Dear Editor,
We are in the middle of some major problems where our education is concerned. I am going through the report in one of the dailies, titled: ‘Systems in place to deal with poor Maths, English performers,’ and I am bothered by the very first few opening lines.
The excerpt states that “ Students who would have failed Mathematics and English at the 2014 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) will not be ignored or neglected, as the Education Ministry is presently putting systems in place to help them.” So I am left with a question: Did some students fail? The writer is saying ‘would have failed’ and this implies that the failure never took place.
People in the media need to realize that if I overslept this morning, then so be it. There is no way I would say that I ‘would have overslept’ and whatever else; a fact remains so and must be treated like that in the English language (for us here). I recall hearing that the Mighty Chief ‘would have won’ the crown; this says that he never won it. The ‘would have’ followed by the past participle refers to what never took place. For example, I would have been in Georgetown, if (and I state my explanation). Brazil lost the World Cup semi-final to Germany; not Brazil would have lost… and I keep hearing and reading this all the time.
The second thing has to do with the words of the Minister of Education. I go to the actual statement: “First off, let me say that no child has failed this examination (NGSA). Every student who sat this examination has been placed at a school, so no one child has failed and that is the good thing about the examination.” The question I have is what percentage has been set as a pass mark. I can pass an exam if the percentage required stands at 25. So this blanket statement needs a revisit.
Lastly, we really need to examine remedial strategies. We need the remedial sessions but for many people, the whole thing falls apart. We make the mistake of forcing too much on slow learners, hoping they will catch up. Actually, slower learners are not easy to handle. They call for a specialized kind of approach and many teachers can only handle normal and fast learners. These teachers falsely have the idea that they are good teachers because of the results. Normal and fast learners rarely pose a serious challenge to teachers.
Yours faithfully,
Matt Singh
