Hand-outs help no one

THE EDITOR: I must insist that government stop insulting Afro-Trinidadian males by suggesting that they could never have the ability to access COSTAATT programmes unless they receive special and favourable treatment.

If Afro-Trinidadian males are under-performing then special attention must be given to help them achieve from pre-school through primary and secondary schools. There should be improved school supervision and a Continuous Assessment programme to identify weaknesses among individual students to be followed by remedial action. If done properly this strategy will substantially improve achievement levels among all students, not only the Afro-Trinidadian. Making special provisions for Afro-Trinidadians to enter tertiary institutes suggests that there is a genetic factor that limits achievement among this group. This position, I must hasten to add, is totally false. I believe that the problem of low achievement affects males in many countries, and is not limited to people of African origin. Furthermore, if the qualification pre-requisites are diluted or compromised for admittance to COSTAATT, then we can expect that standards in the tertiary institutions will fall, particularly in the engineering programmes. Then we must also consider how will members of a particular group will feel about gaining entry to COSTAATT because special provisions were made for them?

PRAMSU LAL
Charlieville