Food for thought
Dear Editor,
Kensington Primary School, which is located in Portmore, has once again come out shining as the top performer in the Grade Four Literacy Test. This performance is commendable indeed, and just goes to show that the public schools can outperform the private ones any day.
The Junior Schools’ Challenge Quiz, which is shown on Television Jamaica annually, is one area where the primary schools always outshine the preparatory schools. The question that needs to be asked is, do the prep schools perform better academically than the primary schools?
In the area of GSAT, and even from the days of Common Entrance, the general view was that the prep school students are indeed better at passing these exams. How sure are we these days that it was indeed so? Has anyone ever scientifically analysed this notion? What if these private schools weren’t performing up to an acceptable level? What would be the outcome? Would there be a mass exodus of students from these schools towards the public ones?
It is no secret that academic cheating is a recurrent decimal within our schools and colleges. Academic cheating is defined as representing someone else’s work as your own. It can take many forms: from sharing another’s work to purchasing a term paper or test questions in advance, to paying another to take a test or do the work for you. Could it be possible that institutions would resort to cheating in order to remain viable in the public’s eyes?
Students nowadays believe that cheating is more prevalent and has become acceptable. They see it in every facet of life: politics, business, home, and school. The perception is that cheating is changing and that cheating on tests given in school is widespread.
Is it possible that teachers could be changing student scores on standardised tests to improve the image of their schools? Is this a far-fetched notion? Could the naming of a school “a failing school” encourage cheating?
These questions are just food for thought and are topics that should be discussed. Cheating in the long run only affects the student negatively. When they or their teachers assist them in cheating, it will eventually come back to haunt them in later life.
Neville Beckford
Spanish Town, St Catherine
beckkid@hotmail.com