Get students literate

THE EDITOR: I wish to commend the Minister of Education for her excellent vision for Secondary School Education. It seems great on paper but one wonders if the Minister ever visited a Junior Secondary or Senior Comprehensive School and asked the students, especially the males, to read.

What is the use of having the secondary school teachers highly qualified in their respective subject areas and the students entering the secondary schools after seven (7) years at the primary schools cannot read or spell properly. Most of the male students are not up to Standard Two level at the primary school. The Minister of Education should concentrate more on the primary school students especially from the Government schools. At each standard, there should be a class for the extra slow learners, from Standard One to Standard Five, whereby extra attention can be placed on these students. At the end of Standard Five, I am sure better students will be produced than in the system that exists now.

At the secondary schools, the reason for the students being indisciplined is because they cannot read and spell properly. If the students cannot do the work at the primary level, then how can they cope at the secondary level, they must be noisy and disruptive in class. Some do not bother to attend classes and indulge themselves in gambling and smoking on the school compound. These same students are often disrespectful to their teachers. So please Minister, let the students get a good foundation from the primary schools, so that your vision for secondary school education will bear fruit. At the moment, the students are not ready.

ANTHONY GITTENS
La Romaine
San Fernando