Dr Tim reads riot act

Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh has read the riot act to primary school principals, stating that action will be taken against them for continuous underperformance. Action, Gopeesingh said, will also be enforced on absentee teachers and those who are persistently late for their classes. The oral reprimand was made yesterday by Gopeesingh minutes before he broke down in front of teachers, principals, parents and pupils at the 2011 Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) Award Ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port-of-Spain. Gopeesingh became emotional after comparing his struggles as a pupil and the accomplishments achieved by the 158 SEA achievers who scored 95 per cent and above in the 2011 examination. Describing children as the future of the nation, Gopeesingh pleaded with the pupils to continue striving for excellence.

Admitting that some of the 212,000 secondary and primary students have been criticised for being lost, violent and indisciplined, Gopeesingh said he was not satisfied with the overall SEA performance, where ten per cent of the pupils get a grade of less than 30 per cent. “It is unsatisfactory for even one child to fail such a critical exam.” Only six per cent of SEA pupils, Gopeesingh said obtained a grade of 90 per cent and above. Of the 400-plus primary schools in T&T, Gopeesingh said 125 have been underperforming. Studies undertaken in the last seven years, Gopeesingh said, show a further decline in the performance of these schools. “And therefore we now hold these principals and supervisors of these schools strongly responsible. I intend to take action.”

Gopeesingh said on five occasions he has shown the denominational boards where the schools’ academic performances have been falling. Four out of ten Anglican and Catholic primary schools underperform, Gopeesingh said, while one out of five Presbyterian schools has not been performing at the expected SEA level. He said the Maha Sabha schools were smack in the middle with average performance. Overall, Gopeesingh said only 15 schools have been performing admirably. Gopeesingh said while the denominational boards do well at the secondary level, “We cannot and will not tolerate nor accept this kind of underperformance that continues to exists in our primary schools.”

Noting that it was incumbent on the educators to get things right, Gopeesingh said the ministry also intended to closely look at teachers who are persistently absent from schools, which he will address with TTUTA. Figures for 2011, Gopeesingh said, showed that more than 15 per cent of teachers take sick leave beyond 14 days, while more than 20 per cent of teachers have more than five hours totalled in lateness in one academic year. “How can we continue when teachers show such discourtesy to the students?” In an academic year, Gopeesingh said some teachers would only be in a classroom for 143 days. “And most of them are late as well. This must be addressed. That is one of the issues I will be taking to the Teaching Service Commission.”

Determined to change the education system, Gopeesingh said that the 2011/2012 academic year will be the last year when 100 per cent of the SEA marks will be given to subjects in language arts, mathematics and creative writing. From the academic years 2012/2013, Gopeesingh said 20 per cent of the SEA marks will go towards physical education, visual and performing arts, music, dance, theatre and drama, citizenry and character development, moral values, ethics, etiquette and agri science. By 2013 to 2014, SEA will only constitute 60 per cent of the overall marks, with 40 per cent going to other areas.