MINISTER of Education Ronald Thwaites said yesterday that his ministry is concerned about some 800 primary level students who registered to take the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), but failed to turn up to sit the exams.
“We have tracked them down and we are ensuring that they are placed somewhere,” Thwaites told the House of Representatives in a statement.
“We cannot afford for children to drop out of school prematurely, whether it is because of pregnancy, whether it is because of a lack of lunch money, whether it is because of disinterest in their education. It matters not,” he stated.
The minister noted that the Ministry of National Security has stated that staying in school reduces the likelihood of anti-social behaviour later on in life.
Thwaites made the statement as he informed the House of Representatives that of the 38,662 who had registered for GSAT, 37,575 had sat the test. He said that 33,546 were placed in high schools, and 3,177 in technical high schools, while 836 were sent to primary and junior high schools.
He said that 27,189, or 73 per cent, were placed in their schools of preference, and 9,486 — or 25 per cent — in schools in close proximity to their homes.
He said, too, that 8,682 students on the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education sat the test, of which 6,704 or 74 per cent were selected for the schools of their choice, and 1,489 placed in terms of proximity to their homes.
— Balford Henry
SHAME !Blame the parents who will in turn blame the ” system” for not waking their child up to go to school and give them more money to get there and put a pen and pencil in dem hand.
Parents need to get their priority straight when it comes to education.
So many out there trying to keep, look a man or partying all night.
Women should be more responsible with their bodies and STOP make pickney if u are already struggling with three, four, five, six , seven , eight.
This is SAD. Future down d drain. A next generation of I. M. F. Beggars and debt holders to the world bank.
As bad as the behavior of Jack Warner and Kamla exposing each other and alleged corruption, one thing u can say about Trinidad, they SPEND BIG money on education, skills training, youth camps, top of the line schoolbus, buses and transportation for students. every child age entering secondary school at age eleven or so in Trinidad , gets a FREE LAPTOP to help them study and prepare for school and education. So who not learning, don’t want to learn.
Jamaica should follow suit and STOP pocket d money greedy greedy politicians .
Every child should have a bus pass in Jamaica I hope, and I hope very child gets free breakfast and lunch in school so they not hungry and can focus for exams .
And I bet you when the demographics are released, each one of the 800 lives in the slum with parents who don’t even have a primary school education but all have flat screen tv and iphones.
Already they have condemned their children to a life of crime. I know there will always be the poor, underclass and illiterate but god damn man, these youths weren’t even given a damn chance in a country where the education is free.
Okay, you might not have lunch money, but you must feed the child even if the child stays at home, so what’s the excuse?
I agree that the government should make breakfast and lunch free for primary schools, but until then, wtf are these parents good for?