Rivers: Students still have poor literacy skills
Tara Rivers, Minister of Education, Employment and Gender Affairs
(CNS): Some students are leaving school “without obtaining the literacy levels they require” to contribute to society, Education Minister Tara Rivers said in a message marking World Literacy Day. She said improving literacy standards continues to be one of the highest priorities for the local education system but said changes to that system were needed “to ensure that the literacy needs of all students are put first”.
“Literacy enables all of us to create sustainable societies, allowing for lifelong learning which enables individuals to make choices that promote economic growth through employment, gender equality, and social development,” she said. “Over the years we have seen gains in literacy learning. However, there still remains a segment of students who leave our schools without obtaining the literacy levels they require to contribute fully to the development and sustainability of our society.”
While not explaining what it entails, she said that the Cayman Islands Teaching and Learning multi-year plan was a critical step for the ministry to redouble efforts to build upon the strengths of the system. The strategy, Rivers added, would also provide educators with “the tools and objectives they require to ensure that all our students achieve their full potential and achieve at the highest international standards”.
The latest criticism of education standards comes in the wake of her comments during an address to teachers ahead of the start of the academic year, when there was little praise for education staff, despite significantly improved exam results. Over the last three years, the number of Year 12 students gaining 5 or more high level passes including maths and English has jumped from around 39% to 64%, according to DES and ministry figures.
A baseline inspection of all Cayman Islands government schools last year was conducted by consultants from the UK with no experience at all inspecting government schools anywhere, a choice the minister recently defended.
The education ministry has stated that it will be releasing the findings of both the baseline inspections and a review of the education governance by consultants KMPG.
International Literacy Day Message by Minister of Education – 8th Sept. 2015
Category: Education, Local News
It a ok honrubble minista mi gets bi wid jus streeet tak wen mi angin wid ma homies
All you losers looking to blame Tara because your kids aren’t learning.. That’s rich.
When you have your own people bitching when someone returns from school overseas and they speak without your patois, you folks say they’re ‘uppity’. When you let your children speak patois without also teaching them to speak properly, they’ll never recognize the words they need to read. But you’d hate for them to be uppity. (we call it educated)
Imagine that…
Teach your children to speak without that stupid sounding slang (patois) and they will get farther than you could ever go.
Actually, I can’t imagine that those types are here reading these stupid comments anyway…
I do not blame Tara…I blame the dunb as@ parents.
Insread of blaming the parents why not introduce FREE literacy coaching to adults. They may then be in a better place to help their children and more importantly appreciate the beauty and necessity of reading.
Well we live in a blame culture. There is always someone else to blame and I like it that way, else I might have to take a good look in the mirror.
Anonymous 9:33am – Good point.
And no one should be blaming anyone, just get the F%*! on with it!! It is YOUR future and YOUR responsibility. You had them, now help them to become prosperous effective adults.
Lets just keep all comments mainstream shall we. No boat rocking allowed here. All is well. The system works perfectly well.
Quite frankly, while I am sure that Minister Rivers can read and write, listening to her 1st campaign meet ups, she sounds as if she could use some further education on proper sentencing formatiom and 83rd usage. The situation is that while she may very well in fact be highly educated, she is in over her head with what is her charge. She is trying to make herself noticed, but while doing so, she is really relaying how incompetent she really is in all of the major issues and the running of her respective Ministerys.
You mean ministries? That’s pretty rich, bro. Have a good look over your submission again.
A eureka moment. Literacy starts with the parents
how is tara still a minister???…oh yeah… this is cayman…….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Because she is great at it! We need more like her.
No disrespect to the lady meant but her skills lie elsewhere.
8 52?
Staff know ……should be staff knows
A singular noun needs the singular verb knows…..plural noun then a plural verb….boys go…..girls run….teachers teach.
Literacy, grammar, etc….where have you been?
Certainly you were not taught by ole Caymanian teachers that had us reading at age five!
Absolute nonsense! I LOVE IT when a smart arse about grammar gets it wrong. Think about it:
8:52 He/She wrote, “…how come her staff know nothing about it?”
If ‘staff’ is replace by ‘they’ as it could be, it becomes, “…how come they know nothing about it?”
Both are perfectly correct because ‘staff’ is a plural noun – you idiot!
“Replaced”: Past tense of replace
“Owned”: To be made a fool of; To make a fool of; To confound or prove wrong
What a sad , pathetic piece of work you are. You spotted the typo and felt the need to show off that you can read.
Actually, “replaced” is the past tense of the verb, “TO replace” but please don’t let that spoil your day.
“Replaced” would not in that sense be the “past tense” but rather it is the participle in the present passive used in a conditional phrase. By the way there is not a “past tense” in English, there are many past tenses, but since you use inane terms like “owned” I suspect that is beyond you.
And by that the smart-XXXX who thought it was a past tense has been “owned”.
Sorry, but you are the one who is an idiot. “Staff” is singular, just like a “herd” of cows or a “pack” of dogs. Just because you can replace them in a sentence with “they” doesn’t make them plural.
“Staff” may either be a singular or a plural noun.
It’s great when Caymanians argue about grammar. It’s like Snow White’s dwarves having a high jump competition.
How do you know they are Caymanians? Your comment is racist. There are many highly educated Caymanians.
Yeah, I wish people would follow the rules for escalating internet grammar fights. After the grammar corrections, you’re supposed to use the caps lock. Then, and only then, can you start with the name-calling.
What do you expect when the Minister has reading difficulties? She can only read the bits of the Bible that suit her politically.
Make the public schools available to all children, regardless of parental immigration status at no cost. If we can get a higher percentage of higher income students it will benefit all the students. Presently, nearly all high income earners, Caymanian and expat both, send their children to private schools. This means only those who cannot afford to send their kids to prep or CIS go to John Grey. I am Caymanian and pay nearly $1100 per month to NOT send my child to John Grey. I am not spending that money because I want to send him to a private school, it is because I do not want to send him to public.
Of course that is true, would be the best answer and would comply with the Government’s human rights obligations. But politically it will never get through the “might it cost me votes?” test.
I think you will find that those who send their kids to private school will continue to do so even if they were allowed to go for free elsewhere. Biggest mistake CIG ever made and Caymanians are paying for it.
All the positive discrimination policies in Cayman (and there are plenty of them in education, immigration and practically everything) whilst on the face of it appear favorable to Caymanians are in reality causing divisiveness and only serve to increase racial tension with the expats. BIGGEST mistake CIG ever made was to introduce all these positive discrimination policies as the simple fact is, before they existed, the tensions and troubles we now experience don’t exist. The old style of teaching in Cayman worked. Pupils left school literate and were able to take up responsible positions at work. The complete opposite is happening now, and yes Caymanians and everybody is paying for it.
After being very vocal in my support of Ms Rivers in the past, I remain most disappointed in her abilities now. I guess it only goes to prove the point that you can get as much education as you want but it doesn’t mean you can do the job.
Get real. While there are foreign schools from where the expats are from that are poor institutes, until you tame these zoo’s that we call schools, you could open the doors to the expats, but most will never enroll their children
The majority of Caymanians that can afford to send their children to private school do so as the goverment school has a poor delerivance of education, and there are serious criminal acts going on in the schools.
The school system has effectively Ghettoized Caymanian Children whose parents do not have the means to pay for a private education. Its an absolute disgrace that sells these kids down the River (grammar police – did I just make a pun?)
Some of the things that Caymanian parents are paying for when they do pay for private education are:
1. For their children not to be influenced by a bunch of rude boy wannabe gangsta kids (who are only imitating the values and behaviour at home)
2. For their children to be influenced by and to learn to compete with the children of highly educated ex-pats and like-minded Caymanians.
Remember that low income ex-pats are not allowed to have their children here – so the majority of ex-pat school children have parents who are highly educated themselves (lawyers, accountants etc) and will insist on the highest standards for their children.
We need to look for ways to re-integrate schools – here are some ideas:
1. Allow ex-pat kids to attend public school for a fee
2. To encourage ex-pats to send their kids give lower fees then the private schools and offer some scholarships to the best performing ex-pat kids
3. Sponsor scholarships to private school for some of the lowest performing Caymanian children
You honestly expect us to put our kids at risk of wanna be gangsters to help you improve Cayman education and pay for it??? I know which school you went too! Improve it yourself! Schmuck.
no my whole point was that left to their own devices – no parent with the means to prevent it would choose to have their child exposed to the kinds of problems which occur at the lowest rungs of the socio-economic ladder. Hence the current situation where anyone who can afford to sends their kids to a private school – they are being the best parents they can be.
But that does not mean that government should have policies in place which support the segregation of children who (through no fault of their own) are born into poverty or a home with other domestic problems. The main problem with continuing with this is that we are creating a breeding ground for the next generation of criminals and people who are unable to support themselves.
As with our continuous fight against mosquitoes that fight needs to be fought on several fronts – one of the fronts is removing the breeding ground i.e the ghettoized schools.
I am a parent, i am even an ex-pat – I understand the anxiety that parents have around this issue. but I genuinely believe that if this situation doesnt change that Cayman wont be a nice safe and stable place in the future which – to me – is by far the greater of the two evils i am presented with.
I understand your position, but I still disagree. If we did not treat expats so badly, exclude them, segregate them, villify them, more of them would participate on our educational system. This would benefit us all. But if you want to blame them, for what I am not sure, then fine. Stick your head in the sand.
John Gray.
I cringe daily after auditory assaults of “I seen”, ” me and her” and “more better”. .
That’s unpossible.
Dear Cringer,
Would you also like it if the whole world spoke without an accent (i.e. spoke with whatever accent you happen to have), colloquialisms didn’t exist, metaphors were banned and 9/9/2015 was the last entry date for new words into the dictionary?
Language is alive, it is evolving, it has not yet been perfected and never will be – it belongs to the people who use it and not to the grammar police.
Instead of cringing – you could try and see how beautiful and interesting these little idiosyncrasies in spoken English are.
Is it that you assume that because a person chooses to use slang words or phraseology that they are unaware of formal English sentence structure? This is likely not the case.
Remember that people use language to signal lots of other things – including their mood, their level of interest in the person they are speaking to, the power dynamic, their socio-economic status etc etc.
A quick example – If I am in a good mood and I am interested in chatting with a person I know to be Jamaican I will often open with “Wa gwan” (ok you can cringe at how lame I am – but you understand that I am attempting to signal to that person that I know something of them and their culture and I want to be friendly).
Be careful what you wish for – it would be a very bland world if everyone spoke the same.
The Mighty Battle Cat
I once fist bumped a Jamaican policeman and told him “rispek”.
I meant it respectfully but my entire family witnessed the incident and cringe collectively to this day…….
I agree with you that language evolves. Children should be taught to value their home language, and we should be respectful of home languages. Home languages are an important part of any culture.
However, educators and parents should also ensure that children can speak standard English…and can code-switch moving easily between the two dialects. I love my Caymanian English and will speak it when appropriate. I can also speak standard English, and use it as needed.
The exams should be modified to test proficiency in abbreviated texting language. Then, and only then will students begin to pass with flying colours.
Why hasn’t Hon. Rivers set the performance criteria at year 6 so that students are able to graduate at basic level of literacy?
She has boasted about the 80% pass rate in years 1 & 2 and put the performance criteria of 100% on those teachers while teachers from years 4-6 can watch that level drop from 80% to 40-50%???
Something is seriously wrong here and the teachers in years 1-2 don’t feel the unequal treatment in expectation?
What about their hard work and the lack of performance and lack of management by the principals and higher grade teachers?
Now what if she TOLD the teachers from years 4-6 that if the students despite varied students’ abilities, parents and socio-economic backgrounds were able to get 80% pass rate the decline to 40% was unacceptable and they MUST maintain that percentage? Isn’t that fairer to teachers in grades 1-3 and also the teachers at the secondary level?
At least certain teachers will never have to be assessed on performance and probably subject to an increase in salary too.
I taught my children at home.
Yes most children in developed countries start school with a basic understanding of number and letter form. Sadly in Cayman for many reasons this is not the case. They have difficulty even stringing a sentence together. Emphasis needs to be put on parenting and child interactions including how to read to children. Nursery staff need training and indeed checking their own literacy competences before being given employment. Schools are faced with an impossible task if the early years are not rich in exposure to books.
I really did not waste time reading the entire article written pertaining to the minister and her views on the education system. Say what they want about Rolston Anglin I will always give my support towards him of recognizing and acknowledging some of the shortcomings in the Cayman Islands education system. what is wrong in our system is that there are too many children who has learning differences and they are not highly recognized and the accommodations that will assist these students are not implemented in our education system. as a parent with a young man who has learning differences had I not come to the United States after recognizing that he had learning challenges I think my son would have fallen behind or maybe have been in the same situation many of our young people a special meals are in honor Island. when I was in school students like myself and my son were labeled as distracted kids bad kids disruptive kids. after coming here to the United States for college I recognize that I too have learning differences. The college that I presently attend was kind enough to send me to an educational psychologist who tested me and help me confirm that I had learning differences and not just the fact that I was being disruptive or could not get certain subjects accomplished in school. So I see I think this is the short coming in our educational system my son was also tested by an educational psychologist there and keep mine on the kindness of Rolston Anglin because he recognizes the shortcomings in the system. and everyschool in the US student have what are called IEP s or 504 that accommodation that Are mandated by federal law certain accommodations it must allow for each student with learning differences. these plans are then passed on to the teachers who implement these accommodations into their classroom setting for the students to assist with learning. I think this is one of the main problems they have an education and her island. student learn differently and the traditional old classroom setting of everyone sitting down reading and being quiet for just listening to the teacher does not work anymore. as a matter of fact I don’t think it really works for a very very long time.
They have IEPs here too, but some teachers don’t look at them because they don’t have time to or they haven’t the extra help to implement them. This year however, they have employed more support staff and SENCOs to ensure teachers are referring to the IEPs and interventions are put in place. But yes, I agree that previously SEN children were not being supported enough, but not because the teachers didn’t want to help, but because they did not have enough resources, which is the fault of the department of education. Children are put on special needs phases depending on the severity of their needs and they are assessed, but previously once the assessment was done, nothing was put in place to deal with it. Hopefully this year things will start to change.
“Some students are leaving school “without obtaining the literacy levels they require” to contribute to society, Education Minister Tara Rivers ”
Sorry minister, but what does this mean? Shouldn’t every student reach “appropriate literacy levels to contribute to society” by say year 8? Why are they allowed to leave school?
How do they get to “leave” school? Did we pass them all the way to graduation and done them an injustice? Did they drop out of school and parents were not held accountable? Do they require some sort of learning disability support? Are the teachers not effective?
How can your ministry allow them to leave and integrate into society without ensuring they are able to communicate at a grade 8 level at a minimum?
How are you failing them?
Maybe the good minister should step up and work with some of the literacy programmes that are ongoing in schools…you know, putting your money where your mouth is…on the other hand I would prefer the kids to talk properly rather than spout BS the whole time, so maybe not such a good idea.
“You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.” George W. Bush
You can’t teach a child who don’t want to learn
What a cop-out!
Every child wants to learn but they need the tools to do so.
Doesn’t.
Interesting the Minister thinks “Through the launch of the 2015-2019 Teaching and Learning Strategy, and by building upon public-private partnerships, the Government is committed to working with all stakeholders to provide an environment that supports and celebrates success in literacy”. Now this is just a guess but I am thinking that working in partnership means working with your own staff also as I think they may be stakeholders too. Instead the woman seems to have alienated the majority of the teaching profession.
What a revelation! I mean its not like we haven’t known this for bloody years already is it? How about doing something constructive instead of paying us all this lip service?
typical tara….so many words…so little of substance….
Who is she cribbing from this time , another fantacist? – to “ensure that ALL our students achieve at the highest international standards” is such a ridiculous statement we can only laugh at her.
WOW, shocking….not really is it. SMH.
Wot is her tocing abbowt toodey?
When will Rivers release the KPMG report warts and all as promised?
Which version would you like?
Like the poster above said, let’s go back to vocational training. Not everyone can have high literacy skills. Some children learn by doing.
Does the Cayman Islands Teaching and Learning multi-year plan include ways to up skill nursery staff so that our children are not arrive to school with absolutely no idea of “literacy”?
“Literacy” simply means the ability to read and write. EVERYONE (without a mental disability) should leave school with the ability to read and write – it is so basic that I know 10 year olds who are already completely fluent. There is no room in the vocations either for people who are illiterate. We are not asking for university level maths or the ability to comprehend the artistic depths of great literature – we are speaking about basic reading and writing. Literacy or lack thereof completely limits the ability of any person to interact with the modern world – they can not use the internet, they can not follow written instructions, they can not take care of their own legal and financial affairs, they can not enjoy a book and they are completely unemployable. Essentially without literacy you are dooming that young person to a particularly narrow set of opportunities in their life – anything less than 100% literacy rates for school leavers is unacceptable.
Totally agree, see my post above.
Now that I think about it, this may be something entrenched in our history which we find normal. In our country it may be normal to have a certain percentage of children leave school illiterate.
The fact that We, Caymanians as a whole, have elected politicians (who would fail any basic literacy test) for more than 30 years, made them honorable and fathers of houses, is a testament to the fact that we believe literacy is not necessarily important.
These same politicians are downright anti-intellectual and anti-academic. I remember a couple of years ago when OAM was offering a generous scholarship to Bishop’s University in Montreal, and one particular dinosaur MLA ridiculed it, asking “Why would a Caymanian want to go up there in the cold?”
And I am from a noble profession recognised in the UK for decades, yet our politicians frown upon it and refuse to recognise it, preferring instead vague US and Canadian qualifications that are not set to anywhere near the same standard. So I have no choice but to start all over and obtain either those Canadian/US qualifications, or local qualifications both of which are not recognised in the UK (we are a British territory aren’t we? Naturally, I would like to use my British passport and this qualification to explore employment in the UK one day – I am sure I can’t be the only one – so why are British qualifications being sneered at here in Cayman? It makes no sense). How can people with this attitude possibly be construed as looking after Caymanians best interests?
I’m sorry but I find it very difficult to believe that children leave school and can’t read or write at all. As for financial affairs, I knew an older man that his mother didn’t send to school so he couldn’t read or write but you couldn’t fool him when it came to money. Personally, I believe that once you can read, everything else will fall into place. You can easily teach yourself like my father did. He had a 6th grade education but you would never guess that because of his vast knowledge from reading.
Literacy is reading! If you can’t read, then you can’t teach yourself to read by reading. See what I mean??
As for the argument that in the past it was possible to have a full life and a range of opportunities without being either literate or numerate – I don’t doubt you. But in case you haven’t noticed the world has changed significantly in the last 30 years – technology has driven this and to interact with technology, you need to be able to read and write/type – MINIMUM.
Gone are the days when to be successful – you only have to compete with people in your geographical vicinity. The speed with which technology is facilitating remote workplaces is astonishing – your son will not be competing with Charles from West Bay for work in 15 years, he will be competing on price and skills with Karl in Poland and Anjali in Mumbai. Lets get our head out of the sand and make sure that every child in Cayman gets a head start on the rest of the world – God knows we have the $$ to give them the leg up they deserve.
Really Tara, when did you wake up and realize this???? The whole country knew this for years!!!! Thank you for joining us now!!!
There is no excuse for not being literate following several years education. An illiterate is still an illiterate even after a vocational course, and that should not be accepted in our society.
Vocational training? Never!!
In the interest of joined up thinking was this “Cayman Islands Teaching and Learning multi-year plan” produced in light of the reports completed by the Independent Schools Inspectors, Mary Bowermans separate team, the KPMG report etc. Or has she just gone off on a tangent throwing solutions at problems she knows nothing about?
More to the point if this report was written before the recent inspections, has it now been amended to take into consideration the findings of those assessments or did the assessments state what they already knew i.e literacy in Cayman is a problem.
Perhaps The Minister would like to explain why her own staff have not been introduced to the so called “Cayman Islands Teaching and Learning multi-year plan”. If it is so critical how come her staff know nothing about it? In fact thinking about it surely they should have had an input?
Total lack of respect for teachers today. Be careful because we keep losing some great teachers because of blatant disrespect and lack of empathy for their difficult job. When we have no teachers left who will teach the thousands of kids in the public system? Tara? Mary? Shirley, oh she gone far away now so she won’t be helping. RESPECT your teachers across these islands and LISTEN to their concerns.
they don’t feel the need to have respect. There is an entitlement to jobs if you are local and the Caribbean teachers are hardly likely to complain in case they rock the boat and do not get their contract renewed.
Literacy cuts through all the curriculum and every teacher, educational professional etc should have responsibility for it. It should not exist in a vacuum.
Why are your surprised. Par for the course that certain staff are excluded and a good example is the farcical Independent Schools Inspectors report not being shared with those who need to know. Also why, since the reports were available since June were they only recently given sight of them. Surely all the planning teachers have made now has to be revised in light of these reports.