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GTU favours subject limit for CSEC students

– Manickchand finds it ill thought out, dumb

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A proposal by the Ministry of Education (MoE) to limit the number of subjects students can sit at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination may have found favour with the Guyana Teachers Union but former Minister of Education Priya Manickchand says that it is ill thought out and dumb.

“Our students are pressured to take too many subjects, all for bragging rights,” GTU President Mark Lyte told this newspaper yesterday. “All someone needs for employment or to further their studies is five subjects inclusive of Mathematics and English. So the union …to continue reading this article, please subscribe.

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Limiting the number of subjects a student can take is an ill-conceived approach by both the Government and Guyana Teachers Union.

Perhaps the government and GTU are oblivious of the basic approach that competency in a variety of subjects give students the option to select their area(s) of further studies and development.

FM
kp posted:

The control of knowledge is the control of the mind.

With the advent of the Internet,and all those who have acess,there is nothing stopping anyone from gaing knowledge,MIT,Khan Academy have free courses.

Controling the minds,that's for the gullible.

Django
Django posted:
kp posted:

The control of knowledge is the control of the mind.

With the advent of the Internet,and all those who have acess,there is nothing stopping anyone from gaing knowledge,MIT,Khan Academy have free courses.

Controling the minds,that's for the gullible.

The curriculum designed for the students are based on text books written by experts in the subjects.  Not by the Internet.  Not because you get by in life cutting and pasting every piece of trash from the Internet and calling it an education means it is so!

Bibi Haniffa
Bibi Haniffa posted:
Django posted:
kp posted:

The control of knowledge is the control of the mind.

With the advent of the Internet,and all those who have acess,there is nothing stopping anyone from gaing knowledge,MIT,Khan Academy have free courses.

Controling the minds,that's for the gullible.

The curriculum designed for the students are based on text books written by experts in the subjects.  Not by the Internet.  Not because you get by in life cutting and pasting every piece of trash from the Internet and calling it an education means it is so!

Nothing more than garbage in your response.

I can make circles around your head,with all the education you claim to have obtained from high institutions.Well that is done here daily.

Django
Last edited by Django

GTU favours subject limit for CSEC students

– Manickchand finds it ill thought out, dumb.

Source

A proposal by the Ministry of Education (MoE) to limit the number of subjects students can sit at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination may have found favour with the Guyana Teachers Union but former Minister of Education Priya Manickchand says that it is ill thought out and dumb.

“Our students are pressured to take too many subjects, all for bragging rights,” GTU President Mark Lyte told this newspaper yesterday. “All someone needs for employment or to further their studies is five subjects inclusive of Mathematics and English. So the union supports this move by the ministry.”

Mark Lyte

Lyte’s position is in direct contrast to that of Manickchand who had responsibility for the Education Ministry during the Donald Ramotar administration.

The present Shadow Minister of Education told Sunday Stabroek yesterday that the policy does not appear to be based on any data and is therefore flawed.

“It’s absolute stupidity. You have to go out and find out if such a policy is actually required. Sitting on your butt and making these broad sweeping policies is dumb,” she said.

Manickchand questioned the reasoning used by former Minister of Education Dr Rupert Roopnaraine in support of this policy.

Roopnaraine had repeatedly stated that he believed Guyana’s children were not rounded enough because they were doing too many subjects and were therefore unable to engage in extra and co-curricular activities.

Manickchand argued that in reality the few students who write 15 or more subjects are involved in several activities while those who write 5 or 6 subjects are not.

Priya Manickchand

She provided the example of Ashley Anthony, the daughter of Member of Parliament Dr Frank Anthony, who is a published author.

“Look at the daughters of Justice George, these girls have written a large number of subjects and they are squash champions, play the piano and speak a foreign language,” she said. Both Akeila and Larissa Wiltshire have secured passes in 17 CSEC subjects while dominating in squash.

Additionally, Manickchand noted that only a small number of students who have proven their capabilities are allow-ed to write these subjects.

“You have let’s say 1,000 students writing CXC and about 30 to 50 writing a large number of subjects and they go through a rigorous process which will determine that they are ready and capable of sitting these number of subjects. Schools don’t register any and everybody to write 15 subjects,” she stressed.

The Member of Parliament has indicated her intention of challenging the reasoning behind the policy through written questions in the National Assembly.

“How many children wrote CXC in the last 5 years per year? How many wrote 15 or more subjects in the last 5 years per year? How many of them passed all 15 or more subjects per year? How many of those were involved in at least one extra-curricular activity per year? What sports and music programmes have been put in schools that students would be unable to pursue if they write a large number of subjects? These are the questions I intend to put before the house,” Manickchand explained.

She noted that while art, music and sport are important there is no evidence that these programmes have been developed within the last two years or that pursuing a large number of subjects, with syllabi taught from the fourth year prevents students from participating in these programmes.

Misguided

Other educators, parents and students whose comments were sought yesterday have also labelled the attempt to limit the number of subjects Guyana’s children can write at one sitting as misguided.

According to one parent Michele Fraser, whose daughter wrote 16 subjects at this year’s examinations; a blanket limitation would deny students the opportunity to determine their own life path in an increasingly complex world.

“My child decided since first form that these were the subjects she wished to write. I was at first skeptical but she convinced me,” she said. “What would I have been saying to her if I had limited her? In the end it was a decision made with contributions from me, the parent, my child and the teachers and that is how it should be.”

Sophia King, who wrote 13 subjects in 2010, explained that she chose to write the number of subjects she did not just because she was confident of her results but because they represented her only opportunity to be exposed to certain topics and ideas.

King, who has since completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry and is now pursuing her Master of Science in Materials Chemistry at the Univer-sity of California, Los Angeles, maintains that she does not regret her choice.

“I don’t regret writing any of them because they’re all useful to me now. There are a lot of holes in our education system, but limiting the number of subjects students write will not fix that. Yes, Google is there and free but sometimes you need inspiration from somewhere to send you down rabbit holes and often you don’t get the spark from day-to-day life. For me these subjects offered that,” she explained.

Potential

Similar sentiments were expressed by two senior teachers, who did not wish to be identified. The teachers, who are attached to a senior secondary school, noted that blanket policies are never helpful when attempting to develop a student’s full potential.

“The policy may be a good thing for some schools, where teachers either don’t or are unable to advise the children and then they write subjects they cannot handle, or which do not make them employable. But for spaces which have an environment that can facilitate a wider scope for the students it is not a good idea,” one of the teachers stated.

On the other hand, the teachers have noted that the criteria set out by the Ministry of Education might require that the ministry fulfils certain responsibilities which it has failed to live up to over the years.

“The MoE has suggested a list of streams and subjects that match the CSEC list. They have asked that schools follow them. This will force the MoE to staff the schools with teachers for these subjects, which is good. Often we find that a student is not able to pursue an area of interest because we do not have teachers to teach it. But if the ministry decides that these areas must be taught then they must provide teachers,” they explained.

This newspaper reached out to Roopnaraine under whose tenure the memo which speaks to the subject limit was crafted and circulated but received no response. Attempts to contact Chief Education Officer Marcel Hutson also failed.

However, this newspaper was able to secure a copy of the memo which directs that each child must write at least five subjects inclusive of Mathematics and English.

The memo details four streaming options of Arts, Business, Science and Technical and Vocation Education.

Each stream list Mathe-matics, English Language and English Literature as compulsory subjects.


 

Full Article.

Django
Last edited by Django
kp posted:

Far too many Indian kids get too many subjects at the exam, so to level the field is to make it more easy.

Django posted:
kp posted:

The control of knowledge is the control of the mind.

With the advent of the Internet,and all those who have acess,there is nothing stopping anyone from gaing knowledge,MIT,Khan Academy have free courses.

Controling the minds,that's for the gullible.

Your response here is so laughable and infantile. It might be better if you spend some time to really think about the issue before you respond. 

Please think in terms of aaccreditation, planned curriculum, freedom to make choice about one's future, competition of access to other post secondary institutions, competition to access the job market, education as a wide basis of knowledge, achieving one's potential, etc. 

Think about why the GTU will be in favour of such a proposal or why the government, through the ministry of education made such a proposal, why they will want to limit the demonstration and achieving one's potential.

Z
Zed posted:
kp posted:

Far too many Indian kids get too many subjects at the exam, so to level the field is to make it more easy.

Django posted:
kp posted:

The control of knowledge is the control of the mind.

With the advent of the Internet,and all those who have acess,there is nothing stopping anyone from gaing knowledge,MIT,Khan Academy have free courses.

Controling the minds,that's for the gullible.

Your response here is so laughable and infantile. It might be better if you spend some time to really think about the issue before you respond. 

Please think in terms of aaccreditation, planned curriculum, freedom to make choice about one's future, competition of access to other post secondary institutions, competition to access the job market, education as a wide basis of knowledge, achieving one's potential, etc. 

Think about why the GTU will be in favour of such a proposal or why the government, through the ministry of education made such a proposal, why they will want to limit the demonstration and achieving one's potential.

Don't understand why you lumped kp other post of superiority of Indian kids,i didn't made any comments on that.

Apparently you missed my response to kp [The control of knowledge is the control of the mind.] by a mile,we lived in an advance age.

You should take note,i didn't comment on the GTU support of the changes in the Education Curriculum.

You were in field of Education,give GNI your take on the current changes,I have also noticed you seem to agree with the crew,and singling out my post for an attack.

Django
Last edited by Django
Zed posted:
kp posted:

Far too many Indian kids get too many subjects at the exam, so to level the field is to make it more easy.

Django posted:
kp posted:

The control of knowledge is the control of the mind.

With the advent of the Internet,and all those who have acess,there is nothing stopping anyone from gaing knowledge,MIT,Khan Academy have free courses.

Controling the minds,that's for the gullible.

Your response here is so laughable and infantile. It might be better if you spend some time to really think about the issue before you respond. 

Please think in terms of aaccreditation, planned curriculum, freedom to make choice about one's future, competition of access to other post secondary institutions, competition to access the job market, education as a wide basis of knowledge, achieving one's potential, etc. 

Think about why the GTU will be in favour of such a proposal or why the government, through the ministry of education made such a proposal, why they will want to limit the demonstration and achieving one's potential.

Please  take a look at  the PPP record during their 23 years rule and please explain why there is:

  •   A Failed education system and why illiteracy was on the rise?
  • How do children who don't have the capacity to get even a decent kindergarten start can compete for access to other post secondary institutions?
  • What are you doing to help poor families who don't have the resources like the Dr. Anthonies, the Justice Georges?
Mitwah
Zed posted:
kp posted:

Far too many Indian kids get too many subjects at the exam, so to level the field is to make it more easy.

Django posted:
kp posted:

The control of knowledge is the control of the mind.

With the advent of the Internet,and all those who have acess,there is nothing stopping anyone from gaing knowledge,MIT,Khan Academy have free courses.

Controling the minds,that's for the gullible.

Your response here is so laughable and infantile. It might be better if you spend some time to really think about the issue before you respond. 

Please think in terms of aaccreditation, planned curriculum, freedom to make choice about one's future, competition of access to other post secondary institutions, competition to access the job market, education as a wide basis of knowledge, achieving one's potential, etc. 

Think about why the GTU will be in favour of such a proposal or why the government, through the ministry of education made such a proposal, why they will want to limit the demonstration and achieving one's potential.

Django seems like he was born a twin. He possesses half of a brain, the other half is the property of the other twin sibling. Wonder if the other half is smarter than this one.

FM

These subjects must be real watered down for kids to take 15+

Most of you know that back in the day how difficult it was to take 5+ subjects

I am not sure who is right in this situation....the relevant parties need to take the politics out of the discussion so they can be objective

 

FM
RiffRaff posted:

These subjects must be real watered down for kids to take 15+

Most of you know that back in the day how difficult it was to take 5+ subjects

I am not sure who is right in this situation....the relevant parties need to take the politics out of the discussion so they can be objective

 

Too much emphasis is given to how many subjects they take and how many grade ones they obtain. Why was it so difficult to get 5 subjects GCE and it's a normal thing for kids to get 10-12 subjects CXC? Ok, you CXC people, let's hear the logic behind CXC and GCE.

FM
Prashad posted:

Prashad supports a limit to be placed. The issue is about teens who should experience more to life than just studying to get a job to make lots of money.

.

No wonder some of these teens resort to suicide when they cannot cope with the pressure.

FM

If you Dunce, you Dunce. This is not communism,or North Korea , this is Freedom of education, if one wants to study gardening so be it , he might be the one to save sugar.If the student has the ability to study many subjects above the bare minimum so to widen his global knowledge and in doing so rewarded with a certificate, well I am 100% in agreement. I have seen post where all is cheering another Great Guyanese abroad, be it a Doctor, in US Military etc., would they able to achieve greatness if there was limit to their academic ability?? Next the Government will say a Masters degree is a waste of time or don't study agriculture ,study oil. The Gov't needs to spend more to encourage education and let that child decide what he/she wants to be.

K
Mitwah posted:
Zed posted:
kp posted:

Far too many Indian kids get too many subjects at the exam, so to level the field is to make it more easy.

Django posted:
kp posted:

The control of knowledge is the control of the mind.

With the advent of the Internet,and all those who have acess,there is nothing stopping anyone from gaing knowledge,MIT,Khan Academy have free courses.

Controling the minds,that's for the gullible.

Your response here is so laughable and infantile. It might be better if you spend some time to really think about the issue before you respond. 

Please think in terms of aaccreditation, planned curriculum, freedom to make choice about one's future, competition of access to other post secondary institutions, competition to access the job market, education as a wide basis of knowledge, achieving one's potential, etc. 

Think about why the GTU will be in favour of such a proposal or why the government, through the ministry of education made such a proposal, why they will want to limit the demonstration and achieving one's potential.

Please  take a look at  the PPP record during their 23 years rule and please explain why there is:

  •   A Failed education system and why illiteracy was on the rise?
  • How do children who don't have the capacity to get even a decent kindergarten start can compete for access to other post secondary institutions?
  • What are you doing to help poor families who don't have the resources like the Dr. Anthonies, the Justice Georges?

You were a product of the PPP system, look at you today, are you a failure?? If one culture encourages party,drink and dance and another place emphasis on education, don't blame the government . I know of many poor Indian families that sacrifice their life for their children to get a higher education, mothers sell their gold jewellery , fathers working overtime to pay for extra lessons.

K

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