EDUCATION: A New Direction
Contact Person: Lennox Vanterpool
The members of the FORCE (Focused on Redesigning Children’s Education) would like to congratulate the successful students and their teachers on their recent 2018 CXC exam passes and acknowledge their hard work and dedication. Even so, having further reviewed the Department of Education statistics, the FORCE believes that the majority of students who did not achieve such CSEC passing grades must also be considered.
As recently reported, the regional CXC Registrar lamented that only 60,000 out of some 300,000 who should have been eligible to write the examinations did in fact sit for them. Eleven thousand of them received no passing grades at all across the Caribbean.
It is important to note that with respect to compulsory subjects, for 238 Anguillian students who entered Form 1 in Campus B in 2013, 126 sat for English A, while 144 sat for Mathematics, at the CSEC level in 2018. This left 47% (112) and 40% (94) of students unaccounted for in the case of English A and Mathematics, respectively.
Closer inspection of these results reveals that just 54.8% and 24.3% of those taking these exams achieved grades 1 or 2 in English A and Mathematics, as above.
Taken together, these statistics reflect that after 5 years of English A and Mathematics in the Anguilla education system, barely 2 out of 5 (35.9%) and just 1 out of 7 (14.7%) could achieve grades 1 or 2 in these fundamental and critically important subjects.
A NEW DIRECTION IS NEEDED
There are fundamental issues with Anguillian education that merit examination and reform. Examples include:
? With just 60% reading at age level, not enough Anguillian students are developing the literacy and communication skills necessary to handle the secondary curriculum by the time they complete elementary school.
? An undue focus on (over) testing, rather than learning, appears to be contributing to these suboptimal skill levels (i.e. teaching for tests without broader context).
? Attempting to teach (or learn) a typical load of 10 – 15 subjects, frequently using methods and materials far above average reading/comprehension levels, often leaves students overwhelmed and frustrated.
? Over time, these and other factors contribute to inadequate social skills upon entering secondary education, further compounding behavioural and anti-social issues that can distract or even endanger the student body as a whole.
Recommendations for Reform:
PRIMARY EDUCATION
1. Implement the Literacy Policy for grades 1-3 to focus on literacy and numeracy development to enable children to fully grasp the language of instruction and improve their communication skills. This foundation could be augmented during grades 4-6, so children would be better equipped for their ensuing secondary school curriculum.
2. Focusing the curriculum would allow for much-needed programs that foster character development, conflict resolution and socially acceptable behaviours.
3. Focusing the curriculum should also eliminate >50% of testing; thus, allow children to experience learning as a self-fulfilling progression of knowledge, rather than a stressful, short-term memorisation exercise without sufficient context.
SECONDARY EDUCATION
1. Establish a core curriculum of tested subjects. The remaining subjects could be offered for exposure. However, the number assigned per grade must not distract from the core curriculum.
2. Introduce motivational and inspirational programs to nurture interest in learning, e.g. knowledge-based competition, environmental science, exposure to successful role models, etc.
3. Offer a social media program that combines practical training for future workplace communications with appropriate standards for such tools.
4. Select an alternative examining body (e.g. GCSE Cambridge – physics, chemistry, biology) in lieu of CXC subjects fraught with innumerable SBAs.
5. Implement policies with meaningful consequences to eradicate inappropriate teacher and student behaviours in order to achieve a safe, engaging and student-focused education system (not merely aspire to such).
ALL LEVELS OF EDUCATION
Progressive and innovative teaching methods should be employed and suited to current day life demands: Embracing multi-sensory approaches to facilitate student interaction and engagement for different types of learners and their varying interests, encouraging higher order thinking skills, first class technical skills, and nurturing critical life skills.
In conclusion, the members of the FORCE remain willing to support and assist those accountable in the Department of Education and Ministry to effect such changes. From community outreach, to task force membership, benchmarking or other ways, all are committed to realising a vision for a successful, relevant and empowering education for every Anguillian student as a foundation for engaged, prosperous and fulfilling citizenship of this nation.
