Ministry says TTUTA article unfortunate

The Education Ministry has described as “unfortunate” a column titled SEA over! written by the TT Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) that appeared in yesterday’s Newsday.

In a media statement yesterday, the ministry said TTUTA had gone through the process of “critiquing and condemning” not only the SEA but the education system while not offering any solutions.

In its article, TTUTA said the modern education system would “never subject their students to such a high-stakes examination at such a tender age” due to the harmful effect it could have on the child.

TTUTA said researchers in the field of education and medical science have “repeatedly pointed out the harmful effects of this aspect of our education system.

“Yet still we persist with it. We persist with an arrangement that has outlived its usefulness over two decades ago, knowing its negative impact on human capacity development. We see thousands of our impressionable young minds learn to hate school for what it represents – anything but fun.”

However, the ministry noted that TTUTA was an integral stakeholder and part of the decision- making process, “As such, it was not only unfortunate on the part of the association to write an article of this nature, but begged the question, what are the solutions that are being offered?

“TTUTA has been a part of the series of consultations held on education, focus groups in preparation for proposed changes and is a part of the decision making where teachers were concerned in their preparation for teaching students on any area of change in the curriculum.

“If there are areas of concern to TTUTA that can be improved the Ministry of Education welcomes the suggestions that the association wishes to put forward.”

However, the Ministry noted TTUTA had a “significant level of public following and trust” and its statements should “reflect the best interests of the citizenry of this country.”

The ministry said TTUTA’s statement that teachers also “unwittingly contribute to the state of societal dysfunction through this miseducation” has called into question the ability of teachers to effectively contribute to society.

The ministry said the “ultimate synergised goal” was the best possible education system for students and teachers to enjoy.

“Let the work toward solutions be the objective even as criticism and critique are offered.”