EACH year, without fail, social media is abuzz with a debate on the number of subjects children should be writing at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations level. And each year, without fail, many of us fall prey to missing the real concerns: should we be policing how many subjects these children write, or should we be interrogating the higher education system and children’s access to equitable opportunities?

One of the two top performers pursued 27 subjects this year and copped 24 Grade One passes and three Grade Two passes. He tied with another top performer who pursued 25 subjects and scored 24 Grade One passes and one Grade Two pass.

Both of these top performers, two young men, hail from the Anna Regina Multilateral School on the Essequibo Coast.

The standard school’s timetable caters to just about half of those subjects. That means any student attempting about 12 subjects or more is required to put in extra work- whether self- studying and/or attending extra lessons. And these two young boys, alongside several of their peers, had their work cut out for them.

And they succeeded. For me, that itself is worth celebrating and being proud of. But that’s not all. I spent some extra time this week in Essequibo and the recurring ambition of many of these children is that they need to work hard- that hard- to get scholarships. If they want to further their studies, they need financial aid to assist them.

Each year, this happens. Each year, we hear people air their opinions on why the nation’s children should not be writing these many subjects- For some, it is argued that you don’t need that many subjects to get a good job, or get into university (or some higher education institution). For some, they are concerned about the children’s health and well-being, rightly so because pursuing so many subjects is a taxing ordeal. Too often, the conversation descends to heaping criticisms on the children and their parents.

There are other issues and concerns that we should be considering, though.

Is this competitive situation that seemingly feeds on children’s ability to juggle many subjects in their best interest? Perhaps. And that is a system that the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) and countries’ Ministries of Education should consider- to provide more equitable opportunities to children everywhere.

We should also consider why young people exercise this herculean effort to secure a scholarship to further their studies. What are the challenges to accessing good quality, highly-demanded tertiary education? And what is the mental, social and physical toll of writing that many subjects?

What opportunities are available? Are those opportunities equitably distributed? And are those opportunities enough to satisfy the demand?

Certainly, this conversation warrants a deeper examination of the higher education sector. But I don’t think that examination should be or can be done through a myopic lens. During my time in Essequibo, it was painfully obvious that there were serious socio-economic factors to consider.

Let’s not forget, too, that it is perfectly okay for a child just to want to do that many subjects- whether it is because of an interest in becoming immersed in the subject areas or just for the thrill of it all (or some other reason). That should also be perfectly fine.

This period has always hit close to home, especially when this conversation on the number of subjects students should write takes centre stage. In 2016, I wrote 16 subjects to cop a scholarship from the Government of Guyana or CXC. I did not qualify for either because I scored 10 Grade One passes and six Grade Two passes, and that resulted in me juggling professional and academic pursuits simultaneously- I could not advance my studies unless I found the finances to do so. And it had been a difficult journey managing those two.

While I agree that this highly competitive system is a concerning one, I also agree that these children have very valid reasons informing their pursuits. No part of me can fault a teenager for believing that this is the best way of achieving his/her dreams of studying further.

If you would like to discuss this column or any of my previous writings, please feel free to contact me via email: vish14ragobeer@gmail.com