SOME STUDENTS are claiming the recent rating of their schools based upon the results of school in the 2003 CXC examinations were not a true reflection and want a more balanced method.
This comes a week after the 2003 CXC examination review done by Dr. Dennis Minott was released.
Students at some schools across the Corporate Area feel that there should have been a greater sampling period before the rating was done.
"You can't do one (year) and get a true picture of the school," Keron Gordon, a sixth form student at Kingston College told The Sunday Gleaner.
The school received a C+ rating in the review. Keron and other students from the institution felt that excluding some subjects from the group examined impacted on the overall rating attributed.
They noted that the school had a 100 per cent pass rate in subjects such as woodwork and metal craft but this was not evaluated in the study.
Keron Bennett, a student at Trench Town High school also felt the study was an inadequate representation of the school's performance as it did not look at the variables that contributed to the result.
"People are saying it's our fault because we are worthless, although we are just preparing for exams and have nothing to do with it," Keron said. "The school was at a disadvantage because it was getting students who did poorly in the GSAT exams and thus teachers were being forced to do a lot of remedial work.
"GSAT sends dunce people come to one school," he said. "some of them can't say their ABCs," he said.
Keron also pointed out that the violence and constant music at nights affected their ability to concentrate and do their school work. Despite these other external issues, he noted that the students also needed to take an interest in their school work and make the effort to do well.
These thoughts were shared by a group of students from Wolmer's Girls school which was placed in the top 10 schools with an A rating. The girls who spoke to The Sunday Gleaner are in lower sixth form and were among the group of students who sat the exams in 2003.
The students said their principal was very helpful in the process. They also cited programmes such as 'After Class Help' and a strong work attitude as contributants to the school's successes.
"We had after class help where if you don't understand a topic, you could go to a teacher after school and they could explain it to you," Teeka Burton, a student, said.
The students noted that their principal had sought to forge a partnership with parents through various meetings to develop a unified approach towards helping the students.
Fonnique Miller, a student who attended St. Andrew High during last year said it was the teachers' effort which brought them to the top.
"The teachers put out a lot for the students," she said, noting that teachers went the extra mile to ensure that they did well.
A student at Alpha Academy who gave her name as Sasha-lee said she believes the survey was fair. She noted that the lowered passes that are generally seen in English and Mathematics may be due to the fact that some students do not place any value on the subjects and hence do not put in the extra work.
She also felt that following the release of the survey, some students were now feeling pressured to measure up and raise the standard at their schools.
One student at Kingston College also noted that since six of the top 10 schools were girls schools, then it appears that girls were more serious about their work and boys now needed to settle down and focus.
He also noted that while individual schools have different things impacting upon their performance, a look at the overall education system is necessary since most of the schools performed unsatisfactory.
"We need to look at the system, look at the ones that are doing extremely well and find out why and replicate it," the student said.
Other students also point out that several factors contributed to the performance including the teachers, physical environment and students' attitude towards work and these should be considered.
