Race does not explain failure to perform

THE EDITOR: I wholeheartedly support Professor Selwyn Cudjoe’s declaration to awaken his people to their shortcomings, and to motivate them to take action towards achieving their potential.

I also agree that no citizen of TT should be comfortable if 80 percent of UWI students were of one race. However, I disagree with his suggestion that a system similar to that of the University of Michigan be used, where points for admission are awarded on the basis of race, among other things. I am also not prepared to accept until there is clear evidence, his claim that Indo-Trinidadians with inferior qualifications are given places ahead of Afro-Trinidadians with superior grades. Indeed, if Prof Cudjoe’s allegations can be supported he should hasten to the courts to ensure that discrimination is removed from UWI. However, if he has no evidence he should cease attacking UWI, an institution that has served this country well over the years.

I take note of Sen Montano’s analysis of UWI’s intake from 1993-2000, where a close correlation was found between the composition of those who applied, and that of those selected. A university professor has a responsibility to act in a professional manner. To use a system that will award points on the basis of one’s race for university admission, will not address the problem of low achievement. It will instead, perpetuate inferiority, low self-esteem, and an external locus of control among the beneficiaries of such a system. Only the most insensitive of students will feel comfortable for having gained entry because of their race, and not because of their ability. The esteemed professor should know very well that university is a place where rigorous academic effort is required, a disservice will be done to beneficiaries of this kind of affirmative action who do not have the required foundation for this level of work.

I agree that there is poor teaching in some schools. I am also aware that parental lifestyles and dispositions can affect academic achievement. I believe that inter-marriage and enculturation have made ethnic boundaries hazy in TT, and behaviour that hinders academic achievement is not lodged in specific ethnic groups. There are people who will keep their children from school to beg, to help in the market, or to work in the garden. Some believe that for girls, marriage is preferable to education. Some parents fail to declare high expectations for their children, and show no interest in their work until CXC time. Others do not recognise the importance of quiet study time in the home, and the need to control television. Our television programmers believe that cartoons and sham wrestling are the best programmes to offer on Saturday mornings when children are at home.

Prof Cudjoe should be lobbying for better distance education presentations on the Information Channel, where excellent teachers are hampered by chalk and talk technology. He should insist that there be homework centres with on-line support for children as they struggle with their work in isolation. He should demand that supervisors evaluate each school’s performance following SEA and CXC examinations, and take corrective action for improvement. The US-based professor should look at the research findings on dropouts and low academic achievement in TT. I suggest that he pay attention to the works of Jules and Kutnick, and the UNDP 2000 report, “Youth at risk in TT.” This research will keep him from expending effort in wrong directions. I detest those who cite the academic performance by sections of society to support notions of racial superiority. This is blatant racism. I believe that all children can learn, and if the good professor believes that also, he will insist that schools engage in good teaching and parents give support to the efforts of their children.

DAVID SUBRAN
Chaguanas