MY understanding from the hinterland teachers is that every school has 15 to 20 students who wrote the examinations lately. That will leave well over  100 students who will not be getting their secondary education. According to the Ministry of Education policy, ‘No Child Left Behind’ emphasis is now being placed on ensuring that the vast majority of our hinterland students master the literacy and numeracy expectations by the time they complete the primary cycle.
The introduction of the primary grades assessments and particularly the new Grade Four Literacy Assessment and Certification Exercise are key elements in this regard.
Moreover, where students still encounter difficulties meeting the stated benchmarks, the six-year secondary programme should equip them with the requisite skills. It is also important to emphasise that this is going to be repetition and the student would be isolated if he or she does not get an entrance in a secondary school.
Sadly however, whatever gains they have made at this examination would  evaporate and the root causes of their problems will not be addressed. Inevitably, these students will end up on the failure lists so, actually, this repetition will lead to further failure.
The ‘sink or swim’ mentality will continue to exist in our education system and will ultimately undermine the student’s confidence. Repetition of students is directly linked to high dropout rates, especially if the student cannot be promoted to a higher school.
In many instances, students were made to feel that they failed when in actuality the ministry failed to find a place in a higher-grade school for them.
The ministry’s early intervention will decrease the student probability of failure. With this approach, more students will have a greater chance for success with the emphasis and objective being promoted; this is not an automatic promotion,