Preston Stoutt calls for investigation into 98% pass rate
In a press release issued to the public, Stoutt stated that in June of 2011, the Minister of Education, Andrew Fahie made a statement about the territory’s educational success that quickly came under public fire. The controversy stemmed from Fahie’s claims that the secondary graduation rate had reached 98.5 percent.
Within days, Hon. Fahie was being called out by parents and other citizens of the BVI who questioned not only the integrity of the claim, but for the Minister to provide hard facts to prove the claim. To date, those figures have never been released publicly with Fahie only asking citizens to take him at his word, the release added.
“Mr. Fahie has had four months to address these concerns and provide hard facts to the questions by reasonable residents. Another school year has begun and we are still waiting on Mr. Fahie to come through with honest answers,” Stoutt pointed out. “Our government system is broken and we can no longer just accept them at their word . . . no more will we accept their claims that ‘the check is in the mail’. Government officials like Mr. Fahie need to be more transparent, accountable and fair and it must begin with the truth about educational outcomes.”
The press release added, even after Minister Fahie was approached by the media seeking answers, he was quoted in a June 20, 2011 Platinum News article saying that “I don’t deal with the day to day operations of the Department [of Education] and the entire process of exams.”
Stoutt believes such statements demonstrate how out of touch Mr. Fahie has become.
“How can the Minister of Education not deal with day-to-day operations of the Department of Education? Those ‘operations’ are clearly with in his purview and oversight. You can’t just walk around with big title and not accept the big responsibilities that come with it,” he added.
By contrast, Preston Stoutt has put forth a comprehensive and public plan to address education reforms that he will seek out as member of the House of Assembly: http://www.stouttforbvi.com/issues/#education.
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