Keisha Hill, Staff Reporter

YET ANOTHER secondary school principal has lashed out at the education ministry over its placement of students following the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT).

Kenneth Letts, principal of Lennon High School in Mocho, Clarendon, has blasted the ministry, while describing the low GSAT scores of students entering his school in September as a travesty.

According to Letts, each year, he is faced with the same problem. "This year, we got 79 students who have not passed one (GSAT) subject. The scores are way below 50, and at the end of the day, we are expected to turn them around."

Of the 162 students who will don Lennon's burgundy and white uniform for the first time in September, 70 failed to score a 50 average, while 38 barely passed or did not pass mathematics or English, the principal claimed.

Negative image

Lennon, a recently upgraded high school, is trying to shake off the negative image pinned to these schools, but is facing an uphill task based on the quality of the students it is receiving.

Letts said it was unfair to compare the traditional schools with the non-traditional ones, given the level of the students they had to work with.

He said, while Lennon has no problem taking the students despite their poor performance at the GSAT, the school found it disheartening that when the students excelled, it was not highlighted.

"Every time you hear an argument, you hear that our schools are not doing well. We are not against taking these children. We are saying that when we make an input into what we get, the accolades are given to the traditional schools," he said.

Letts said with a population of more than 1,200 students in an area built for 550, the school still managed to do well.

He added that despite the archaic furniture, teaching aids and bathroom facilities, Lennon had churned out quite an impressive number of students.

The school has done fairly well at the Caribbean Examination Council's Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate.

"We have passes from as early as third form in social studies and integrated science. In fact, many students leave school with up to 11 subjects.

"We were not doing well in mathematics traditionally; how-ever, last year, we did very well. If you look at where we are placed on the scale when compared to other non-traditional high schools, we were 15 and 45 in mathematics and English, respectively, out of a total of 80 schools," he said.

Random approach

Unlike some schools that streams students based on their ability, Letts uses the random approach and allows students to "sort themselves out academically".

Those who are falling behind, he said, are placed in a special class until they are brought up to the level at which they can be placed back into the mainstream.

"They are called empowerment students. Sometimes they do not even recognise a letter, but we are asked to take them. That teacher who sits with them does so like a primary school teacher, where they are taught the basics - reading, writing and arithmetic," Letts said.

keisha.hill@gleanerjm.com

Lennon's GSAT Intake

Subjects Average High Low