Our children should get second chances

THE EDITOR, Sir:

My nephew took the Grade Six Achievement Test. He is 10 years old. He was placed in a non-tradition high school based on his performance.

While I am not knocking his placement, which I know was performance driven, my grouse is that I believe that he should be able to repeat grade six based on his age and not forced to do the exam.

That is not my only grouse. When we were doing the Common Entrance Examination, we had more than one chance to prepare ourselves based on how old we were.

It matters not to me the objective of Ruel Reid in making it mandatory for the children to be given only one chance at the exam.

I believe that they should not automatically be moved at 10 years old, but be given another chance.

Age should have had some merit in that unfair decision.

Then again, I was told that the reason was because GSAT will be abolished next year, for what valid reason, I do not know.

Again, the building of the student's morality should be placed on the front burner and not the ego of the minister.

Just maybe his objective is to carve out a name for himself on the political scene while he is still in office?

Then again, I can remember vividly, while in school, that the motto was always, "If at first you do not succeed, try again".

I wonder where that brilliant thought went.

Sour grapes or not, that's my opinion.

Tamika Brown