More high school spaces needed
Dear Editor,
Every year when GSAT results are published some parents are disappointed because their child is not placed in a traditional high school.
Traditional high schools are premier institutions and a large number of parents select them as first choice because of the high quality of training they provide. That accounts for the high demand for their spaces, relative to demand for spaces in the upgraded secondary schools.
Over the years the traditional high schools have not significantly increased the number of available spaces and this accounts for the relatively fixed supply of spaces. It is impossible to place all the students who so desire in these schools, because the number of students demanding these spaces significantly exceeds the spaces available.
In GSAT’s previous form, Common Entrance, students “failed” for the same reason. This economic fact was obvious to the Ministry of Education because it had knowledge of the number of spaces requested relative to the number of vacancies. This, however, was not public knowledge to the majority of Jamaicans. This means that during the Common Entrance era many students did not fail the exam. The fact is that they could not be accommodated by the high schools.
In the GSAT era the failure is one of inability to be accepted by a traditional high school because for some parents the upgraded secondary schools are deemed very undesirable.
Mark Johnson
johnson.mark17@gmail.com