A psychological evaluation is being proposed for gifted children entering high school, to help ensure their continued success — academically and socially.

The recommendation has come from Montego Bay-based psychologist Dr Pearnel Bell, in the wake of the success of Kuti Mahakoe, the 12-year-old who earned six Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects — ahead of beginning classes at Jamaica College (JC) this month.

“A complete battery of psychological evaluations would be advised, which is going to look at IQ (intelligence quotient), achievement and socio-emotional function. The evaluations should be performed by a qualified clinical psychologist who would then make recommendations based on the results,” Bell told Career & Education.

She said that this would be beneficial to students, including Kuti, who have demonstrated extraordinary academic ability. Kuti earned a grade one in human and social biology, a grade two in biology and English language, and a grade three in mathematics, geography and social studies in the CSEC exams this year.

All this, having earlier scored 96 per cent in social studies, 96 per cent in science, 95 per cent in language arts, 91 per cent in mathematics, and eight out of 12 for communication tasks in the Grade Six Achievement Test.

The assessment, Bell said, would help determine the specific needs of the children.

“Based on the recommendations, then they would develop a plan in the school. Suppose the student is found, for example, to have a social skills deficit, then there is therapy for that,” she said.

“Generally, a psychological evaluation is really to develop an individualised plan for each child so that they can reach their full potential. A full understanding of both their educational and psychological needs would be identified and programmes put in place to address them,” Bell added.

Kuti’s mother Kamau Mahakoe is, however, unwilling to subject her son to any such assessment — preferring to rely on her maternal instincts and experience as his teacher up to now, in determining his readiness for high school.

“I am not so much into this testing thing or IQ testing. I don’t think I would subject my child to that. I have my own gauge. I know him and I have known him from birth and I prefer to rely on that. When we start to do these standardised tests, we tend to start labelling them. Even if it (the result) is positive… (but) especially if it is negative, it can mar the child for life,” she told Career & Education.

“And I am not sure I have the confidence in the standard used to do these tests in the first place. I prefer to rely on the rapport I have with him and knowing him and what he is capable of. It is like a gut feeling that I rely on maternally,” added Mahakoe, who has taught Kuti at home since his birth.

The 12-year-old will tomorrow begin grade nine at JC, his advanced placement through high school having come about through dialogue between his parents and the management of the institution.

“His father (Omari Mahakoe) and I wrote to Mr (Ruel) Reid, (principal of JC), making that suggestion and we were told that it is quite a coincidence because the school is thinking along the same lines,” his mother said.

“It is quite exciting for us. It is where I think he belongs because much of the first- and second-form syllabus is pretty much a repeat of GSAT work, which he has covered. So why put him through that when he can go straight to the core of what he has to do? We are happy that we see eye to eye, at least on that,” she added.

Reid, for his part, said JC was glad to have Kuti.

“We are going to work with him from there (grade nine) and see how many (CSEC subjects) we can get him to do… We have math and English, add math and CAPE (Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination) subjects,” said the principal, adding that the all-boys’ school also has an honour society, which recognises high-performing students.

“We are pleased at JC that we cater for our kids — the very gifted ones and those who need help,” noted Reid. “He (Kuti) is just one of our clients that we will facilitate. We know how to treat our students — no matter what background they are coming from.”

JC last year put 30 children through the programme, most of whom received straight A profiles in CSEC mathematics and English.

Anthropologist Dr Herbert Gayle has urged that every effort be made to ensure that the social needs of gifted children like Kuti are met, even as they continue to be challenged academically.

The idea, according to Gayle — an educator for over 20 years — is to ensure that they do not suffer “missing blocks”.

“You know you can be bright and do an exam and pass, but you are still missing some things. That is one of the major crises with some gifted children: they can do very well in preparing for and passing an exam, but they have a situation where they can’t transfer because they haven’t experienced some stuff,” he said.

“They can’t apply what they learn in one situation to solve the other. So it is the social side that the school needs to work on,” added the anthropologist, who has himself taught gifted children at the high school level.

Psychiatrist Yvonne Bailey, Davidson said she does not anticipate Kuti having any problems.

“Children are adaptable so I don’t see him having much of a problem socialising with other kids. The only issue is that he is used to one-on-one tutoring and in high school there is a group. So he will have to adjust (and) he may have a little difficulty adjusting to a group setting,” she said.

“But just in case he is having problems, his mother can talk with him, talk to his teachers and so on. At the school, they will know that he is bright and has already mastered the curriculum,” she said.

“It will mean extra work for the teachers and the principal. They will have to challenge him or he will become bored and start to lose interest. The mother can intervene by buying books for him at work so that he keeps up the momentum,” Bailey-Davidson said further.

Kuti’s mother expects nothing but good things from her son while he is at high school.

“I don’t expect him to have any negative impact going into grade nine. I am very confident in his abilities. I know I will be there to guide him… Some persons have voiced concerns, and to me they are always looking on the negative effect it (a new school) can have,” she said.

“But you must understand that he can have a positive effect on those boys, an inspirational effect — when they see him and others like him doing things that they should be doing. We mustn’t always think it is going to be a negative effect. It can work the other way around and I know it can work the other way around,” Mahakoe added.