Grammar school Essay

From 1834, the year of emancipation of slaves in Dominica and the other British westside Indian colonies to 1845, the touristy upbringing that was existent was re every(prenominal)y sacred information. The innovation of a body politic system of education in the West Indies emerged in Britain in 1833 as belt down of the act to emancipate slaves in British custody. Prior to that, the masses of the people had practically no semiformal education. In Dominica, from 1834 onwards, the British subsidized indigenous education through designations but basically, education was imported and promoted in the main(prenominal) by missionaries.The content of education was divorced from the interests and needs of the masses and the community. Emphasis was on the classics and the arts. There is atomic doubt that the churches superior interest in education was the creation of influential educated elite. In make, their interests were denominational, especially seen in the establishment of supplemental traindayss. Proposed educational policies dep terminate greatly on the avail cogency of funds, which were al routes insufficient. Therefore, changes and reforms were minimal. The stark nakedly elected legislative councils and their leaders gave little support.In reality, education, in practice was for a privileged minority. The populace remained more than or less ignorant and illit successionte. The pre-emancipation society was therefore non in all ace an educated one. Where slaves received any instruction at all it was of a apparitional nature come throughd by the church at massive intervals. The politics had no inventions or standards hence there was no system of formal education. It was against this background that the British Imperial government activity incorporated an education parcel out in the 1833 get along of Emancipation to assist in the educational victimisation of the Negroes.Establishing schools for the masses was provided for by the A ct, which included grant property from the proud governing body to provide education in the ex-slave colonies. This grant money is kn witness as the Negro fostering Grant. It was regarded as an urgent matter. The follow grant amounted to a mere ? 30,000 per annum for five years for all the BWI of almost one meg people. The decision to allocate the grant was executed through the topical anesthetic legislatures and the religious bodies. The grant was decreased each year and ended in 1845.The denominations were offered financial help to build schools, and later to assist in the payment of teachers salaries as the best means of developing a system of education. Dominicas manage of the Grant amounted only to ? 600 to be spent on 14,000 ex-slaves. This amount was precise insignificant and was spent mainly by the Society for the Propagation of the church doctrine (SPCK). After two years it became apparent that the desired and intended results were non forthcoming because of the many difficulties faced. Some churches were unable to accept more grants because they could non bear the repeated expenditure on their schools.In imposing 1837, the grant was switched to pay one-third of teachers salaries instead. This was insufficient, and the societies did non draw out their operations further. As the anticipate expansion did not materialise the imperial government was disappointed. Hence, the union of the imperial government, local anaesthetic anesthetic legislatures and the churches could not fulfil the early ambition to create a viable education system. Thus, in 1841, the imperial government started to withdraw the fund. The Mico trustees who had through the most protested, but to no avail.In 1845 it came to an end, and so the burden flatten on the West Indian legislatures and workers to increasingly support the education of their take children. In Dominica, the drive towards education for the masses was assisted by the local legislature, olibanum com plimenting the work done by charities and the churches so that by July 1840, Dominica had 20 schools, 10 teachers, 1,086 pupils and total total attendance was 750. The British Imperial Government gave two main reasons for ending the NEG 1. side of meat workers were tell to be worse-off than West-Indian workers 2.The Baptists were said to be prospering although they had refuse all aid Both claims were false. The churches lacked both money and resources. The British felt in the case of Dominica that the Catholic Church could not and would not provide appropriate education. They therefore support alternatives to church schools. They distinguishable to provide secular schools and to withdraw grants to the church schools. This was strongly opposed until a compromise was reached. The main success of the decimal point of the NEG was the idea of popular education.The provision of standby Education in Dominica Providers and Gender Issues From the foregoing, one can treasure the fact that the provision of education was a task that involved the fellowship of several providers or stakeholders The British Imperial Authority, the Local Legislature or Assembly, the Church (especially the Catholics) and the Charities (especially the Mico Trust). Prior to emancipation, the provision of education was the responsibility of the churches and the charities. Education was really limited and very few benefited. In reality, what ever was taught was basically religious education.With the passage of the Act of Emancipation, an attempt was do to establish popular education. The NEG thus provided the needed funds for this purpose but eventually ended in failure. These funds were channelled through the bodies mentioned above, especially through the charities and the churches. By 1868 the main providers were mainly the state (the Local Legislature) and the church. It must(prenominal) not be forgotten that the huge studyity of the population were Catholics and therefore co-ope ration and compromise between the two bodies were of preponderating importance.By that date, the majority of primary schools belonged to the state i. e. 18 out of 33 (54%). This was unique, for no other West Indian society had such engagement by the state in educational provision. In the case of supplementary education, the provision was by the Church (Catholic). The first establishment for the provision of subsidiary education was the Convent High school day (CHS) in 1858. This was exclusively for the children of the local elite. The children of the plain peasantry and the working classes were excluded. The state provided almost funds for the school.But there were no consequenceary education provided for the masses. It is again unique to Dominica in that early period that post-primary education was cosmos provided only to girls when this gender was marginalized in the rest of the W. I and in Britain itself. Even today, in 2000, over 65% of collateral school students are g irls. The figures for the Clifton Dupigny Community College, University of Technology (Jamaica) and University of the West Indies are roughly the same. In the case of Dominica, antheral marginalisation has had a long history, contrary to popular opinion.Due to mounting pressure and clamour for unessential education for boys and the children of the masses, the state established the Dominica Grammar naturalize (DGS) on the 16th of January 1893, with a registration identify of 25 boys under the headmastership of one tutor, Mr. W. Skinner (M. A a make up from Catherines College, Cambridge, England). It was to be crusade as a government school, with the aim to provide gameyer education for boys. The building being used was a personalised gift from Mr. Dawbiney, a respectable Jamaican who had faretled in the island.The DGS remained a boys school until 1972. This occurred at a prison term when the egress of girls selected by the super C Entrance Examinations far surpassed th at of boys. The first DGS girls came from the CHS and the WHS. The total number of girls on the roll for that year totalled 34 out of a total of 560 students. Thus a reluctant but requirement era commenced in that year the DGS becoming a co-educational institution under the headship of Mr. J. K. Gough (B. Sc Dip. Ed. from Scotland). In that same year there were 14 Dominican module members who were university graduates.Not to be outdone by the Catholics, the Wesleyan Society (Methodists) following the custom of their rivals, opened the second high school for girls in the island, the Wesley High trail (WHS) in October 1927. By that year, 80% of the students accessing secondary winding education were girls. This again was a unique situation second to none in the W. I. This further marginalized the boys addicted the restrictive and limited nature of access at the time. At this juncture, it is necessary to appreciate the great effort expended by the churches in the provision of se condary education in the island of Dominica, albeit for denominational reasons.In 1932, the Christian Brothers (Catholics) opened the second educational establishment providing secondary education for boys, the Saint Marys Academy (SMA). By that year educational provision was roughly pair for both genders with boys now having the slight edge, notwithstanding the fact that the girls were doing better in entrance and scholarship exams. There were insufficient spaces obtainable. An entrance examination would currently be rigorously applied to ration out, select and match the number of students to the available supply of places.This state of inequitable affairs became unbearable as the girls were now being marginalized in favour of boys who were securing less passes than girls in the exams. In other words, the selection was a function of available places. The two boys schools had more places than the two girls schools. Therefore, fewer girls were selected although their average score s were higher than that of boys who secured places. In the1972/1973 school year, the Labour government of Mr. Edward Oliver Leblanc took the bold step to make the DGS co-educational.This occurred at a time when the number of girls who had succeeded at the Common Entrance Examinations far surpassed that of boys. Since then, girls have kept on increasing the education gap or run offage basin to the extent that in Dominica and the West Indies this problem of male marginalisation and male underachievement and the like, have now become so serious that it threatens the whole conceit of male patriarchy. The year 1972 has been regarded as a milestone in Dominicas educational history as far as secondary education is concerned.From that year all refreshful secondary schools have opted to become co-educational with the ejection of the Saint Martins auxiliary take in 1988. Another of the essence(p) milestone in our educational history is the year 1971. For the first time, secondary educ ational provision moved out of Roseau with the establishment of the co-educational Portsmouth utility(prenominal) drill (PSS). This greatly reduced the cost burden to parents in the northwest, north and atomic number 10ern of the island, who, hitherto had to make tremendous sacrifices to provide education for their children in the capital, Roseau.By 1974, the Common Entrance Examinations as a selector of educational disembodied spirit chances was psychologically so devastating to pupils that those who were not selected felt that they were rejects and failures with no hold or future. It was against this backdrop that a group of concerned persons headed by Ms. dungaree Finucane-James decided to provide a second chance to those pupils that was not ground on a selective exam. This co-educational school was named the Dominica Community High schooldays (DCHS). Apart from the PSS, the early 1970s were characterised for having secondary education concentrated in the capital city of Roseau.The 70s was a period of political upheaval. In August 1979, Hurricane David struck and the island was devastated 43 deaths, massive destruction of crops and the forest, wildlife was decimated, schools and the social and economic stem was destroyed. The economy came to a stand settle down. Educationally, the students suffered greatly. A large number of students from the northeast could not attend the Roseau schools. In the aftermath of the hurricane, two schools were opened in the northeast St.Andrews High schoolhouse (SAHS) in 1979, find in capital of the unit of measuremented Kingdomderry which is run and operated by the Methodists and in 1980, the Marigot buttocks High direct (MFHS) headed by Mr. Martin Roberts, a former Methodist minister. The last named school was eventually renamed the Marigot inessential condition (MSS) when in 1999 it passed over to the state. These two schools are co-educational institutions. In this catchment area the Common Entrance Exams c onsistently selects more girls than boys. In the 1980s four schools were established. In 1981, the Seventh-Day Adventists began to provide secondary education.The Seventh-day Adventist Secondary School (SASS) is located in the Portsmouth suburbia of Granvillia. It is a co-ed school. In that very same year the co-ed St. Joseph Campus of the DGS was opened which later became a separate entity as the St. Joseph Secondary School. In 1996 it was renamed the Isaiah Thomas Secondary School. In 1988, two government co-ed secondary schools were established from what were formerly Junior Secondary Programmes the Good leave alone Secondary School (GSS) and the Grand Bay Secondary School (GBSS). In that same year, the Catholicrun St.Martins School for girls upgraded its technical/vocational wing into a fully-fledged secondary school called the St. Martins Secondary School (SMSS). With the opening of these bare-assed schools and the stopd use of the Common Entrance Exams the gender balance re st to be in favour of girls to the trauma of boys. In October 1994 the Nehemiah Christian Foundation headed by Mrs. Rhoda George opened the Nehemiah panoptic School with 60 boys and girls. The school is located in Jimmit, Mahaut.In the financial year 1995/96 the government entered into a loan agreementwith the World Bank to fund the Basic Education Reform parturiency (BERP). One of the three main objectives of the project was to develop access to secondary education. Under the project, this objective was fulfilled in the co-ed Castle Bruce Secondary School (CBSS) in 1998. TABLE I DOMINICA faculty member Secondary Schools, 2002/03 School Year Founded Boys Girls Total Status Convent High School 1858 0 493 493 Assisted Dominica Grammar School 1893 518 281 799 State Wesley High School 1927 0 287 287 Assisted St.Marys Academy 1932 420 0 420 Assisted Portsmouth Secondary School 1971 402 435 837 State Dominica Community High School 1975 79 46 125 Assisted St. Andrews Hig h School 1979 233 292 525 Assisted Marigot Secondary School 1980 86 59 145 Assisted Isaiah Thomas Secondary School 1981 312 393 705 State SDA Secondary School 1981 108 87 195 Private St. Martins Secondary School 1988 0 306 306 Assisted Goodwill Secondary School 1988 380 262 642.State Grand Bay Secondary School 1988 334 343 677 State Nehemiah Comprehensive School 1994 64 73 137 Assisted Castle Bruce Secondary School 1998 266 291 557 State Orion Academy 2003 Private Total 3 202 3 648 6 850 Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth Affairs, 2002/03 The School program Several factors impinge on the developing of the program in Dominica slavery, compoundism, politics, economics, religion, socio-cultural biases, parents, teachers and the prentices themselves.In the pre-emancipation era the class that existed was of a religious nature. The society was largely illiterate and ignorant. There existed no smell or idea of popular or mass education. With emancipation in 1834, the rudiments of a system of education began to take abidance. The limited platform was non-scientific and bookishly academic ground on rote and memory teaching and learning. By 1868, as the primary system took root the three rs were taught namely reading, writing and arithmetic. The system that was taking shape was one that would provide labourers and servants and no more.At the secondary level, the computer programme supplyed for the children of the elite Maths, Science, Geography, English, Greek, and Latin. The colonial powers and the local legislatures controlled the educational system. In other words, the ruling elites/classes decided who should be taught, what should be taught, when, how and where. The entire process from start to finish was decided for the learner. In 1899, land was being promoted as a subject to be taught so that the learner would become an agricultural labourer or worker on an country or join the ranks of the impoverished peasantry.So agricultural s chools were encouraged. In this way the islands would remain as sources of primary agricultural produce. When the British abolished the local legislatures and enforce direct crown colony rule the curriculum again was being used as a tool to keep the masses in their place. It limited them to learn the basics and agriculture. Attempts were do to improve education at the end of the First World War (1914-1918) salaries to teachers, payments by results and attempts at absolute education. The West Indian Conference in Dominica in 1932 urged the region to fence for compulsory education among other things.This failed. In 1957, the ministerial system was brought to Dominica with some exercise of authority by the house of assembly. But power still lied with the British parliament. Budgets could be passed, but had to be approved by Britain. In 1967, Dominica became an associate state with Gt. Britain. All internal matters were under local jurisdiction, but remote affairs, trade and defence resided with Gt. Britain. Dominica could now influence and shape educational progress, but very little happened. The primary system continue to develop. The high schools became stagnant.The last one to be established was in 1936 (SMA). 37 years passed before the next one, the PSS was established. By 1978, the curriculum at the primary was now being driven by the Common Entrance Examinations to the detriment of all else. The same thing could be found at the secondary schools. The entire curriculum was driven by foreign external examinations. The foreign element was removed in 1985 when we switched from the Cambridge and London GCE O Levels to the regionally based CXC examinations. But the GCE A Levels still continue to dictate the curriculum at the post-secondary level.In 1998, CXC began to test pilot its own A Levels known as CAPE, which will soon replace the English-based GCE A Levels. The School computer program and Examinations The CXC and the GCE curriculum dictate the locus and focus of secondary education in Dominica. These exams cater for the 30-40% of the ability range of secondary students. The entire curriculum was driven by foreign external examinations. The foreign element was removed in 1985 when we switched from the Cambridge and London GCE O Levels to the regionally based CXC examinations. But the GCE A Levels still continue to dictate the curriculum at the post-secondary level.In 1998, CXC began to test pilot its own A Levels known as CAPE, which will soon replace the English-based GCE A Levels. The HSC, LSC and GCE dominated the curriculum of secondary schools since the 1880s. The failure rates were very high at both the O and A Levels. It was also a drain on the scarce resources of the region. The minimum of 5 O Level subjects were ask to move into the sixth form and five subjects were needed of which 2 must be at A Level for university entry. The Caribbean was influenced by educational and curriculum developments in North America and Eur ope, especially Britain.Revolutionary curricular changes in maths and science were being undertaken in the USA as a result of the Russian success in Sputnik I. In the U. K, the Nuffield Foundation invested heavy in a science development project. In 1969-70, the West Indian Science Curriculum Innovation Project (WISCIP) began at St. Augustine, UWI, and Trinidad. It was a new approach with emphasis on enquiry and experimentation, understanding and constructive thinking. This was introduced in the DGS and the other high schools of the time. During that same period New maths was introduced in the schools curriculum.All five of the secondary schools in Dominica adopted it. The Convent High School had their first O Level candidates in 1971, and the DGS in 1972. Results in all Caribbean schools were not so good at first because of the unfamiliarity with the new approaches and topics such as inverses, identities, algebra of sets and matrices, decimalisation and metrification, vectors, ine qualities and topology. At first most of the schools used the School Mathematics Project (SMP) books, but these were replaced by the Joint Schools Project (Caribbean edition) series, as part of the CEDO/UNESCO/UWI Caribbean Mathematics Project.The CXC was established in 1972 to serve the nation Caribbean. The process took over 10 years. The CXC was to replace the GCE exams. It would develop syllabi, conduct exams and routine certificates. This was a form of asserting cultural and intellectual independence from our colonial past and from Britain. Politically, the Caribbean has eschewed integration. There was the West Indian Federation as colonies of Britain (1958-1962). It ended in failure due to insularity, nationalism and dependency.With independence, the nations can dictate their educational goals and match these to national needs. In Dominica, we have not had a long history of educational reforms established in law. In 1949 an Education Act was passed to regulate and govern the sector. This was changed in 1997 when the new Education Act was passed. This was part of an attempt to harmonise education legislation in the Eastern Caribbean. In 1995 the Basic Education Reform Project was launched (BERP). The Project had three main objectives 1. to strengthen the management and planning capacity of the Ministry, 2.to enhance the quality of education, and 3. to expand and conserve school places. Economically, we live in an interdependent world, a orbicular village. We are partners bargaining from a position of weakness. Unequal terms of trade, toilsome foreign debts, trade deficits and balance of payment problems deplete our resources so that our educational budgets are severely constrained. In general (1999 2004), Dominica spends about 17% of its recurrent budget on education, 1-2% on materials and supplies and about 80% on personal emoluments. New Curriculum Developments.Primary schools follow a curriculum, which has recently been retreaded by the Curriculum Development Unit (CDU). Schools have been provided with curriculum guides for English Language, Mathematics and General Science for Grades K to 6. Curriculum guides for Social Studies, Mathematics, Science and English Language were to become available in September 1999 for grades K to 6. A curriculum guide for Social Studies has been prepared for Form 1 at the secondary level. Workbooks for Grades k to 3 for English were to have been made available from September 1999.In addition a curriculum guide for wellness and Family Life covering primary and secondary age ranges is being monitored and supported in schools. A draft national policy for this was presented to Cabinet in August 1998 but has not yet been officially approved. The CDU has planned to review Music, PE, Art and Craft, and Agriculture in 2001 as well as to start writing and production of support materials for pupils and teachers. The revised primary schools curriculum appears to be appropriate at the national level. The main problem appears to be in its delivery.The main need at the primary level for curriculum development is in relation to adapting the teachers guides for multigrade teaching and provision of tell activities for all subjects and all classrooms. Dominica does not have a field of study Curriculum and therefore, the curriculum de facto is determined by each school and in practice is closely related to the requirements of the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) other external examinations and higher ability students. A balance needs to be struck between the academic and practical skills education in the secondary sector in any future national curriculum.The Ministry of Education has outlined the following process to generate at the promulgation and implementation of the National Curriculum (NC) National Curriculum Committee (NCC) established in school year 1999/2000 NCC reviews existing curriculum locally and regionally Under the NCC, Subject Teams and Subject Areas are established Development of Syllabi, and Curriculum Guides in Core Subject Areas Curriculum development of Staff/Subject Team Members Resource Provision First enlist National Curriculum in Core Subject Areas Review of muster Curriculum Development of Curricula in other subject areas.Establishment of National Norms and Standards for all subjects Piloting of National Curriculum in a cross-sectional of schools Promulgation of National Curriculum by Minister of Education theatrical role by all schools of the National Curriculum as of September 2003 The Secondary Education Support Project (SESP) had been working with the Curriculum Development Unit (CDU) to write and pilot a revised curriculum for Forms 1 to 3 in the core subjects of English, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies, incorporating activities for average and below average ability pupils.Drafts of curriculum guides for Form 1 have been completed and were made available to schools in September 1999. All the guides for the four core subjects were made available in 2001. The CDU also has completed work in Music, Art, Craft, and Agriculture. However, the major curriculum need resides in the consideration of a curriculum which will meet the needs of all students academic, technical/vocational, aesthetic, spiritual, moral and for citizenship and fulfill the ambitions set out in the 1997 Education Act. This would be especially so when oecumenic Secondary Education is achieved.