Dear Editor,

I wish to congratulate all the students who did well at the GSAT examinations. However, I am urging parents, church family, school family and also neighbours to encourage those who were not successful to take heart, because they can still make good of themselves.

Amid the celebration, Education Minister Andrew Holness has discovered that language arts results decreased by two per cent. I strongly believe that this is due to the society we are now living in. Parents no longer see the English language as important. Children live what they learn, and as a result if a household does not practise using the English language, it is difficult for children to pen it.

Let me hasten to say that not only is it the responsibility of parents to encourage mastery of the English language, but also of teachers, church members and the media. Teachers should use proper English to address students at all times. Often teachers fail in their responsibility and stoop to a child’s level of immaturity and communicate in patois. Let us not think that patois is utterly bad and we are ignoring our culture, but with proper English this will improve the way children write and speak, resulting in an increase in the language arts exams. Teachers can and should be stern about using English.

Churches should also ensure that English is enforced and also encourage children to read all the literature the church provides. In so doing, this will teach them how to interpret and broaden their knowledge span.

I am sure if songwriters wrote and published songs using proper English, children would do better. Since this seems impossible, parents and teachers should not just stand aside and listen to children singing songs that do not have proper English. Just as how little boys and girls catch the Mavado or Vybz Kartel songs when they first hear them, I am sure they will absorb the English language just as easily.

The education minister should seriously consider and impose strategies to alleviate the breakdown of English language, because if the decreasing trend continues in language arts it means we are sending into the world boys and girls who are unable to read, write and interpret properly.

Ragjhon Brown

Ragjhon@stu.ncu.edu.jm