Intervention needed for students having major academic challenges – Walwyn
BVI News Staff - Thursday, March 7th, 2013 at 1:17 PM
Education Minister Myron Walwyn. *File photo
Education Minister Myron Walwyn is suggesting special intervention for poor performing students as part of efforts to improve the competencies of those entering secondary schools.
The minister said he is contemplating the likelihood of having a system that would particularly help students leaving primary schools and wanting to enter the secondary level.
“There is a need for some sort of intervention for students that are having major academic challenges, and perhaps we should at this stage consider the post-primary concept that allows those students the opportunity to catch up with their peers before being filtered into secondary school classes. Perhaps that’s an option we should begin to discuss to allow many of our young people to become more successful,” Walwyn said.
He is also underscoring the importance of ensuring that pre-primary educational institutions perform up to scratch.
Although those schools are privately owned, Walwyn said his ministry has been working closely with them to ensure students get an early start to a solid education.
“Between the ages of one to three, it is critical for our children to be given the tools to develop a life of learning,” he said.
“Our present early childhood institutions are all privately owned, but the Ministry of Education and Culture (has) been working along with these institutions to certify them and support a curriculum that would allow all our children in the Virgin Islands to have a chance to get an early start to a solid education.”
Even as he underscored the importance of having more competent students enter secondary schools, Walwyn said he understands the importance of having teachers who are also doing well.
It is against that background that he is pushing to implement a system aimed at having teachers registered.
“A system for monitoring the performance and the development of teachers is also part of this initiative. It is not a scheme that will be rushed into, but we will be taking the time to ensure all of our present educators are supported in attaining this new license.”
Walwyn also made mention of a plan to have some principals travel to the United Kingdom for training under an agreement with Hertfordshire County Council.
Stating that schools with excellent leaders consistently produce top students, Walwyn said: Beginning next term and every other month – except during school vacation – two and sometimes three of our primary and secondary school principals will be headed to professional development, school management and leadership training in the UK.
“I anticipate that those principals that will be granted this opportunity will return and be examples of the direction our schools will be heading in beginning this year onward.”
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20 Comments
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Hon. Sir, put your money where your mouth is. Teacher can identify underachieving students from very early. The problem is that the school lack the necessary support staff to actually make a significance difference in the lives of those students.
Hon. Walwyn it’s time to start rotating the teachers and principals. Some of them feel that the public schools belong to them and are looking out for only certain students.
Parents if there is a particular hobby that your child enjoys most, try to find educational interactive games or reading about the subject area the child does not understand well and find a relation between the subject area and the particular hobby to help your child understand the subject area.
We miss “let get it” so bad
Playing politics we see. If students have problems learning in a classroom with a live teacher for 7 hours a day. Tell me how a non-interactive tv program for 30 minutes can solve anything. Not to mention it cost $200,000 per year. Isn’t it wiser to use that money to hire more teachers or to better train the ones we have? Use your common sense and care for your country for once. We are too political.
(Tips for Parents)
� Provide a quiet place to work, where the child can be easily observed and motivated.
� Keep homework sessions short.
� Provide activity times before and during homework.
� Add a variety of tasks to the learning even if not assigned, such as painting a picture of a reading assignment.
� Allow for success.
� Ask questions about the assignment while the child is working.
� Go over the homework before bed and before school.
� Teach how to use a calendar to keep track of assignments.
� Read to the child.
� Use the (Three Transfer) form of learning, in which the student must take information and do three things with it besides reading. For example, read it, explain it to someone else, draw a picture of it, and take notes on it.
� Be patient but consistent.
� Do not reward unfinished tasks.
Challenge the child
Have the child do the most difficult assignments first and leave the easier ones to later. Call it the (dessert principle).
cant keep homework sessions short when the teachers sending home 6-7pages of home work nightly for each subject. the kids are drained and i find it ridic. homework is to reinforce what is learned in school, shore up weak areas and give the parents an opp to see what their kid is doing in school and assist them. it shouldnt feel like an exam. the kids at school 8hrs then have to spend 3-4hrs at home doing work again. they will shut down.
You are correct for normal people. But our society has deteriorated to the point where children or uncaring people are now raising children…….society must deal with them or there will be a bigger problem later. I also believe that the teachers know who those underachieving children are very early on……that is when it should be addressed. By the time they are on their way to high school their self esteem is very low and more difficult to deal with.
“Outward Bound” sets up their sites and would, if there was one based here, be attracting youth from the Caribbean, as well as adults who wish to reinforce their inner strengths, group cooperation, and self pride. There are groups of Cancer survivors, corporate leaders, teachers, and challenged people, such as blind, who attend Outward Bound for sessions developed especially for them. It is very valid and should be looked into.
There is a program,” Outward Bound”, located in many states and around the world, helping to change youth’s focuses, behavior, and attitudes, through various activities developed and supervised to carry out these challenges. It would be both helpful for the leaders and various concerned organizations to go to their web sight. It is brilliant and is the answer for those on the cusp of being non-behavioral.
this man acting like nothing never happened until he came….sickening now
how you come to that conclusion by reading this article? i came away thinking the man actually gives a shit and wants to help. i dont see mention that nothing was ever done. but mention of all the problems shows a lot wasnt done when it shouldve been.
Judge having been intimately involved with education in the bvi, I know of what I speak.I did not need the article to come to my conclusion.For years I was involved in dealing with special need kids. I had bvi high school teachers, in my home and family. I worked with juvenile offenders in the bvi and I worked with foster children in the bvi. Therein lies the the source of my knowledge.
This is the most pro-active education minister the bvi has had in over 20 years.He ahould be encouraged. He has taken steps to improve what he found when he took over the ministry.Let us be fair.He needs more support his heard is in the right place.The BVI education system willimprove under his stewardship.He cannot do everything by himself some of the critice need to make a contribution too.
It’s a shame after almost two years all Myron did for education was fire all locals and remove a sign at one school…he will go down as the worse Minister in the HISTORY OF THE BVIi..SHAME SHAME ON YOU myron
You could tell you need education. Can ministers fire civil servants? Get your facts right whoever you are. Learn some sense from writing piss.
Why can’t we learn that many of these kids are not willing to learn???? It’s a grand idea to dump them at the technical school you all talking about. They will do no better elsewhere
ALL CHILDREN DON’T HAVE THE ABILITY TO LEARN FAST BUT WITH ALOT OF HELP FROM THE PARENT AND THE TEACHER IS THERE DOING THEIR PART THE CHILDREN WOULD BE ABLE TO EXCEL MORE BETTER.WE HAVE TO STOP SAYING THAT SOME CHILDREN ARE NOT CUT OUT FOR LEARNING THE PARENTS AND TEACHERS JUST HAVE TO GET PATIENTS TO TEACH THEM AND THEY WILL LEARN.
KMT there is no child in the world who is not willing to learn.Please dont repeat your statement.If a child gets a good foundation in all his or her subject areas from kindergarden and the first 4 years in primary schoolalong with parental support and developing good study habits.They always do well as they move on to high school.
SUGGESTION: Start teaching technical subjects in early primary school. – I have seen many cases of children on whom huge amounts of moneys are being spent. they also access all you are talking about ans still they can’t write a proper sentence. I guess some people were just not born for the books. Perhaps God has a specific plan for that as we probably would have no street sweeper and the likes
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