… stakeholders share different views
THE loss of teaching hours due to extra curricular activities and the need to address this by possibly scheduling these after school, on the weekends or even during the holidays, has caused some division among Education Sector stakeholders.
So it seems that a resolution to the problem could be a long way off.
In Guyana, much of the first school term is spent on school sports, both inter-house and inter-schools; term two is Mashramani celebrations and the practice sessions for these to have the schools ready for the different competitions; and then in the third term there are Independence observations, plus a plethora of other internal activities.
At a public forum, the Education Minister Shaik Baksh said the Ministry is looking at holding activities such as sports during the holidays, so as to ensure that teachers have more time to complete the syllabus.
Director of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), Mr. Mohandatt Goolsarran, said his position is that these extra-curricular activities should be scheduled during extra curricular time: after school, weekends and holidays.
“We still have to work this out,” Goolsarran said.
He noted that there has been no firm decision taken and acknowledged that a move in this direction will definitively be criticized.
Goolsarran explained that many are comfortable with schools letting out at a certain time and changes to that schedule will not go over well.
However, he maintained that with the loss of valuable teaching hours, at crunch time the children are pressured into completing the syllabus, the negative effects of which are sometimes reflected in examination results.
Senior School’s Welfare Officer, Ms. Carol Melville, told the Guyana Chronicle that in her experience schools have systems in place to ensure that neither teachers nor students are put under undue stress.
However, the question of how effective these ‘systems’ are, is one that persists.
Melville said, “Extra curricular activities are necessary because they make the children become well-rounded individuals.”
Assistant Chief Education Officer (ACEO) Secondary, Ms. Melcita Bovell, echoed this and added that the activities are “not disruptions.”
She explained that they are part of the curriculum and are integral to a child’s development.
“These activities lead to many opportunities. In the case of sports it can be scholarships for the students,” she said.
However, Bovell acknowledged that these activities can be rolled out in a more effective way so that they do not take away from the academic aspect of school life.
She added that re-scheduling these activities to holidays, weekends or even after school hours would affect the schedules of both teachers and parents.
Bovell said, “Teachers would be at the wrong end of the stick since they may have other activities after school; and for parents who pick up their children from school after work re-scheduling would be a problem.”
As much as the ACEO Secondary made these points, it should be noted that not a large percentage of students are picked up from school, since many use the public transportation system.
Moreover, one of the primary activities of teachers after school is to hold extra lessons. The Ministry of Education has noted that it is against policy to hold lessons in schools and charge the students. And so some teachers offer lessons at other locations.
Additionally, as it relates to sports, it should be noted that there are only sections of the school population that actually participate in sporting activities. In some schools it is mandatory for students to engage in sports at a certain level, but after that, most of the participation comes from only a select group.
According to the Assistant Chief Education Officer (ACEO) Primary, Mrs. Bibi Shariman Ali, some of the extra curriculum activities do impinge on teaching hours and may need to be re-scheduled.
However, she maintains that some activities are necessary to develop other skills. For example, with the Masharamani programme, students develop their expressive skills.
“The role of the school is not only to produce students with sound academic backgrounds, but rather to produce rounded individuals,” Ali said.
The ACEO Primary said some extra curricular activities are necessary to the learning process.
“The Ministry may need to do a review,” she suggested.
General Secretary of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Ms. Coretta McDonald, in an invited comment, does not believe that any changes are necessary.
She said the present system works, and in re-scheduling, one has to consider all the implications.
“If extra curriculum activities were to be pushed back to holidays and weekends, it would mean that teachers would have to work longer hours and that would have financial implications. The children would also be at school for longer periods,” she said.
McDonald made it clear that the system will not be able to accommodate changes in the way extra curriculum activities are held.
While she acknowledged that these activities take away “somewhat” from teaching hours, she maintained that they are not disruptions to the school term, rather they contribute to positively shaping the lives of the students.
Chairperson of the Rights of the Child Commission, Mrs. Aleema Nasir, told the Chronicle that with the system as it is, management is the primary underlying issue that needs to be addressed.
“There is no doubt that extra curriculum activities are important, but a balance must be found, better management is what is needed,” she said.
Considering the views of all stakeholders, the general consensus is that extra curriculum activities do take away from teaching hours, but are valuable to shaping a rounded individual.
The issue is to strike a balance so as to allow for the development of the child both academically and otherwise.