Tag Archives: Ministry of Education

One does not have to be a legal expert to recognise that hair-shaming, such as reported in the St Stephen’s College incident, is a violation of our Constitution—‘the supreme law of Trinidad and Tobago’ (Article 2). I want to submit further that the incident is also a clear violation of …

“At issue is the widespread, pernicious and fundamentally racist belief that the hair and hairstyles of African people are not suitable for formal settings and are intrinsically messy, unkempt, unhygienic and even disruptive. The insidious nature of this deeply ingrained idea encapsulated in the popular phrase ‘bad hair’ guarantees that …

In 1999, Clivia Jones went to school with a modest cornrow hairstyle only to be told by the Corpus Christi principal to fix her hair or stay home. This story came to mind when I read of two recent incidents. The first was of a Port of Spain schoolteacher spewing …

While the nation is wrapped up with the debacle of discredited former PNM Minister Marlene McDonald and her co-accused, allow me to turn our attention, if only briefly, to a topic that has been dwarfed by the incessant dilemmas that take place daily in Trinbago: school bus transportation. The July/August …

“On results day, they handed me this slip and I discovered I did not pass for my first choice or second choice. I passed for Success Laventille Composite School. “I felt disappointed in my results and I even felt disappointed about other people getting what I thought was better results.” …

I read recently that the Ministry of Education has ordered the Arima Hindu School, located on Temple Street to be closed, as consequence of an upsurge of crime in that community. Now I don’t want to jump the ‘gun’, since there was to be a meeting at the Arima Town …

The Dr Roodal Moonilal Ramai Trace SDMS Primary School (Sunday Express, 13 January) is a prime example of our need to examine public spending. In 2013, the school ostensibly bestowed naming rights on the MP for the TT$350,000 raised from businessmen in the area to purchase the land. Construction reportedly …

Trinidad and Tobago will be one of four host nations for the Concacaf Scotiabank NextPlay Cup, which takes place from 10 November to 8 December. Jamaica, Bahamas and Barbados are the other hosts. Concacaf launched the invitational youth tournament earlier this week at the Spanish Court Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica. …

“In 1969, Geography (and History) was removed from the National Curriculum both in the primary schools and in the lower forms (Forms 1-3) in secondary schools. “The resultant lack of geographical knowledge may well be to blame—at least in part—for the thoughtless treatment of the physical environment which produces pollution …

“In the old 10%-entering-secondary-school days, some schools allowed students to follow an accelerated four-year programme to take the external examination. “Would it not make sense to have a similar programme which provides six or maybe even seven years as the norm to cater for the weaker students or, alternatively, have …

“We cannot simply produce a Policy for Education and not seek to educate the public on the value of Tech-Voc education. We must also demonstrate that value by offering Technology Education in all schools as a core subject in the National Curriculum. “[…] Another concept that needs to be examined …

“The idea that bright students use their brains rather than their hands continues to haunt the Education System; it has a demonstrably negative effect on the Tech-Voc subjects. “[…] The result of this prejudice is that we have technicians but not technologists, that we produce students who can repair shoes …