By KHRISNA VIRGIL
Tribune Staff Reporter
kvirgil@tribunemedia.net
Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald yesterday announced the implementation of a standardised national high school diploma.
Speaking in the House of Assembly during the 2014 mid-year Budget debate, Mr Fitzgerald said that in September of this year thousands of 10th graders across the country are expected to begin the mandatory requirements.
In order to graduate high school and obtain a diploma, the new standards stipulate that the student achieves a minimum of four BJC passes - including mathematics, English, social studies and science; maintains a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale over three years, 90 per cent school attendance and punctuality, 30 hours of community service along with ten hours of job readiness training.
Mr Fizgerald said: “This was not accomplished over night. In fact, both administrations must take credit for it.
“(The goals) establish standards for improvements in social development that reflect a high school graduate’s preparedness for the world, work and college. It (also) encourages students to obtain at least a minimal education before leaving the school system.
“The standardised practices and requirements improve academic performance and addresses social promotion in our education system. We want to put an end to social promotion.”
The Minister told Members of Parliament that introducing the standardised diploma seeks to bring much-needed reform to the education system. He added that the move is expected to make secondary education in government-run schools more relevant to changing economic times.
“(It) makes education at the high school level much more relevant by providing different pathways to graduation depending on the interests and career choices.
“With what we are doing, Mr Speaker, it institutionalises intervention strategies within the educational system to ensure that every child is given the best opportunity to be functionally literate before they leave our high schools and instills a high degree of personal discipline and an acceptance of collective responsibility.”
Mr Fitzgerald added that officials at the Ministry have further aimed to tailor high school education to better suit students in their post -graduate phase.
Comments
JohnDoes 10 years, 1 month ago
In this case: A GED is the American form of the GCSE, but Bahamians here are under the impression that the BGCSE is on a higher level than the GED, like some type of college degree. According to the UK NARIC (A British National Agency responsible for providing information, evaluation, advice and expert opinions on qualifications worldwide) both the GED and BGCSE are equivalent, they achieve the same goals, the only difference is one is American and the other British. I possess both, and I had to take similar exams for both but was told by many Bahamian Istitutions that the GED is not equivalent and thus I could not find jobs because I did not possess a BGCSE say in math and english at the time but I did have math, english with the GED. Our educational system needed a reform on this type of level years ago. How can you give a student a diploma but then tell them they are not qualified for work because they don't possess BGCSE's in particular areas? This is discouraging and can lead people away from education. This would also leave one to believe what is the actual value of the diploma if it is not accompanied by BGCSE's? In conclusion, Many Americans find it hard to relocate here for possible education in COB for example because they do not accept GED's which is what most Americans have and use to help get into college. We would like to see some clarification on this as well, because at the time when I was looking for jobs, I became frustrated that I was held back because I did not posses BGCSE's. When I took the GED, it was the same process involving exams just from a different country. So hopefully the standardized diploma can help current students waiting in school for graduation to be better prepared for life, education and jobs here, but Mr. Fitzgerald must also clarify this dilemma as well, because many are shunned away from education and those Bahamians who possess the GED are shunned away from jobs here because of this misconception of the BGCSE being of more value than the GED. I honestly believe it is this way here because many do not know what the GED technically is.
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