Inconsistencies found in education process – Hon. Walwyn
This was disclosed by Minister for Education and Culture Hon. Myron Walwyn this morning March 22, 2012 during the HOA sitting. The Minister laid the report, which was submitted on February 29, 2012 by an Adhoc committee that was appointed to conduct the review.
The report will allow the public access to the process of the school leaving examination, one which had come in for criticism from some for the 98 percent pass rate last year under former Minister for Education Hon. Andrew Fahie and the issue of supplemental examination.
According to Minister Walwyn, one of the findings that came out of the report is that supplementary assessment must be reviewed and determination made if it is beneficial to continue that practice.
He noted that the timing of the supplemental examination process varied during the period it has been in existence, in addition the supplemental examination was one done by teachers and not a formal examination or calculated policy adhered to by the education department.
He said it was also found that there was a steady increase in the number of students doing supplemental examination.
The education minister said he had complaints from many persons including the general population and students that the secondary school graduates are not ready in several regards.
Minister Walwyn made it clear that the review was not done to shame any student, teachers or even politicians but rather to address the issues in the education system.
Fahie responds
Virgin Islands News Online contacted former education minister Hon. Andrew Fahie who said he is calling on the current Minister to expand from three years to at least 5 to 10 years to have a more valid and reliable analysis done of the system.
“I welcome all efforts to improve our education system as long as its done in a manner that recognises & respects the efforts & accomplishments of all our past & present teachers, principals, education officials & Ministers of Education. We are standing on the shoulders of great men. We cannot allow nor can we afford as a Territory, the tone & tenor of any futuristic talks about improving our education system to be one seemingly viewed as a total failure & lack of integrity & substance in the past. This course of action can only be viewed as an indictment of all the efforts & accomplishments of the present & past educators,” Hon. Fahie told this news site.
In that regard, he said he cannot question the integrity of the members who the Minister selected to do the review in question although the report is based on their terms of reference which was geared towards questioning the validity of certain things & entities in Education over a limited time period.
“What I do differ with is that the time frame for the review would be better served for a 5 to 10 year period rather than a limited 3yr period. Then more sound analysis could have been derived seeing that the tracking of students from form one to 5 would have formed more indepth analysis.”
He stated that the information statistical and otherwise for the past three years is not enough to analyse trends and otherwise in the VI’s education system with the intention of making drastic changes.
In addition, he said there is the need for at least two other persons independent of the current education system which would have allowed for more cutting edge recommendations on the future improvements of our education system.
The former education minister pointed out that while there is no perfect education system in the world, education is always evolving and that there is a good cadre of teachers and principals who go beyond the call.
“Yes we have a lot of room for improvement but from present to past education officials & Ministers we have been improving. This is the tenor in which we must pitch the current efforts to improve our education system. This is not a "I" business, it’s a "we" business. Accreditation, training of our teachers, Powerschool, grade level initiative at the primary level, among many other initiatives by many past educators, are all efforts in the past, both recent & otherwise, that was geared towards improving our education system,” he firmly stated.
He said that is why focusing on redefining the education system in the tone that is seemingly being done can only be viewed as as an indictment on the present and past principals, teachers and education officials.
The purpose of the review was to assess the situation regarding the conduct of the secondary school leaving examination over the last three years and the determination of the final grade and overall student performance, to examine the examination process itself and to determine the determination of the marking schemes and the compilation of final grades for all stages of the assessment process over the period.
The adhoc committee was spearheaded by a three member team of past educators including Elmore Stoutt and Dr. Charles Wheatley.
The review was done on the Bregado Flax Educational Centre, The BVI Seventh Day Adventist, St. Georges Secondary, Claudia Creque Educational Centre and the Elmore Stoutt High School. Interviews were conducted with principals, and education officials and also records, including those of the education ministry, were reviewed.
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