Education Minister, Dr. Rupert Roopnarine speaking during the Education rally today expressed mixed feelings regarding a child writing twenty plus subjects at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate Examination.
He noted that “I am very happy with the child who has done so well and has no doubt pleased their parents but I have to ask myself what is the nature of this examination, what kind of examination paper is this that allows a child to do 25 subjects?”
The Education Minister also questioned what kind of childhood is the student, who attains 20 plus subjects at CSEC having. The Minister said the aim should be to produce well-rounded students in the education system. “Children who come out with a deep sense of culture, who understand comradeship, whose humanity is enlarged, these are the kinds of things we want coming out of the schools, out of the education system,” he said.
Roopnarine informed that officials at the Ministry of Education are currently examining the feasibility of students writing multiple subjects, how is it benefiting the children. He said the cooperation and collaboration of parents are critical to this assessment process, noting that a great deal of time would have to be spent engaging parents.
The Minister spoke too of the strengthening of parent/teacher relations, since according to him, it is through the PTA they can ensure that there is no distance between the home and the classroom with regards to what is necessary for the child’s development.
Fatima Karim is this year’s top student attaining 20 subjects at the CSEC and this had sparked much debate regarding students writing so many subjects, with some persons expressing the view that once the child has the potential then they should be allowed to write as many subjects as possible. While there are those who view it as unnecessary since attaining so many subjects may not be applicable in the world of work.
