start making people paying their loans! MOE needs to stop having principal (high school, primary school combined) conferences every month for an entire week giving them $300 stipend and free hotel since long time last year. Do the math and they don't be learning anything at all just bssin! These principals supposed to be in school And you wonder why MOE always broke lone slackness.
Dis runnin me hot
I gone:realmad:
Back in January of 2001, the Institute for Economic Freedom (IEF) - a New Providence-based economic think tank - revealed that since 1992 (up to that time) the Government of The Bahamas had spent over $480 million on education. Despite this fact, even back then, the mean grade average for our public schools was a 'D.' Some seven years later, this is still the case.
Clearly, this suggests that there is a need for serious consideration to be given to introducing some new approaches to imparting education to the youth of this nation. The IEF made some very worthwhile suggestions in 2001 that are deserving of consideration. Included among them were:
* Develop a voucher system, where the government will issue slips to parents for the amount spent per student in the public system. These vouchers could be redeemed at a school of the parents' choice (private or public), for the
promise of better results to slowly transform the Ministry of Education into private schools.
* Government schools should be 'sold' off to interested teachers and investors: This will help eliminate the horrific bureaucracy at the Ministry of Education, or at least simplify it and put the focus back on education.
* Reduce summer vacations to three or four weeks from the present eight weeks: Also, restrict the Christmas break to two weeks to help ensure that children are brought up to their proper grade levels. Teachers are paid for the holidays, so here again, we could get better value for money spent.
* Extend school hours from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. : The extra two hours could be used for managed homework and participation in youth programs. It is imperative that civics, community service and law and order be stressed to at least have these ideas shared with our children.
* Segregate fast learners and the brightest children in a new Government High-type system used in the early 1900s: There will always be children who are smarter than others, and these kids should have every opportunity to succeed in an environment that encourages learning.
* Ensure that students stay in school and prepare them for college: The important aspect of education is that when students finally stop going to school they should be in a position to be productive members of society. Children who are not academically inclined should face a challenging curriculum that would include the fundamentals of reading, writing and arithmetic, in addition to basic computer and a wide range of skills. The present system of social promotion should be stopped immediately. While this may help children's self esteem today, it leaves them functionally illiterate when they are 'pushed' out of the educational system. For students who are not academically inclined, a trade is where they must turn.
* Base teacher's pay on results: We all have to be held accountable for what we produce. Those teachers who excel by producing students with passing grades should be rewarded somehow. Conversely, those teachers who do not perform to the agreed standards should be shown the door if they cannot or will not improve.
With the school year scheduled to end in June, officials at Ministry of Education should mull over these suggestions to see whether any or all of them could improve the system of education that is now in place, with a view to implementing whatever changes may be proposed by the beginning of the school year in September.
Read this in the editorial of The Guardian and had to gape at how incredulous some of these suggestions are. Let me ignore the voucher suggestion because I am not sure how I feel about that. The selling off thing might make sense but usually how "selling off" goes down round here I wouldn't be too hot up for it. It's really difficult for Bahamians to be fair and impartial (not just politically speaking). Vacation does not be reduced at all. Children do need a break you can't expect them to be using their brains all the time. In fact this is the same break any student receives in college you would think it would be more for younger children. If the parent feels like the child needs more academic work I agree that the MOE should host summer schools where teachers are paid their base salary plus incentive for working. I agree the teachers shouldn't have as long a break. They should be formulating a new curriculum because the one that is in place now is hogwash. Especially when it comes to Mathematics, BGCSE math is a waste of time. Extending school hours is a terrible suggestion because it will cause even worse traffic and children are not working jobs why should they be in school for 8 hours. I thought the purpose of homework was to learn self-discipline. How can you learn that when you are in school all the time? So when are teachers going to have time to mark homework, plan tests etc if they in school until five? They have families to you know! I believe in segregating classes however in the family islands this is not feasible as there are not enough teachers or students to do this. I believe in primary school they need a specific class for just reading because a lot of people don't know how to read. Agree with the point on having a challenging curriculum. Now the last part is the MOST STUPID suggestion ever! How can one base a teacher's pay on grades. in grade 8 I was in a class of 34 students only 5 of us passed and made it into grade 9. All of my teachers would have been fired. Are you blaming the teacher this year that they have a crop of eggheads? Sorry to say every school has years where their BGCSE and BJC groups are not strong this has nothing to do with the teaching ability this has to do with the mental capacity of the students. In this case almost all Mathematics teachers would fail as Math is failed most by students ALL over the world. The MOE goes around every year doing teacher's evaluations wasting government money and nothing comes out of them. The principals do evaluations nothing comes out of that. The schools that perform the best in national examinations do not get rewarded. Students who receive the best BJC and BGCSE results don't get rewarded. I believe it's because 6 out of the past 9 years the BGCSE top government student has come from NGM in Long Island and in BJC's top performer overall 5 times in the past 9 years also from NGM. But of course no one hears about this.There are good points in the system we choose not to highlight them. I think the core curriculum needs to be expelled how can expect the average to be above a D if the highest most students can get is a C. Alien, I know u mentioned this already. The curriculum needs to change and change drastically. The coursework system needs to be revamped. I get upset when people start flinging around ridiculous ideas. The Ministry needs to stop giving out scholarships to their friends (I know of this) and people who could afford school. They need to start making people paying their loans! MOE needs to stop having principal (high school, primary school combined) conferences every month for an entire week giving them $300 stipend and free hotel since long time last year. Do the math and they don't be learning anything at all just bssin! These principals supposed to be in school And you wonder why MOE always broke lone slackness.
Dis runnin me hot
I gone:realmad: