Empathy for O/L kids | Daily News

Empathy for O/L kids

The GCE O/Level examination getting underway at this time is a small miracle indeed. The young people, whose futures would depend on this crucial test of rudimentary academic skills and book-learning, have gone through much. They have had their education interrupted on multiple occasions, and have basically undergone the trauma of repeated periods of anxiety during the height of the COVID pandemic.

After that the country plunged headlong into the economic meltdown and the kids were faced with more uncertainty. On top of the curfew etc. they have had to face excruciating transportation problems and power cuts at home.

No generation in the recent past have faced the challenges these kids are facing. The sympathies of the entire country should be with them.

However, it’s not as if the teachers have had it all that easy either. While they too faced the difficulties resulting from the pandemic, they have had added pressure from unions that were determined to bring the teacher unions out on strike, O/Ls or no O/Ls. The working lives of these teachers are not enviable at all. They have had to get used to online teaching amidst issues such as bad internet signals due to power cuts etc.

They are blamed however at the drop of a hat because it is easy to blame them and ignore the vagaries of the system that is under tremendous strain due to the economic difficulties the country is undergoing. Perhaps it is reasonable to reconsider the basics of the entire system of schooling in this country. Home schooling should be a more readily available option for parents who are able to afford this alternative, and have time to spend on the task of educating their kids in a residential environment.

What good has education done if schooling has encouraged young men and women to eschew traditional agriculture etc.? These are the trends that have resulted in some of the currently felt social pressures that have escalated to a point at which the country is facing the dangers of systemic breakdown.

The young people who are facing the prospect of doing the O/Levels amid much economic and political upheaval are caught up in all of the turmoil that recent events and transitions have engendered. In many ways, facing such tumultuous events so early in their lives has made these O/L kids mature beyond their years in many ways.

They are compelled to be politically sensitized, whether they like it or not. This fact seems to be obvious when considering the fact that most of the kids that are involved in various recent protests are campus students or recent campus-leavers.

They should not have to shoulder the responsibility of trying to make the country a better place by addressing the political leadership, but they are forced to do so due to the simple fact that the system has mostly buckled under the pressures of an economy that is ailing.

In this context the fact that the O/Level examinations are being held at all under the current circumstances is salutary. At least the authorities have succeeded in keeping the future prospects of these young people alive, despite the excruciating difficulties the country is going through. This is no mean achievement under the current conditions. The authorities in charge of education have to negotiate a veritable obstacle course. There were the rumours that the exams would not be held because the dollar shortage meant that there would be no writing paper, as there was a shortage of imported writing materials. But somehow these issues were addressed and the exams became a reality.

There isn’t a proper cohesive educational policy when things are in such flux, and there have been several ministers of education in a period of months. It is a fact that a good majority of the kids who sit for exams eventually plan to leave the country, but the fact that at least they would be able to arm themselves with the requisite certificates to entertain that prospect is something positive among all of the anxieties that face both the children and the adults of today.

Some political busybody types have said that there should be no ministries other than for economy in these times, but these types of suggestions underestimate the spirit of the people of this country that is indomitable.

The teachers and students involved in the O/Ls are not quitters. They have indicated that society is capable of coming up with answers to the most vexing of problems of all actors concerned in a given endeavour, if everyone works towards the same goal, with a sense of purpose. Unionists may have their own utopian desires, but they too are often political animals.

They can couch their agendas in all types of rousing speech but the kids, the parents and the teachers are aware that the world calls for slightly more practical solutions. A salute in response to their determination is in order. 


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