No more licks in schools

JANELLE DE SOUZA

Education Minister Anthony Garcia, yesterday, assured the public that the ministry was not thinking of reinstating corporal punishment now or in the future.

Speaking at the 2017 SEA Recognition Ceremony for the top 200 Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) students at the National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port of Spain yesterday, Garcia said the topic of corporal punishment came up during the budget debate.

However, he said, “It is not on our front burner, it is not on out back burner, it is nowhere in our thought and in our plans... the days of corporal punishment are way behind us and we must forge ahead.”

Instead, he said the base of the ministry and the Government’s education delivery platform was inclusion, access and quality. He said they wanted to ensure that no child was left behind, that every student had access to quality education and that the standard of education provided was very high.

Garcia added the quality of education at schools was improving as there were schools, 86 this year, producing top students. “That tells me that our education system is getting better and better. I have to thank the teachers for this.”

He noted that all 202 students (there were two ties) were assigned to denominational secondary schools. “That tells you, not only the stature of denominational schools but it tells us that the parents themselves have confidence in these schools because they chose those schools for you as your first choice.”

He also told the students their performance would be tracked to ensure their success at all levels of the education system. The ministry would also engage with their teachers, principals and students, and make sure they all had the opportunity to enter Form Six.

For those who had unsatisfactory results, he said those over the age of 13 would be sent to secondary schools with classes with a modified curriculum, and those under 13 would repeat Standard Five where measures would be put in place to ensure they got assistance and proper training.

Referring to recent videos circulating on social media of school children “engaging in vile behaviour,” including cursing and assaulting others, Garcia said it was just some of the challenges teachers and students had to endure. This kind of behaviour, he said, did not reflect well on parents.

Minister of State in the Ministry of Education Dr Lovell Francis also told students their education was not free but was paid for, not only by their parents but by society. In fact he said it was very expensive as, this year, it would cost the Government $7.4 billion. He admitted that it was not enough but the Government had to prioritise and make choices.

He said since their education – primary, secondary and for some of them, tertiary – was paid for by the society, they had a social responsibility to the nation.

“We expect that, at the end of it, you will become the kind of citizen that this nation requires and more importantly, you will become the kind of thinker, the kind of innovator, the kind of creative person, the kind of problem solver, that will then make this society and this nation a better place.”

To the teachers, Francis said society spent a lot of time criticising them and did not give them the respect and credit they deserved. He said the fact that the top students did so well testified to the fact that there were teachers doing fantastic work and the country thanked them for it.

Top student Lexi Balchan, who attended the Anjuman Sunnat-Ul-Jamaat Primary School in Point Fortin and is now in form one at Naparima Girls High School, thanked God, their families, teachers and mentors for the students’ successes.

She said success required diligence, practice and discipline so they had to be consistent in their studies and honour the sacrifices their parents made for them.

Speaking of the many children who suffered through recent hurricanes that devastated several Caribbean islands, she told the students never to take what they had for granted, and that they should share whatever they had with those less fortunate.