Back to School at the Beginning of the End - April 26, 2002

by Earl Bousquet

Teachers and students – as well as Principals, Headmasters/Headmistresses and Head Teachers, of course – returned to school last week, beginning the final term for the current academic year.

It’s a time we all know well – the final of the three terms, during which you either make or break, in terms of moving on to a higher class.

Teachers look forward to these final exams, as do students. But parents too look forward to the end of this final term, when children are expected to ensure some sort of payback for the investments in time and expense for their education.

This is the time when parents expect that their years of ensuring safe passage through infant, primary and secondary school will begin to pay off, especially at the secondary and tertiary levels, but also at the primary and junior secondary levels.

The point is that all parents – no matter what class their children may be in at the time – look forward to them moving on to a higher class when the new school year begins in September.

But it all depends on what happens in that final term, from April to July -- the current period.

Today, principals, teachers and parents have additional at the start of each new school term. The physical condition of the schools and classrooms is always a concern, as is the level of indiscipline at each school.

            The public’s emphasis has been more on highlighting the negatives than the positives of our education system. More is reported about fights, stabbings and sex than positive achievements. There’s more interest in students found with guns, ammunition, knives or drugs than in unprecedented academic achievements. A 15-year-old is sentenced for possession of a firearm and that becomes more important than the fact that many more 15-year-olds are making their parents, teachers and schools proud of their achievements. Bomb scares get more attention than fundraising or skills training efforts.

            But a lot more is being done by students and teachers, at school, than they would normally be given credit for. This is increasingly so on the part of the so-called problem schools.

The George Charles Secondary School, during the holidays just ended, launched an AIDS Resource Centre at the Castries Library, with help from the AIDS Action Foundation, Courts and several individuals. Ex-students of the Corinth Secondary assisted today’s school-leavers from their Alma Mater in making career choices through the launching of an annual career choice showcase. A music competition began earlier this week, featuring bands from schools in each education district. Students celebrated Earth Day in various ways at different schools. Piaye students put on a play about AIDS and responsible behaviour by adolescents. A group of creative arts performers got together and gave classes to interested student ts in Castries. The students at the School of Music prepared for putting on a major jazz show. And students at the Hospitality Trades department at Sir Arthur cooked up a storm of creative meals in an activity that displayed their culinary talents in the form of being cooks aboard a cruise liner on a world tour. And lots more happened that I either can’t recall or simply don’t know of.

            It is therefore very clear that our principals, teachers and students need more praise, gratitude and encouragement than they are accustomed to receiving. They operate in a steadily changing environment in which student indiscipline seems at its highest and academic achievement is clearly not at its best.

            Against this background, it is welcome news that the new Chief Education Officer in the Ministry of Education – a former successful student, a teacher of 30 years experience, a former President of the National Principals Association and also a proud parent – intends to place emphasis on tackling the discipline problem facing our schools. But she will not be able to do it alone. Nor will the Principals and Teachers on their own. Success will depend on the role played by the parents and students too, both at home and at the level of the Parent Teacher Associations, (the PTAs).

            Students and teachers returned to school last week, just as the central Library and its affiliates were celebrating Library Week. They featured several innovative ideas aimed at encouraging members of the public to contribute books and more St. Lucians to read. There was also a series of literary evenings aimed at stimulating interest in reading, writing and learning.

It is hoped that these and other such activities that preceded the beginning of the final term of the school year will contribute to an increasing realization on the part of parents, teachers and students alike, that we are once again at that point on the annual academic calendar, when, whether the students move on or not depends, in greater measure, not only on what they are taught, but more so on what they learn. Parents and teachers will create the enabling environment; but at the end of the day, what each student takes in at school -- and after school -- will determine just what is put out when the most important exams of the academic year come around in July.

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