Dear Editor,
How long will it take for the Ministry of Education to reexamine the automatic promotion policy that is failing our children?
For children who are attending schools that are not in the Sixth Form list, making them understand that they still need to study, learn and apply concepts taught in school is an exercise in futility.
Two of my children have lost lots of opportunities because they were not paying attention and figured why fight up to write exams when pass or fail you are moving to a higher form. At the end of the year they were promoted. So last November they dropped out of school because they were unable to meet the standards to be recommended to write CXC.
Five years of secondary school – hundreds of thousands of my hard-earned money gone for nought.
Now my twins are in the same position. They are about to be promoted to Form 4/Grade 10, with 37 and 43 percent overall. And unless this policy is changed they seem to be headed in the same direction – go to Form 5, can’t write CXC, drop out and go to work at the Chinese stores.
Please listen to the cry of a frustrated mother (me) and the thousand others who in the same squeeze, but won’t write. Change this policy. It’s simple, if you can’t manage with Form 3 work, how will you manage with Form 4, which is more difficult and complicated?
Read a piece of writing at random from children who completed secondary school in the last five years, you’ll see what I’m talking about.
Last year the requirement for Maths and English passes to be at 50% to be promoted was briefly introduced and then changed. And so our children have become more don’t care than even before.
Our education system is marching slowly but surely to death if we don’t do something now.
I’m in mourning.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address supplied)
