( L - R ) Dixon, Molloy

Education officials are declaring that the implementation of an official policy for graduation exercises in schools across the island would be unnecessary and a waste of time and energy.

The officials were responding yesterday to suggestions made by Prime Minister Bruce Golding, last week, that he would be meeting with Education Minister Andrew Holness to formulate a policy on the excessive culture of spending on graduation ceremonies at schools in Jamaica. The prime minister said the practice was bringing unnecessary pressures on parents and should be stopped.

Unwarranted

Golding argued that many of the requirements for graduation were unwarranted, including gowns, hats and photograph packages, even at the primary- and basic-school levels, which added up to a cost of sometimes more than $8,000.

Doran Dixon, president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA), said that while he agreed with the prime minister on the basis that the practice of graduation exercises had become far too "grandiose", he believed it was a matter that could be dealt with at the domestic level and did not require any specific national policy.

"Schools have a system in place. You have a PTA (parent-teacher association) which is supposed to be part of the stakeholders' group, so it can be sorted out at that level," he said.

Feel-good exercise

He added that to put a policy in place would also require a suitable mechanism for monitoring and supervision, in addition to precise sanctions for those who do not adhere to the guidelines.

Dixon stressed that graduation functions were basically a feel-good exercise and were not part of the requirements for any school curriculum.

Nadine Molloy, president of the Jamaica Association of Principals for Secondary Schools, said that in many cases, it was the parents and students who requested the excessive functions.

"The students don't want to graduate in just their uniforms, they want the gowns and they want the fancy dresses," she said. "As a matter of fact, sometimes we have to set a guideline that says you can't wear this or you can't wear that because it costs too much."

athaliah.reynolds@gleanerjm.com