London: It was just a discussion

THA Education Secretary Orville London said that last week’s two-day meeting of primary school principals and teachers in Tobago was called in order to find out what constraints existed in the proposed Continuous Assessment Programme (CAP) and to evaluate them.

Responding to a release from TTUTA, which voiced concern over what was described as premature implementation of CAP in primary schools in Tobago, London said that as far as the THA Education Division was concerned, CAP was not just about human and physical resources but, more importantly, about education delivery. He noted that in that context, discussion was not only relevant but necessary and he said, “The bottom line is we must talk about the process in order to achieve the objectives.”

According to TTUTA, there were certain basic pre-requisites for the proper implementation of CAP and that it was too valuable a measure for a “slap-dash, unstructured, poorly planned implementation which would guarantee its failure.” It further called on the THA Education Division to desist from a haphazard, arbitrary approach on this matter and to ensure that the various education reforms were implemented in a proper fashion. London, however, denied that CAP was being prematurely implemented in Tobago. Rather, he said, it was being discussed and evaluated so that it could be implemented successfully.