Dear Editor,
Inequality in the delivery of curriculum continues to be perpetuated in a public secondary school despite many attempts made to curb this situation. Skeldon Line Path Secondary School is one of two secondary schools in Corriverton, Region Six. Over the past few years, students’ academic performance at this school has been remarkable. However, there is a severe problem and nothing is being done by the administration of the school nor the Department of Education, Region Six.
A Mathematics teacher of Grade 11 Science and Arts 1, has been acting in the capacity of the Head of Department for Mathematics for a number of years. He and another Mathematics teacher, have been teaching Grade 11 classes for a number of years despite their being other qualified Mathematics teachers.
The teacher taught the present Grade 11 Science and Arts 1 in Grade 10. For this entire academic year, he covered these topics: Measurement and Algebra. The following are topics which are supposed to be completed in Grade 10: Measurement, Geometry 1, Statistics, Algebra, Consumer Arithmetic, Trigonometry, Transformation Geometry and Relations, Functions and Graphs. This teacher, however, covered those topics at his private lessons.
Students are required to attend lessons if they wish to pass CSEC Mathematics. In 2020, I made contact with the Head teacher who said she would have investigated what was going on. Nothing was done. Students are presently in Grade 11, now starting School-Based Assessment (SBA). In October 2021, I contacted the current Head Teacher who said she was not knowledgeable about the situation, and the SBA was not lengthy. However, she also said she would try to resolve this problem. After nothing was done and the teacher was frequently absent from school or not going to class, I contacted the Department of Education. I spoke with a Secondary School Education Officer, who said he will make contact with the school to be au fait with the situation. You will be surprised that this teacher is privileged enough to continue to be absent from school and not delivering the curriculum.
At this moment, I feel absolutely distraught and overwhelmed with this level of disinterest and having to borrow money to pay for extra lessons for which the government is already paying this teacher.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address supplied)
