Look what we’ve done to our Children!

A few weeks ago my wife came home in a panic. Our five year old is not learning to read. Luckily for us, my wife is a teacher and caught on in time to do something about it and is now making sure that he learns to read.

It is no wonder that the PSE results show that so many of our students are not doing well in these exams. Lately the average passes in the PSE is a borderline C, meaning that students are not mastering the materials on which they are being tested. In 2007, the average grade for math was only 45.8 percent. When this year students were interviewed about the math portion of the exam, they complained about having great difficulty with the problem solving section of the exam.

 Looking at our overall education statistics, it becomes even more alarming. The 2006 statistics show that 90.2 percent of children aged 5-12 years attend primary school, shockingly only 25.2 percent complete Standard six. And it gets worse; of this 25.2 percent, only 52.3 percent of these students go to high school. This is completely unacceptable.  We cannot continue to sit by while so many of our children drop out of school.  Any child who fails to complete the requirements for at least a primary education is at risk for falling below the poverty line.

But why are our students doing so badly in school? What has changed? Why after government continues to invest more and more in education, we seem unable to get better results? The criticisms can be many, but at the end of the day, this problem must be addressed by all of us - schools, government and parents.

In schools teachers must ensure that more is being done to teach our students to read properly to improve their Mathematical skills and their scientific knowledge.   As for those teachers who complain that children are too talkative, why not use this to develop their critical thinking skills by establishing question time during classes. 

The poor result of the PSE exam is a clear indication that our students must develop their critical thinking skills. To address this problem, school managers must be vigilant in ensuring that critical thinking skills be developed across the curriculum.

A few years ago, the Anglican Management decided to do a literacy test in all their Infant 1 classes. The test results revealed that only a small percentage of their children were able to read at or above the acceptable level. The Anglican Management decided to closely monitor all Infant One teachers to ensure that the children are learning to read. They have continued to follow these kids as they are promoted to the next level. More school managements must be more vigilant to ensure that our children are being taught properly.

We must instil in our training programme for teachers that teaching is more than just a job, it a calling that requires extra hours in the evenings and if necessary on the weekends, working  with the children at risk, and constantly evaluating their performance to  ensure that they are learning the subjects being taught.

Learning is a continuing process and as such, teachers should always be prepared to take extra courses and workshops to improve their teaching skills.  But the one quality that our teachers must possess in large quantity is the love for their students and for their careers - after all they spend 8 hours per day, five days per week, most of the year teaching our children life.

 Indeed the Ministry of Education must do more with the $180,000,000 they are receiving, including providing better monitoring and supervision of teachers to ensure that students are learning. More scholarships must be provided for our teachers so we can move towards having 100 percent of them trained. If we can have 100 percent of our tour guides trained, there is no reason why we shouldn’t expect the same of our teachers. A thorough assessment must be made of all our schools, especially in the rural areas to ensure that our rural children are making the grade.  Where schools are failing miserably, there must be a change in management or a complete close down of that school and the children bussed to a nearby school where the standards are being met. 

Today we live in a globalized world, everything is interconnected and in our region, everyone is interconnected.  The barriers of time and space are almost nonexistent due to the modernization of travel and the use of the internet.  To keep pace with all that is happening, the Ministry of Education must take a full assessment of the curriculum with a view to ensuring that our education is keeping pace with these ever changing times.   These questions must be asked: Are we preparing our students for the future or are we preparing them to fail? Why is it that so many of us are satisfied with so little? Why don’t we have more entrepreneurs?  Where among our young people will we find the next Barry Bowen, Sydney Thurton or Marie Sharp? These are the critical questions the Ministry must ask and answer.

Educating our children is a partnership and Belizean parents must also do their part for our children.  We pay so much lip service to the notion that we love our children, we say each day that that they are the future of our country, yet how many of us have taken time out from watching television to check our children with their homework, or to help them with a school project? How many of us speak with our children, ask them about school, their friends, what they like, and try to find out about the problems they may be facing? How many of us have taken the time to visit our child’s school or get to know their teacher? How have we participated in the activities at our children’s school?

A few weeks ago in Dangriga a parent attacked a teacher who sent a child to the principal for disciplinary action.  Attacking a teacher is unacceptable and such behaviour must always be condemned. What examples are we as parents giving to our children when we behave in such a manner?

Our children must be educated in a manner that meets their needs while at the same time be in line with our country’s development agenda.  If we fail to provide them with the necessary skills to succeed in the future, we are not only failing in our responsibility as parents, but we are also failing as custodians of our country.  It is therefore incumbent on all of us to ensure that all our young people be provided with the opportunity to develop.  Their development is not just a privilege, it is their right.