Dear Editor,

Education Minister Ronald Thwaites’ comments that students who have sat the Grade Six Achievement Test should be placed in schools that are closer to their homes has created many a ruckus on social media.

The truth is there is classicism even in our schools, and that needs to be addressed. Schools are meant to be learning institutions, and in gearing our young ones to prepare for the future, no school should be seen as better than the other.

People believe that schools like Campion, Immaculate, and others in the uptown areas are seen as the top schools, where the “bright” kids go, while others, and some schools in the rural areas, are seen as the schools where the “dunce” kids go. It stands to reason, then, that in 2015 the Ministry of Education needs to do some serious studies and should attempt to change this belief by fixing a broken and lopsided education system.

If a child is going to attend a school that is deemed one of the “dunce” schools, the mentality of that child is going to be different from that of a child going to one of the “bright” schools. We cannot expect our children to do their best when we have already told them that they are not able to do well.

All schools are learning institutions and should be seen as such. I suggest before the minister puts forth this idea, which in and of itself is not a bad one depending on how one looks at it, he tries to ensure that all schools will offer the same opportunity of learning. Therefore, children, instead of thinking they are being sent to a low-grade school, understand that it is up to them to do their very best and excel.

Michelle Bradshaw

michelleannmariebradshaw@ gmail.com