The Editor, Sir:

I was born in the late 1960s and, of course, had the Common Entrance Examination experience.

I am a now a mother of two daughters, the eldest in grade four and the other in grade one.

I have listened to the GSAT conversations over the many years since its introduction. I have heard the arguements for and against the programme, but over the last few years its praises have become less and less.

As a parent of a grade-four student and another not far behind, I have had to pay even more attention and also participate in said conversations.

At the beginning of the school year, I begun to have my conversations with other parents about the whole GSAT maze. Some of my fellow parents have begun to show signs of the extreme stress associated with this programme. Some already beginning to 'scout out' and enrol with touted GSAT experts.

Burnt out

I did a rather unscientific gathering of information and was not surprised at my findings.

I spoke to parents whose children had done GSAT, parents of children who were preparing for the GSAT, older teachers who span the Common Entrance and GSAT eras, and teachers who are in the high school system.

The parents all felt the children had too much to learn, the teacher from the primary level agreed and the high school teachers admitted that when the children came to them many of them were burnt out and they had to be reteaching all what was taught over the years between grade four and six.

'What a mess!' I thought. Isn't there any dialogue between the Ministry of Education and all the stakeholders in the education field? Then I heard over the radio and read for myself that the Ministry of Education had agreed that the GSAT programme needed some changes.

I was pleased to hear this and thought, hopefully, change will indeed come over the next three years. By then my first child will be ready for that exam, if it still exists.

Questioning curriculum

I question the thought behind the curriculum as it exists for the grades four to six. Why can't the curriculum ever seem to be completed within the slated school hours? Why are all these hours of extra lessons required even when the child has an over-90 average and has no learning disability?

How is the information that the children are required to know, particularly in social studies and science, determined?

Is GSAT programme just a method to place them in high schools?

I have several more questions for the Ministry of Education; how are the awarding of places determined? We realise that passes of high 90s will land you in the so-called traditional high schools, but when there is a large number of students doing extremely well, what happens when all of those places are allocated and there are still several students to be placed?

How is it decided who gets those places in the first place? What method is used to place the other students who have also received high grades in to the other-less-popular high schools, including the upgraded high schools?

Mr Minister, I congratulate you for being honest about the system over which you preside, to recognise its shortcomings and admitting that there is need for change is the only way that we can truly pursue what is necessary to effect the change.

But we must also follow the suggestion of the former minister of education for all the stakeholders to come together and work together to find the solution.

I am, etc.,

RUTH WALLEN DOWNIE

fuzzywd@yahoo.com

Kingston