Dear Editor,

I refer to the article by Horace Hines on February 25 “Stop boxing the children” .

Let’s hope that Jamaica ends this terrible practice. Streaming does not take into account the student’s abilities and interest. It ignores that fact that each student learns with a different style and pace, and it assumes that low performance is always correlated with low ability/intelligence (ie, IQ). It can lead some students to underperform or rebel when they are forced into areas that do not stimulate their development.

Many world shapers like Einstein, Descartes and Gates were underperformers whom our school system would have discarded in favour of rote learners who simply regurgitate obsolete information.

In my second year of high school, both my academic and family life were badly affected when I discovered the plan to put me in the arts stream. While I have a respect for art, history, languages, literature, and religion, my main interest was in the sciences. My parents both worked in science-related fields and my daily academic adventures were in engineering and medicine. I hold a BA in computer science.

Even though I went to one of the top Jamaican high schools, my experience there was a waste of time. I stayed focused because of friends and neighbours who encouraged my nascent abilities and interest.

“A Mind Is A Terrible Thing to Waste” (Ad Council Campaign slogan for the United Negro College Fund).

Richard G Williams

Department of Research and Evaluation

School District of Palm Beach County, Florida

USA

RGWilliams007@msn.com