Dear Editor,
I hereby humbly suggest that the Ministry of Education conducts a feasibility study with the express intent of determining the possibility of offering CAPE studies at CXC at selected schools in Regions 2, 3, 4 (East Bank) and 5.
Should this suggestion find favour with the principals of the Ministry of Education and the findings reveal that the need exists for such offerings, the benefits that will redound to the aforementioned Regions with the implementation of this programme will be enormous. Some of the likely benefits are as follows:
1. It will raise the level of education acquired by the residents.
2. It will better prepare the youths in those Regions to compete for scholarship
places offered by the government.
3. It will aid in the preparation of a cadre of youths to manage the affairs of the
Region in years to come.
4. It will create vacancies for teachers thus reducing unemployment.
5. It will keep students longer in school, thus reducing the possibility of them
getting involved in crime.
6. It will reduce the number of youths who leave school after completing their
CSEC examinations and cannot find employment, thereby swelling the
number of the unemployed.
7. It will reduce the distance the students have to travel and the financial
burden the parents must bear for the students from these regions to access
CAPE studies in other Regions.
8. It will reduce the stress on the parents and students with transportation
issues, accommodation, financial constraints and so on.
9. It will create opportunities for the more gifted to pursue advanced studies
and students will get more time to explore and decide on a career.
10. It will reduce the inequality that exists with respect to access to education
(CAPE) between rural and urban areas.
I am convinced that this investment in the education of our children is not too much to ask for. 2020 is coming!
I end with this quote: “It is not beyond our power to create a world in which all children have access to a good education. Those who do not believe this have small imaginations.” (Nelson Mandela).
Yours faithfully,
Bernel L.H. Wickham