Education system is not equal enough

THE EDITOR: Senator Anita Haynes in a recent contribution in Parliament argued that the education system in TT has too much inequality. But the problem is exactly opposite. The education system is not unequal enough.

The premise that equality is an absolute good bedevils many policy issues, apart from education. The assumption is that all human beings have the same inherent potential and that any and all inequalities are therefore due to disadvantages foisted upon them by an unfair world.

However, the science of genetics tells us that inequality is present from birth, and there is no reasonable doubt that IQ (intelligence quotient) is heavily influenced by genes.

How is this relevant for TT? An education policy must decide how it will treat with the best and brightest students, as well as the least capable.

When the premise is that all will be treated equally, this leads to both cohorts of students becoming frustrated. The best and brightest because they are not sufficiently challenged, and the least capable because they are too challenged.

More particularly, a small country like ours depends on its most intellectually gifted to carry the society forward. We cannot depend on the masses, because progress does not come from the lowest common denominator. Thus, an effective education system will nurture the best and provide the right level of learning for the least.

At present, the best leave our shores for developed lands, while the least rebel against an education system which does not provide them with competence in any area of life.

STEVEN KISSOON, San Fernando