Berbice: The countrywide consultations on automatic promotion and corporal punishment got off to a spirited start in Berbice, with hundreds of teachers and parents gathering to share their views on the two issues at the New Amsterdam Secondary School auditorium on Wednesday. The day-long event was divided into two sessions – with teachers making their input in the morning session, followed by some 200 parents from across Region Six doing the same.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand and other policy-makers from the Education Ministry were present at the event. Speaking on the session with teachers, Minister Manickchand related that she was very pleased that following a brief period of apprehension, the teachers finally opened up and expressed the reality of the situation on the ground. “The teachers [were] very candid, very candid… at the beginning, they were very hesitant; then I was very careful to say this is my consultations so don’t be afraid of what any officers are going to say … it was massively successful I thought,” she said.
On the issue of grade repetition/retention/automatic promotion, there were 15 contributors who felt strongly that automatic promotion should be scrapped and students must work to deserve a place in a higher class. In event of the failure, the circumstance of each student should be assessed before making a call whether to promote or retain them.
Poor support from parents from the nursery level has been cited as a contributing factor to poor performance. There were many other contributions from a wide cross-section of persons from various backgrounds. The head of the student council at the New Amsterdam Secondary School in his presentation revealed that in a survey, 80 per cent of the school’s population were asked their views on this issue and 78 per cent of respondents felt that automatic promotion does not do them any good. They felt a student must understand the scope of work at each level before moving on to the next level. When asked, the teaching staff said they do not feel rewarded for the labour put in, because students are not obligated to pass assessment examinations.

Meanwhile, on the topic of corporal punishment, the participants were lining up to speak and share their thoughts. They all called for the ‘cane’ to come out and lashes to remain the primary form of discipline and correction. However, strict measures must be maintained to minimise teachers abusing the student.
Most of the contributors bemoaned the fact that children of this era are very undisciplined and rude, and said the rod of correction is needed to keep them in line. Since the new directive where head teachers or their deputies have the authority to deliver lashes, or to designate a senior teacher to do so, students have grown to disrespect teachers greatly rendering them powerless in the classroom as children flout the rules, some of the contributors posited. On the other hand, participants said, considerations must be given to a child’s background and situation before lashes are recommended. A child from an abusive home has been cited as someone who needed a proper and positive intervention rather than corporal punishment, and the need for teachers to study child psychology should be compulsory.
During this discussion, a grandmother of a student from the Mibicuri Primary School, Ramdai Bhowan took the opportunity to inform the gathering of an alleged incident of abuse meted out to her seven- year-old grandson by his Grade One teachers. Bhowan related that last Thursday, the child came home with several marks on his feet, as a result of being beaten to the extent where he vomited and was sent home. Regional Education Officer Shafiran Bhajan, who chaired the proceedings, assured her that the Department of Education has launched an inquiry, even though the parents of the child have moved to the police to seek redress. Bhajan also mentioned that the teacher accused of abusing the child has a history of this practice. In another incident, this time at the Skeldon Line Path Secondary School, a male teacher flogged a female third form student, causing her embarrassment to the extent that she ingested an overdose of pills.
A survey conducted by the New Amsterdam Secondary School as reported by the head of the students’ council revealed that 80 per cent of the school population do not favour lashes in school and they rather have other forms of punishment. The next consultation on these issues is billed for Bartica and Minister Manickchand maintains that the ministry is open-minded on these issues and wants to hear more from teachers and parents. According to the minister, the countrywide consultations should be wrapped up by September.
