Prestige vs The Rest

THE EXCELLENT performance of Trinidad and Tobago students in this year's Cambridge General Certificate of Education A level examinations is cause for genuine pride and delight. The fact that 36 of our students have placed from first to tenth on the GCE World Rank Order in a number of subjects is truly refreshing news. It proves, once again, that our education system is good enough to produce top-class scholars and that our little country has young people with the discipline and ability to compete academically with the best in the world. Most impressively, six of our outstanding students have placed first in the world rank in different subject areas. Our congratulations go out to all of them.

Having welcomed their success, however, we are compelled again to make a crucial point, one that must  be concern to the people who plan and direct the structure and course of our education system. A simple review of the GCE A level results presents the glaring fact that all the successful students come from what we have grown accustomed to calling "the prestige schools." Alexander Paddington, a Fatima student, tied for first place in physics. Crystal Lee Lum of St Joseph's Convent PoS attained first place in Geography. Seven students of the same school achieved top places in Biology, French, Geography, Economics, History, English Literature and Sociology. Kabita Sookool of St Augustine Girls tied for first place in Chemistry and placed tenth in Biology, while three of her sister students made high grades. Kevin Singh of Naparima College placed first in the world in Accounting and tied for third place in Mathematics. Sharon Khan of Naparima Girls’ High School gained first place in Chemistry while Videsh Seereram of Presentation College, Chaguanas, tied for first place in Physics and placed fifth in Further Math.

We may well say that these results should come as no surprise since they simply repeat the pattern established by these examinations over the years. And there is the legitimate argument that these "prestige schools" attract the brightest students who, having done well in the former Common Entrance now SEA examinations, choose them as their first choice. But the question is, should we be satisfied or complacent about this status quo? Why is the performance of the State-run senior comprehensive schools so dismally poor with respect to academic achievement? Why can't any of them produce excellent students or scholarship winners on any consistent basis? We refuse to believe that there is such a sharp dividing line that only the country's bright children go to the "prestige schools" while the mass of non-achievers are absorbed into the non-denominational schools. The system being what it is, we expect the "prestige schools" to do better, to produce the lion's share of the country's scholars, but certainly not to the entire exclusion of other secondary schools on a consistent basis.

We do not believe that it is good enough for the Government simply to say, well we are doing our best providing free secondary education for all of the nation's children, and be satisfied with the relatively poor results of the schools they operate. Something, in our view, is wrong here and we believe, in the interest of all our children, a thorough study should be made to determine all the reasons for the disturbing dichotomy in performance between the "prestige" and government schools. Is it due to inadequate teaching, an inability to inspire, an acceptance of being second class, what is it? We must find out if we want to lift the quality of these schools to a higher standard.