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 …
Read More »Noble: Schools and life chances; why ‘prestige’ schools succeed
The attention on the 40 scholarships won by Lakshmi Girls’ Hindu School and on them winning the president’s medal overlooked the mind-boggling consistent performance of the St Augustine Girls’ High School that copped 28 open scholarships, which is 13 more than their closest rivals. The Greater St Augustine area, defined …
Read More »Noble: Education for the privileged; how the dice is loaded against poor students
In the 2012 budget, the government adopted a lofty goal: ‘Education for all’. It was built on the Draft Quality Standards for Education (2005) and inter alia sought to ensure all students achieved recognised and measurable learning outcomes so that they could contribute to the country’s economic sustainability and be …
Read More »Day in the Life of a secondary school principal: Keeping everyone satisfied
A principal’s job is no walk in the park. Wired868 spoke with a teacher of mathematics and additional maths for more than 17 years, who eventually became the principal of a secondary school in East Trinidad. She finds it taxing but would do it all again if she had to, …
Read More »Salandy: Discrimination and abuse rampant in education system; and taxpayers are funding it
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 …
Read More »Dear Editor: I was disappointed to pass for Success Laventille; why we must broaden view on education
“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.” …
Read More »Daly Bread: Enabling empowerment without dependency; the curse of visionless leadership
For more than a decade, I have consistently taken the position that so called stakeholder consultations, pretty ministerial speeches and public relations announcements will contribute little to improving the lives of our disadvantaged young people—many of whom are easily lured into violent crime as a way of life. One reason …
Read More »Thompson: More, Sparrow, More! Why Cutteridge won battle but Sparrow took the war
The following is the fourth and final instalment in Owen Thompson’s four-part series on the classic album, More Sparrow More!, by iconic calypsonian Slinger “Sparrow” Francisco: There are other equally telling avenues that allow us to arrive at meaning and afford us powerful glimpses into the unique quality of the …
Read More »Dear Editor: Venezuela crisis heightens need for education overhaul, so we can understand our place
“I expect that President Paula Mae Weekes’ call for an overhaul of our education system will be met by something resembling an overhaul—or a series of scripted measures that can be reasonably passed off as one—which stops just short of questioning the purpose of education in the context of a …
Read More »Dear Editor: President Weekes’ ‘education’ overhaul is too vague to threaten status quo
“Everyone seems to be in agreement with president [Paula Mae] Weekes’ [call to overhaul our education system], which isn’t surprising for two reasons: she’s the President; and she offered no concrete examples of what an overhaul would constitute. “This vagueness allows anyone to agree to an overhaul, according to whatever …
Read More »Noble: T&T must address childhood trauma, or risk being outnumbered by criminals
Trinidadians are amazing people. Glorifying each raid led by Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith, we ignore his 21 November prophecy, in Chaguanas, of 100,000 new criminals in the next five years. “It is really important for us… to look at secondary crime prevention… If we do not deal with this …
Read More »Of Parents, Principals and Pimps; why SSFL must overhaul transfer system for good of student-athletes
I wish to put aside my robe and start the conversation by making a startling statement. Our Secondary School Football League (SSFL) transfer system has become an unceremonious cul-de-sac of parents, principals and pimps that is unwittingly intent on creating one casualty, the student-athlete. Some will argue that the current …
Read More »