ZIZ NEWSROOM, BASSETERRE, JUNE 10, 2011 – A senior official at the Curriculum Development Unit says some parents need to change their approach towards their child’s performance at the annual Test Of Standards.
Calwyn Morton, the unit’s director, said some parents put so much pressure on their children to do well that it may harm their performance on the test.
“I guess with the desire to see their children do well they actually seem to be putting a lot of pressure on them, which I think is not necessary. What parents actually need to do is encourage them, to be their friends, and just work along with them. Help them to practice,” he said.
“Sometimes you get reports that students come out of the room crying because they couldn’t get a question right. And that should not be the case. It’s nice if you try a question, but if it did not work out it shouldn’t bring you to the point where you have to break down in tears,” he said
He said one of the purposes of the test is to show where the curriculum needs to be improved.
“It informs us, the Curriculum Development Unit of the areas where we need to reform. So we get some information from the Test of Standards to say well these are areas that we need to remediate and make some adjustments to,” Morton said.
He says parents and teachers can get together to find better ways to help children prepare for the test of standards.
“The teachers can tell the parents exactly what are their roles in terms of assisting their children. And I’m saying it is nice that they are showing that kind of interest in assisting their children but it shouldn’t be putting pressure on them and making them over-anxious,” he said.
The test of standards begins on Wednesday, June 15 with language arts, mathematics on Thursday, June 16, social studies on Tuesday, June 21, and science & technology on Wednesday June 22.