It is good to see that the minister of education and columnist Peter Espeut are now on-board to change the idiotic method in which we have been placing students in our high schools.

We all know that it cannot be done overnight. So I would suggest that we approach it in the following manner:

Zone the schools to begin with so that at least one traditional high school will be in each zone. This will give parents some confidence that their children will get into a so-called 'good school'.

Stop the nonsense

Insist that the cut-off points for the so-called top performing schools be lowered for students in the surrounding areas. We must stop the nonsense where some child from Red Hills or Arnett Gardens with 98 per cent is accepted at Immaculate or Campion College, while others with 80 per cent living in Cassava Piece, Norbrook or Sandy Park are rejected by the same schools.

There are traditional high schools downtown Kingston where star performers from the inner-city can go and get anything that is available at Campion or Immaculate. The first lesson that these children need to learn is that they have no more right to educational opportunity from the state than the slow learner who lives across the road.

Take advantage

Use the present economic crisis to take advantage of the lack of opportunity for university graduates to staff new high schools with teachers in areas where they are needed. The only real problem with the new high schools is that they sometimes do not offer all the subject areas.

Give an incentive to teachers who choose to work in the upgraded high schools, say of 10 per cent above their normal scale. They are, after all, doing the more difficult job from which their colleagues in the traditional high schools are being insulated and it would attract the better teachers where they are needed most.

If we intend to educate the entire nation we cannot continue to hold up as good schools those that succeed at avoiding the problem of dealing with weaker students. Every school should have a share of strong students as well as a share of weak students. Every teacher in the system should have his or her turn with a class of weak students. That is really where your pedagogical skills are honed.

Finally, we must recognise that the present system tends to converge the best leadership at the parent teachers level to certain schools. Good students are usually the result of good parenting as well as good teaching. Let us put an end to the idea of brand name and 'buttu' schools.

I am, etc.,

R. HOWARD THOMPSON

roi_anne@hotmail.com

Munro College