'Get rid of unnecessary exams' – Julio S. Henry
Social Commentator and Tola Radio VI Host, Julio S. Henry on the Tuesday, June 25, 2019, edition of his ‘Hard Talk’ show implored that while he understands the rationale behind the move, a ‘lowering’ of the territory's educational standards may not have been the best move.
Pure Unnecessary Exams
“I’m here reading the comments from the Minister, I must say I’m a little bias. I hear what he is saying, I might not agree with everything being said, but I do understand what they are trying to do,” he told guest host, Rosemary R. Rosan-Jones aka ‘Cindy’ and the listening audience.
Henry also suggested that the Education Ministry take a look at the various exams and get rid of those deemed unnecessary. "The ones that are important to kids graduating, and moving to the next level those should be the focus in school.”
The talk show host further said the education system should be focusing on ways to strengthen the educational foundation of students to "give them the background and build them up to move to the next level whether its college, whether its straight into the workforce, or whatever it is,” he further told the listening audience.
As part of the rational to adjust the EPE, Hon Wheatley had cited a situation where students would be performing well with a high GPA during the school year, yet prevented from graduation for failing the EPE.
"One student was not going to be able to graduate, because she failed the exam. But in her final year at ESHS, she had a 3.4 GPA, far higher than many students who would be receiving their diplomas… This type of profile was not unique. There were several other students failing with GPA’s above 3.0," the Minister said.
Step up & not down- Henry
According to Henry, he has a similar conversation surrounding a scenario with a parent, “I want to believe it’s the same person that the Minister is referring to about that person’s child. This person was telling me that her daughter did really well in school, passed basically all her subjects and for whatever reason the Exit Examination she didn’t pass,” he said.
“It’s confusing... I don’t understand how you can do so well and if the Exit Examination is a reflection of what you already study you should pass but whatever the reason is, this person didn’t pass.”.
The Tola Radio VI show host further implored, “I don’t think we need to drop our standard, whatever that standard may be whether it’s in transportation, whether it’s in tourism, whether it’s in education, we need to think about how we can step it up and not step it down.”
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6 Responses to “'Get rid of unnecessary exams' – Julio S. Henry”
I do not think that it necessarily to lower the standard of assessment over all. The BVI boast a very high standard of education in the OECS Region. Those students who are capable of writing the Caribbean Examination have performed well over the years and the territory will continue to do well. There should be no misunderstanding that once the students apply themselves, they can compete with the rest of the Caribbean as was done in the past.
Where do we go from here is a matter for the parents, teachers and the students. The approach has to be a collective effort. The pre- primary and the primary schools must be strengthened as there is the foundation of the education process. Thus it would be easier for students to adopt themselves in the secondary level.