For weeks the country has debated whether late repairs will cause a major setback this school year, but some educators believe that the very four walls that surround students should play a vital role in reversing the national D+ average.
More than 60,000 students were scheduled to start a new academic year on Monday and 98 per cent of the schools were said to be ready, but 24 hours before their slated opening Ministry of Education officials revealed that two schools will open this morning οΎ– two days later than originally expected.
The decision to delay the first day of school for both Adelaide Primary and Yellow Elder Primary has some educators considering its long-term affects.
Sixth grade teacher at Adelaide Primary, Anna Forbes, told the Guardian: “Right now we are tired of hearing that the exam level is at a D. We [teachers] are trying to build the foundation because all we can do is build on that. So if we can improve that D average that is what we are here for. But we can’t improve the D average if there is no place for us to be in to improve the average.”
Another teacher at the south-western school also linked unfinished school repairs with below-average exam performance.
“The Ministry of Education needs to get serious about education in this country,” frustrated teacher Anna Edgar maintained. “We are tired of getting D’s. We need to skip to an A. The teachers are ready and willing to work. I was a teacher for the last 40 years and I am still working. I hate to see the children’s education being hampered. What are we going to do? We have everything ready for our children, our pictures, reading books [and] where are we going to put them?
“I feel a little beyond angry because those children come here to learn and they’re eager to learn and between September to December is very crucial,” she added. “We need to get to that period where children are ready and eager to learn. We don’t need to miss any days.”
Meanwhile, year after year the Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) is shrouded in a web of controversy as parents, politicians, and educators express their disappointment with results.
Shortly after the results were released a firestorm of controversy erupted and members of the public have expressed outrage over the BGCSE results.
In a recent interview with the Guardian, Clever Duncombe, president of Bahamian Fathers for Children Everywhere said this year’s BGCSE results are a clear indication that the country is headed in the wrong direction. “Of course a D+ is better than an F but then we are talking about building a nation and moving our country forward,” said Mr Duncombe. “How productive can we be with students graduating with a D+ or not even meeting the minimum standards. It is not the precedent we want to set for future generations.”
Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Veronica Owens, even expressed disappointment in the 2006 results.
“I would say society is in a crisis. Society is in a crisis for any number of reasons, but the main reason [is] that we don’t want to face facts. This is a big picture of what’s happening on a smaller scale, so education being in a crisis, can’t be looked at in isolation of what’s happening in society at large.” Still, despite the ‘average’ results, the D+ score marks an improvement in test results over the past decade. According to the ‘Report on the Performance of Candidates in the 2006 National Examinations’, between 1993 and 2006 there was a percentage improvement at the top of the grading scale [between A-C grades] of 17.7 percent.
By: JASMIN BONIMY, The Nassau Guardian
