Not your average PEP talk

THE EDITOR, Sir:

The recent protests in Hong Kong reminds me, and should remind the Jamaican Government, that the real power resides in the people. PEP (Primary Exit Profile) results will be published tomorrow, and the Government should know that it is on a collision course with those of us whose children are nervously awaiting the results.

From as far back as three years ago, many of us, educators and parents alike, have been pointing to the glaring missteps of the Government in the implementation of this test, by which our children’s secondary academic future will be determined.

On the face of it, what PEP is setting out to achieve will serve our children well, if and when it is properly implemented. It is obvious that the Government is bundling even at this crucial hour. It is beyond debate that PEP needed more thought and internal testing before being unleashed on our innocent children.

Prime Minister Holness, who is a former minister of education, and indeed the entire government, must take responsibility for the disaster called PEP and must seek to right the wrongs, if not for this set of students, then for those who will sit the exams in coming years.

In the meantime, study this; when the results are published, mark my words, it naw guh pretty. We know that it cannot be said that our children failed when the failure is on the part of the Government. Jamaica is not a lab, and our children should not have been reduced to the fate of lab rats and guinea pigs.

Rev Daren S. Larmond darenlarmond@yahoo.com