Grange

THE possibility has been raised that students who have failed to secure passes in mathematics and English in their final year of high school may be asked to stay back a year to ensure that they graduate with these core subjects.

Speaking with The Gleaner during the Careers and Lifestyles Expo/Symposium and Job Fair 2007 held at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on Thursday, Olivia Grange, Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports said the Jamaica Labour Party is looking into suggesting that students be kept back in high school an extra year so they can be better fitted for the workforce.

"The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) had, in its manifesto, outlined its policy regarding education and the fact that we would keep students in school an extra year for them to focus on the core subjects of math and English because we recognise that this is a problem and so we are really going to be focusing on ensuring that this is done," said Ms. Grange.

Several concerns have been raised over the years regarding the poor performance of secondary level students in the core subjects of math and English at the CXC level. In 2006 the pass rate for non-traditional high schools was 11 per cent for English language and four per cent for mathematics.

Holding students back

Past President of the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA) Hopeton Henry, said he could not oppose the option of holding students back. He however argued it would have to be done under a situation where there was consent from both the students and the parents.

Mr. Henry told The Gleaner, however, that it would be more appropriate to work towards creating the condition for performance improvement rather than holding the students back an extra year.

He, therefore, proposed that policy makers should aim at creating the conditions where students were prepared for exams from the early stages of high school.

Meanwhile, Sylvester Anderson, president of the National Parent Teacher's Association, said the organisation would not be opposed to any attempt to improve the education system and students' passes. Mr. Anderson added, however, that there was no guarantee that holding students back for a year would improve their grades.