Grenada’s new Chief Education Officer says one of his major priorities is keeping students at the centre of his practice to ensure their all-round development.
Dominic Jeremiah, former Principal of the Presentation Brothers College (PBC), also plans to prioritise supporting and facilitating the development of teachers, and working to achieve the policy direction of the Ministry of Education. The Chief Education Officer, who assumed his new position on Friday, 1 December believes some of the recent education policy initiatives are key for the sector.
The new Chief Education Officer, whose career in education spans more than 40 years, has taught at the primary, secondary and tertiary level in Grenada and the United States. He moved up the ranks from teacher, to head of department, vice principal and then principal at PBC, a position he held for 22 years. The former principal said parting with the college was emotional, but noted that the support for his new undertaking was overwhelming.
On his first day on the job, Jeremiah had initial meetings with Permanent Secretary Elvis Morain and the Senior Administrative Officer and former acting Chief Education Officer Alana Felix-Roberts.
“First of all, I want to spend my initial time at the ministry understanding the systems and the processes that are currently at work,” he said. “So, initially I just want to get to meet people, build relationships with people who are here, learn what the issues are and the ways in which I can support what is happening. Before I start articulating what my own vision is and my own best practice, I first want to understand what is happening.”
Some of the areas of focus for the education sector presently include improving access to quality education via the Free Tuition Programme, and removing the registration fees at the pre-primary, primary and secondary levels. Others encompass curriculum development to include teaching Grenadian History and Spanish in schools; expansion of the teaching of the creative and performing arts; approval of a Technical and Vocational Education and Training Policy and Strategy; introduction of coding in schools and the development of a Healthy Start Nutrition Programme Strategy.
Jeremiah said, “I think the students and the system have an advantage in that these things are now available. I am particularly excited about the addition to the curriculum of Grenadian History, the text that has been produced, and I hope that more of that kind of work will happen.”
The Chief Education Officer’s love for the arts can also be expected to influence his work at the ministry and Jeremiah is ready to make his contribution. He explained, “I am under no illusion that everything will just be magical, but I would be happy if you keep me in your prayers, so that I can do what has to be done.”
Ministry of Education
Congratulations to Mr. Jeremiah on his appointment to this very important office. As an alumnus of Presentation [Boys] College, I am truly proud. Even so. the expression: “Jack of all trades, master of none” should be on the minds of every Grenadian who is truly concerned about the state of education in the Spice Isles. The phrase became increasingly popular around the time of the Scottish philosopher and economist Adam Smith who was able to prove that production increases when each member of the team focuses on a particular area of competency rather than having everyone doing just about everything in all of the different areas. Such a philosophy might, however, be at odds with Mr. Jeremiah’s aspiration to “ensure the all-round [educational] development of his students.” If one is correct in taking this objective to mean the perpetuation of the current practice of requiring students to sit for upwards of eighteen subjects in the CXC and other regional exams, then notwithstanding the Chief Education Officer’s best intentions, the purpose of the current system must be thoroughly revamped. Generally speaking, most people value getting an education as a means of acquiring the skills to be considered literate by other members of society, securing a well-paying job, or gaining admission to the tertiary landscape. It is interesting to note, though, that students at the secondary level in North America do not sit for more than 7 or 8 subjects. In South Korea, which ranks among the top ten educational systems in the world, secondary school students cannot take more than five subjects. The guiding philosophy in the countries that rank the highest in education is that a student should have discovered his areas of greatest competencies during the earlier stages of secondary education and that his final years should be spent focusing on those areas. In North America, emphasis is placed on the grades that a student has in certain core areas rather than on the number of subjects that the student has. In other words, while having passed eight or as many as twenty subjects might give the particular student certain bragging rights, and be a source of pride for his or her parents and school, there are no real benefits to be derived in the real world. A case in point involves a Grenadian student who was denied admission to a Canadian university because, despite him having 12 subjects at the CXC, and other certificates from TAMCC, his grades in the core subject areas failed to meet the required standard. In a more recent case, a PBC student who had passed 12 subjects had the lowest grades in and barely passed the core subjects of Math and English. A day has only 24 hours, and the opportunity for students to focus on their areas of competency should be made greater rather than unnecessarily lesser. The subject of educational reform should, therefore, be at the top of the list for our new Chief Education Officer. And so, the waste of man, mind, and other resources engendered by the current system does require urgent attention.