FIFTH-FORM GRADUATION BANNED

The education ministry has ordered that effective this academic year, no graduation ceremonies should be held for fifth-formers as Jamaica transitions to the now-compulsory seven-year secondary education period.

High school principals have also been told that if their school lacks the space or resources, they will be responsible for finding places at other institutions for their students to continue studies beyond grade 11 and will remain accountable for their progress until they return at the end of sixth form to graduate from their school of origin.

The new directives were given to school administrators last Tuesday as the education system transitions to the seven-year regime with the introduction of the new Sixth Form Pathways Programme (SFPP), which aims to ensure that students exit the secondary system with improved certification to better transition into tertiary studies or the workforce.

Since the roll-out of the programme, which the education ministry has said is in its pilot phase, but for which school administrators say they are being given directives seemingly set in stone, several principals have called for more consultation on the aspects of the programme, citing resources and infrastructure constraints that could railroad the initiative.

Some administrators believe the SFPP is the Government's way of compensating for what they describe as the failure of the Career Advancement Programme (CAP).

While reserving comment on the new set of requirements, Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools President Linvern Wright told The Gleaner that the headmasters are concerned that the SFPP seems to be “an improperly thought-out programme being implemented in a crisis”.

“What they need to do is to have real consultations about this. What we have had are just information sessions where, when we ask questions, they get defensive or they talk to us on the fly,” he told The Gleaner. “We want a coherent programme, but what we get is a disjointed presentation of the programme that is more about enthusiasm than clearly worked-out policies.”

Erica Ewbanks, principal of the Garvey Maceo High School in Clarendon, believes the roll-out of the SFPP and its attendant requirements is rushed.

“When you say it is mandatory and there is no graduation at fifth form, and I don't go up to the two years, when do I get my school-leaving certificate? These are the questions we have been asking.

“The other part of it that a lot of our principals are concerned about is that when our students go to another tertiary institution, they are still attached to our school and, as principals, we are still responsible for them. We can't seem to fathom how that is going to be possible. But you find that when we ask the questions, we are given some fixed responses that do not answer the questions and when principals give suggestions, they are skirted around,” she said.

Ewbanks believes that instead of moving forward abruptly, the ministry could phase out the hosting of grade 11 graduation exercises, which have become a local tradition.

While applauding the value of the career options for students under the SFPP, Cross Keys High Principal Paul Morgan also sees challenges with monitoring students outside the confines of his Manchester-based school.

“I am yet to see how it is going to work because, to me, it is easier to track and monitor those who are within my institution. I think some of the kinks need to be worked out. Looking at it as it is right now, it sounds as if it is going to pose a challenge,” he said.

The ministry's chief education officer, Kasan Troupe, said that consultations with principals on the programme began in 2019, telling The Gleaner that the SFPP has been designed to fall in line with international education benchmarks.

She said that since the schools only allow “the privileged few” to participate in graduation ceremonies at the moment, the SFPP would streamline the secondary school exit system.

“In any given cohort, it's up to 50 per cent that were given the opportunity to participate in graduation … based on what the principals currently have in place and that is something that is systemic and denies a number of students of the same thing that they are now saying students are being denied of. So, that is something that we have to address and call it out for what it is,” she said.

The ministry also does not intend to deny any students their school-leaving certificates should they decide to head straight into university after fifth form, she said.

As such, Troupe explained, the SFPP framework will see two levels of school-leaving certificates – level one for students who may want to exit the system at grade 11 and level two for those who wish to apply after completing at least two years of tertiary or occupational education studies.

She added that support staff would be provided to help principals monitor their students completing sixth form in other institutions.

Jamaica Teachers' Association President Winston Smith believes principals should be compensated for this extra work.

“Whose children will they really be?” Smith questioned of the plan to hold principals accountable for students they will be unable to supervise.

“If this is the way the ministry really means for it to work, it will not only make it difficult for school administrators but open the door to potential disasters,” he said, noting the nature of teenagers and the dynamics of managing their behaviours.

While some parents agree that the additional two years may benefit students who need time to mature into independent learners and obtain additional academic grounding, others are livid at the compulsory SFPP and the scrapping of traditional fifth-form graduations without their consultation.

Nicole Baker, whose son is a fourth-former at a Clarendon-based high school, sees the two extra years as an added financial burden.

“Parents will have to pay for two more years. It will be more expenses for the parents who already cannot afford to send their children to fifth form. They keep forgetting about parents who can't afford certain things and you can't even get on PATH,” she said, referring to the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education, a state welfare initiative.

Recent data from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security showed that since the start of the pandemic, it has declined 9,539 PATH applications, nearly 1,000 more than it declined the year before the onset of the deadly plague.

In addition, some 2,265 students have been removed from the programme for varying reasons with roughly 4,247 applicants now awaiting a response.

Maxine Tulloch-Clarke, whose son attends Garvey Maceo High School, is, however, welcoming the extension.

“My pocket can't really manage it, but I would like for him to go the sixth form. Remember, now is the pandemic and I wouldn't have it to pay for graduation anyway, so maybe by the time he is finished, the pandemic will ease and then we can have the graduation,” she reasoned.

One teacher, who has a child in second form, believes that more consultations should be held, especially since some parents are longing for their children to finish school due to the financial challenges.

While conceding that the ministry had not done much to engage parents, Troupe expressed optimism that they, along with the students, will eventually buy into the culture shift.

tameka.gordon@gleanerjm.com