Current grading standards to be raised: Hon. Walwyn
The Minister along with Teachers and Principals of the Virgin Islands, met today, August 27, 2012 at the Eileene L. Parsons Auditorium.
Focusing on the theme ‘Creating a Culture of Excellence’, one of the major changes the Minister announced is that the current grading standards that exist in the territory’s schools will be raised.
Briefly, Hon. Walwyn stated “we are finding that our students are having difficulties adjusting to the academic standards in higher education and to better prepare them, our lucrative standards will require students to attain a 4.5 grade point average on a scale of 9 for passing grades.”
He added that the percentage for each letter grade will be increased by five percent. For instance, he said that in order for a student to receive an A+, they must now score between 90-100% instead of 85-100%.
The Minister further informed the teachers that the same grading scheme and structure of assessments for graduation will be adopted in all schools. “The aim of the Ministry is to ensure that each child is given equal opportunities to succeed.” He said that by doing this, the system will be more accountable and all students will be given greater opportunities for success.
Hon. Walwyn also announced that the School Leaving Exams will no longer account for 15 percent of the students overall grade for graduations. He added that they will now carry more weight to ensure that the students are actively engaged and guarantee that they are prepared for regional exams, where in 2013/2014 he said all students leaving high school would be required to sit CXC exams.
“The education system must be the foundation on which the territory develops.”
Continuing on the topic of the changes and new initiatives to be introduced, Hon. Walwyn also added that for the upcoming school year, the recently chosen territorial song will be sung in the schools every morning, in general assemblies and home rooms; flag poles are also to be erected at all the schools.
“We cannot afford to just allow students to just pass through our education system. Their education must be in tune with the direction of the country, in a complex and competitive world, and help them to identify their role in this development.”
He encouraged the teachers to find ways to make learning fun and to boost the creativity of the students “which will be needed to solve the challenges faced in the Virgin Islands now and in the future.”
He told them that their aim must be to “provide a high quality of education in order for citizens to reach their highest potential and provide the necessary resources to move the country forward.”
The Minister for Education said that his Ministry will be aggressively seeking to move the system forward and improve it, "additional training will be needed for our teachers, training that will be provided through various partnerships… We are working on plans to have a principal exchange to improve the management of the schools in the VI,”…as well as “more academic competitions to be introduced between public and primary schools.”
He stated that these competitions will allow students to match up against their peers, improve their study habits and provide a platform for students who excel in various subjects.
He expressed his confidence in each one of the educators as they continued to move the VI forward.
39 Responses to “Current grading standards to be raised: Hon. Walwyn”
Day by Day you are sounding so d***** stupid. I have to wonder if you leave all that you learnt at the school door and only walked away with the paper in your hand. You are making your family hang their head in shame. Good grief man.
I agree Fahie was better than Lloyd but the last 4 years Fahie did a lot of pi$$ that you all don't know about!
Watch how Myron will take the Education System to ANOTHER LEVEL!!
hundreds of our children maybe thousands can't read and write or comprehend properly because he wanted a half cup full and not a whole cup. We need 8 glasses of water per day and Fahie only want us to dring 4. MYRON WALWYN ALL The way
To wow...I agree with you 100%. ALLLLLLLL the way! ALLLLLLL the way OUT next election! He too arrogant, vendictive, evil minded and thinks he alone gets to decide who should live & who should die in the BVI. So yes wow...All the way with him through the political doors so he can get back to watching in from outside. WOW!
These are some of the major factors that Teachers, must first know how to pin point and know how to deal with hands on.
I speak from my own personal experience, I am 30+yrs, just last year I realized that suffered from dyslexia, I never know, about such literacy illness, until I joined the workforce some 10yrs ago and my boss asked, if I am dyslexia and I had no clue what she was talking abour or what it was.
I am now receiving treatment at University level, after suffering from the difficulties of reading, writing and expressing myself , mis-spelling my words and mixing up my words that are close in meaning.
None of my teachers throughout my 13years of school (yes I repeated primary school due to this slient illness), notice that I was dyslexia.
No even my parents knew too.
These are important standards that the Minister is recommending. Everyone is unhappy at the number of unemployed youth and the professional jobs going to expatriates. Well, this is a step in the right direction. Academics must become of high importance in the future generations. Students never made to challenge and learn and place high importance on their educations will never succeed in universities and the degrees and necessary to hold professional qualifications will be unattainable. We have to focus on the positive and provide the children with the necessary tools and teachings to give them a chance to succeed. Every time someone wastes their breathe spewing negativity over which party is better and who did what and hating on people who are making an effort to help is just harming the progress of the country. It doesn't matter which party leads the government. The majority government will change back and forth for as long as elections occur. What matters is that we always continue to progress and grow as a country. The rest of the world is....we must also; because like kit or not it is a global workforce that our children are competing against. They must be prepared to compete for jobs here in the BVI and in other countries. In today's world you have to have the skills to be the best against graduates from international universities. Do not think placing hiring mandates on companies with international standards will give the children the one-up to be hired. These companies must hire qualified persons. Let's teach our children to succeed through bachelor, master and PhD programs. It all starts with the basics and the minister is trying to see that they have the solid foundation to succeed. So please, look on the positives and add constructive criticism where due; but enough with the political insults.
Great - Andrew Fahie
Greatest - Myron Walwyn