Every board of education and every school in the country must conduct regular reviews of their performance. All aspects of school and community life and the benefits it is providing to its key stakeholders and the entire society must be evaluated.
While significant emphasis must be placed on examination success at the SEA, NCSE, CSEC and CAPE levels, these are not the only determinants of the overall success of a school. In fact, the best measurement implemented currently, is the alignment of school performance with the Ministry of Education's well-defined vision for the child.
Performance measurement and performance indicators must be considered in the context of the value outcomes achieved at the level of each school. It is possible to conceal the failure of one or a few schools in any general analysis, therefore, it is necessary to review the performance of every single school separately.
The SDMS, as a key partner in the education system, has been evaluating the performance of its schools' overall results in all dimensions as well as the leadership and teaching capability and capacity. To measure the efficiency and effectiveness of all its schools, the leadership of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha keeps a tight rein on what happens at these schools. The SDMS is hardly ever caught by surprise by any event or incident at any of its schools.
The SDMS has a well-defined process of communication with its schools and has created systems of accountability–exam support, financial and infrastructure management etc, by which teachers and administrators are measured.
With such a level of oversight, it is easy to keep a close watch on the performance of its schools. The SDMS is hardly ever required to exercise drastic action at its schools. What is the overall consequence of this type of leadership and management? The evidence is there for the nation to note.
Since the construction of the first of its "cowsheds" in 1952, the SDMS schools have made an indelible imprint on the national education system. Its primary schools have repeatedly demonstrated levels of excellence and high performance.
The academic success of the SDMS primary schools continues uninterrupted. Previously, every year a significant number of schools placed in the first 100; and with the new expansion to 200, even more of our schools placed in this category of excellence. Thirty-two students were placed in the top 200, which amounts to 16 per cent.
This also shows that many of our students were just outside the top 100 students at the SEA examination, and the expansion had facilitated their inclusion. None of the SDMS schools is under academic watch or academic emergency.
In fact, the vast majority of our schools are well above the average academic performance index used by the Ministry of Education to measure exam performance. Our 43 primary schools collectively have placed the SDMS schools as best-performing education achievers.
One or two of our colleagues with a very limited number of schools perform with excellence, but when one considers the performance of 43 schools as a group, the SDMS schools stand out. Additionally, the inclusion of religion and culture as an everyday emphasis in school life ensure that students are well guided and disciplined.
The Baal Vikaas Festival has proved to be almost 30 years ahead of its time and has ensured that our students will excel in the Continuous Assessment Component of the SEA examination. Parents too, play a major role in the life of our schools and make an immense contribution.
At the secondary level our five schools have made an invaluable contribution to the education system and the nation. The success of the Lakshmi Girls' Hindu College is well known and the yearly high number of scholarship winners is testimony of its excellence.
However, the other four SDMS high schools have shown what quality effort and diligence can achieve. The Vishnu and Shiva Boys as well at the Saraswatie and Parvati Girls together have become an educational force. Established in 2004, these SDMS schools became first-choice schools within a few years.
The lesson of these schools is powerfully instructive. The Vishnu Boys started in the condemned Caroni Police Station, a community centre, two miles away and an annex to the Caroni Hindu Primary. The other schools started in temporary structures and are still there 14 years later. None of these schools was ever closed for any so-called "health" reasons. TTUTA had no influence or power over those "cowsheds."
These new schools accept students with below-average and average marks in the 20 percentile range, yet make successes out of them. In 2014, Saraswati Girls College had 100 per cent students attaining five or more subjects at CSEC. Shiva Boys and Vishnu Boys have won CAPE scholarships already.
The performances of these new SDMS schools demonstrate what commitment and love for education can achieve. Our schools have demonstrated that you do not need hotel-style schools that are characterised by constant shutdowns and poor performance.