SOME of the high schools which obtained a C+ and above grade in Dr Dennis Minott’s high school performance survey published in the Observer last month are reporting an unusually high number of requests for transfers, following the publication of the Grade Six Achievement Test results last Friday.

On May 16, the Observer published Dr Minott’s survey which ranked 148 schools based on the overall performance of their fifth formers in 16 Caribbean Examinations Council subjects last year.

Following the Grade Six Achievement Test results five of the seven schools reported that the requests for transfers, one day after the exam, were significantly higher this year than before.

Alexis Derby, a secretary from Alpha Convent of Mercy which received a C+ grade in the Minott study, said it was normal the day after the exam, to have at least 50 parents requesting a transfer to the school from another government-assigned high school. But she said that between last Friday and Monday they had received between 70 and 75 applications and were expecting much more in the coming days. Besides this, she said, “the phones haven’t stopped ringing off the hook since last Thursday and it intensified on Friday”

She said one called wanted to know what grade the school got in the Minott report. “I told her what Dr Minott said and then she hung up.”

At Munro College, the St Elizabeth all-boys school which received a B grade from Minott, staff say not only are the number of persons seeking transfers for their children higher but the distance from where the requests are being sought were further than in previous years.

Carol Marshall, a secretary in the principal’s office, surmised that some parents may also be attracted to the fact that the school offers boarding. But her response to them has been the same as to those who want transfer from schools in Kingston and other parishes. “We don’t have any space. We can’t really give them a definite word.”

“Yes there is a definite increase (for transfers),” said an administrative staff member at the Montego Bay High who said there has been a steady stream of parents coming in since Friday afternoon. “Some are getting upset when I tell them there is no space,” she said. Montego Bay High received a C+ grade in the Minott study.

But, the numbers seeking transfers to Glenmuir High seemed the same as before, according to Anmarie Burrell, the principal’s secretary. “Requests are usually very heavy,” she said, but what is unusual to her this year is the schools from which the transfers are being sought. They include reputed schools such as Clarendon College (E), Knox College (D) and Holy Childhood (C+).

Burrell said they have not assessed the applications yet to determine why the transfers were being sought, but believe it could be a matter of changing to a location nearer home.

Parents are required to identify the first to fourth choice of high school while registering their child for the GSAT. But each year following the publication of the GSAT results, schools across the island receive hundreds of transfer requests, particularly those whose children were not given any of their choices.

Some educators are anticipating that schools with a high overall score in the Minott study will be specially targetted and overwhelmed by applications for transfer this year.