Church schools reveal stark contrasts in standards
(CNS): Parents paying for their children’s education at three of Grand Cayman’s leading private church schools are getting very different results for their money. Triple C has once again been judged ‘weak’ in its latest inspection, while Cayman Prep was graded ‘good’ and only a few steps away from an ‘excellent’ rating. First Baptist Christian School, which is for primary age children only, has not improved on its ‘satisfactory’ grade from its last inspection in 2020, according to the latest set of reports from the school inspectors from the Office of Education Standards.
There was no cause for concern at Cayman Prep, which caters to children from kindergarten to Year 13. Not only was the school judged ‘good’ on its overall performance, many areas were ‘excellent’, with the school improving from ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ in some cases. No criteria was judged less than ‘good’ with specific ‘excellent’ grades outnumbering the ‘good’.
However, the overall performance of Triple C School, which teachers pre-school through Grade 12, had not progressed, and ‘weak’ areas that were identified in the previous inspection, such as the curriculum and safety issues, had not improved. “The school does not have the capacity to improve,” the inspectors said in the damning report. “Of serious concern was the non compliance with the Cayman Islands Child Protection Policy and regulations.”
The quality of leadership was also judged ‘weak’, as the inspectors said senior leaders did not provide the drive and direction needed to secure the improvements needed.
“Systems for assessing students’ attainment were weak across all phases other than the Early Years, where it was good. Teachers and students did not have the information needed to progress learning,” the report found. The number of performance standards judged to be ‘satisfactory’ has increased since the last inspection but only a handful of the areas inspectors assessed were judged ‘good’, such as the children’s behaviour.
While First Baptist had moved forward and made progress from ‘weak’ to ‘satisfactory’ across several areas, the inspectors concluded that overall the school was still just ‘satisfactory’ and needs to “reduce inconsistencies in the quality of teaching”. They said that progress was needed in a number of important basic areas, such as the students’ attainment and progress in English, mathematics and science, as well as teaching and learning and the curriculum.
See the latest reports on the OES website or in the CNS Library.
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Category: Education, Local News, Politics, Private Sector Oversight
The difference:
Religious schools indoctrinate children into their cult and teach them to believe in ghosts rather than think
Public schools actually educate children to things like science, math, history…
Some argue that Christian indoctrination centers are not as hateful as the Muslim Madrassas, unless, of course, your child is gay, or atheist, or Pagan, or . . . .
The public schools here are worse than the private church ones!
How could this happen in the private sector.
Who grants the schools licenses to operate?
Churches should teach religion schools are for education. The two should not be mixed. In my view not enough diversity when it comes to teachers at TC. Most teachers are Jamaican. Parents hard earned money going to waste.
“The school does not have the capacity to improve,“Of serious concern was the non compliance with the Cayman Islands Child Protection Policy and regulations.”
The quality of leadership was also judged ‘weak’the senior leaders did not provide the drive and direction needed to secure the improvements needed.
So, children aren’t protected or educated, persons in charge neither have the drive nor direction to improve YET the school remains open.
There always was a stark contrast in the quality of the church schools! This was the case 30+ years ago when I was in school. Prep and Catholic have always churned out the top performing students….external exams prove it!. Triple C has always (falsely) believed that they’ve churned out the top performing students. 😉
The only thing Canada & Cayman have in common are the first two letters in their Names . Spent many years in both , Not even Close !
Also both full of Canadians.
Canadian banks too.
Of course , you guys are absolutely right , I forgot about the banks , And the Canadians ! getting old sucks man . My comment is Wrong .
Canadian education at the primary level is laughable. Way below the public schools in Cayman and cannot even fathom to touch the entrance gate of any private school no matter how much the school fails to make the grade.
If churches can teach fairytales in schools Monday through Friday then science should be taught in churches on Sundays.
Well if there was no God, we wouldn’t have atheists.
Nobody is born hateful and religious, despite what colonialist’s antiquated tomes would have you believe. You were born an atheist. You just got indoctrinated into your conveniently geographically-assigned cult at birth. Thank your parents for being weak-willed.
What’s up? Did you just get baptized in lemon juice?
Sourpuss…lol.
We’re all going to hell in someone else’s religion; what’s the point of feeling all high and mighty?
No one is being FORCED to put their children in private religious schools. Some parents (obviously not you) WANT their children to attend these schools . Why do you have to make such ignorant comments?? . Why can’t you just live and let live and respect the lawful choices of each individual?
Prep parents, brace yourselves for yet another massive increase in fees.
Class sizes are way too big so not a bad idea.
8:05, If the education is good then the market will determine the price people will pay.
Obviously people must be happy with Cayman Prep or they will not pay the ever increasing tuition fees at Cayman Prep.
Let’s not forget the market can be manipulated.
So many morons, so little time! The separation between Church and State is a tenet of the USA primarily. Remember that the founders of white America were fleeing religious persecution so why would they want religion in governance?? Please remember that the in the UK, the Head of the Church of England is also the Head of State. So it’s not a general principle of political establishments, countries or constitutions. Many Muslim countries put religion at the head of their political regimes. So it is NOT a given that there is separation between Church & State.
However, even in the USA where that principle exists (in name only because the very Church-oriented Conservative Right is very much in control of the Republican Party – or was!!) there are church-operated schools, from kindergarten to University (the venerable and respected Norte Dame as an example of the latter). I completed high school at a Methodist-related school in England and received a very good (and expensive) education but was in no way religiously brainwashed – in fact RE was not even on the advanced curriculum.
The point in the case of Triple C has less to do with it’s religious connections and more to do with low academic and sports standards.
Even when I attended the Cayman Island High School in the late 60s & early 70s, Triple C’s curriculum was known to be less advanced than CIHS.
Clearly, however, religion in schools has always been a touchy subject amongst some, and the recent outrageous allegations (more to be learned – pardon the pun) at Red Bay Primary and now these at Triple C just gives that fringe a platform!!
The separation between Church and State is a tenet of the USA primarily.
So why do the holier than thou Senate and House always start proceedings with prayers?? Religious indoctrination is alive and well in the USA, so get real bubba!
The principle of separation of Church and state is one of the most misquoted regarding the United States. There was never any government document created stating that the two should be separate. The founding fathers founded the United States on Christian principles and for good reason. And that was their intent. The term ‘separation of church and state’ was made by Thomas Jefferson in a letter to a group of Baptists in answer to their concerns that the constitution of the United States would eventually erode religious freedom. He was reassuring them that the governance structures established via the Congress and senate would not impede on the free practice of Christianity. How wrong he was. As for the comments being made by some regarding hate speech, indoctrination etc with regard to the Church, I make the following points. 1. Christianity does not promote hatred. It does promote the telling of truth. 2. God decides what truth is not individuals, our problem as human beings is that we refuse to accept that someone else gets to make the rules; which eventually leads to people making hateful statements about the Church being hateful when the Church reminds us what God says. 3. Have you ever stopped to question why it is that so called ‘free-thinkers’ who all believe the exact same thing ie ‘there is no God’ aren’t considered to be indoctrinated but the rest of us are? We are all indoctrinated. You didn’t come to your views all on your own you were influenced by your life, by observing others and by either accepting or rejecting your parents position on these matters. Many think that indoctrination into atheism makes them mentally and morally superior, and those are usually the same persons accusing the Church of thinking that it is mentally and morally superior for being indoctrinated into Christ, or the Muslim into Islam etc. your viewpoint is no different from mine. Neither of us can prove tangibly our position, you can’t prove that God doesn’t exist and I can’t prove tangibly that He does. We are both operating on faith that our beliefs are right. 4. From a statistical perspective far more people in the world believe in a god (75% believing – 25 unbelieving but varying depending on which report you accept) and of those that are unaffiliated up to 70% of those say they believe in some form of higher power but refuse to worship the higher power they believe in. So basically 7.5% of the world believes in no god at all. So you are definitely in some elite company if you think that. And the arguments put forward are that the existence of multiple religions means that it’s all made up. However, truth is truth, but if you don’t have the whole truth then you will create a hybrid vehicle to express truth (let those with understanding receive the word). But as for me and my house we will serve the Lord. His name is Jesus. I wasn’t indoctrinated into believing in Him. No one had to tell me about Him, and I took my time and studied and pursued other religious beliefs including atheism. Every road I took brought me back to Him because He revealed himself to me and I was brave and curious enough to face Him. I pray everyone reading this has the same experience.
Stop wasting your hard earned money and enroll your kids in JGHS . It is the up and up and only going from strength to strength. Forget about what you have heard in the past, it’s not the same establishment. It’s the future that is bright for JGHS.
Stop letting your pride stand in the way, no shame for this parent. Two kids enrolled and nothing but nothing but good. Thriving .
The standard of education in these private church schools is not the problem. The problem is that the churches exist. Religion is the biggest hoax of all time.
Brainwashing children since birth and poisoning their minds with nonsensical beliefs.
“I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.”
Stephen F. Roberts
There are many that would disagree with you. There are choices in this world and there are schools to attend that are not religious. Printing a quote doesn’t make you right either for every pro atheist quote there is one to contradict it. You may wish to believe religion is a hoax and that is fine, but your opinion is just that, an opinion nothing more.
Religion is nothing more than a hoax and a way to control people. It’s a nice story, but that is all it is. A story.
So many people on here speaking absolute rubbish and trying their best to sound intelligent doing so. The notion that Church run schools are spending all day talking about God and not teaching academic subjects is preposterous. This article is about the quality of education delivery. Despite the many misguided comments by detractors of religious schools not one of you, not one, can present one piece of evidence that church run schools are sacrificing their educational delivery at the expense of teaching religious doctrine. These things sound intelligent to the uninformed. However they are baseless from the education perspective (ie. Curriculum establishment and delivery) and simply masking an intent to attack religion by any means necessary. The issue at hand is the strength of leadership and the quality of teaching and learning. Unless you can present real evidence that these are being affected by religion your comments are useless. Show me in the inspection report for any school where it says that religion is in the way of education delivery. Not one of them says anything even remotely close to that. Do you have evidence that the schools are hiring persons simply because of their religion and not attempting to hire the best persons (whether they succeed at this or not) for the various roles in the schools? Do you understand what percentage of the day is spent on religion as opposed to teaching the academic subjects. The underlying attack here is that somehow if you are religious that means you are less intelligent and that if you believe in religion you can’t believe in science. However again these views are short-sighted. The average person can name a handful of scientists. However any study of scientists that made powerful contributions to their fields and helped shape the world we live in today will reveal that many, many of them were religious. I will include only one here but you can do the search. Dr. Bennett Omalu, the subject of the movie ‘Concussion’ starring Will Smith, is a practicing Catholic and is credited as the first person to discover and publish findings on CTE – the brain damage that American football players suffer from too many hits to the head. This gentleman studies the brain, you can’t get much more sciency than that. As stated earlier any amount of research will reveal, just in the field of science alone (much less other fields) great minds that contributed greatly to human existence, who were religious. So stop.
Very true. There is no place for pushing religion on kids at school. And the church is responsible for most abuse and crimes against children worldwide.
But God sacrificed Himself to Himself to save us from Himself. YIKES!
It is written “suffer the children..” and apparently they do.
Feeble attempt at a pun, 2:48. At the time of the King James translation of the Bible, so beloved even today, the word “suffer” meant “allow” or “let” as we would say today.
Spin it however you want. “Christians” are great at it.
It’s not spin. The writer is simply telling you what the word ‘suffer’ used in that context at the time that it was written, means. One aspect of ‘spin’ is purposely taking something out of context to create a different meaning, like if you were to say, make a feeble attempt at a pun in response to an article on CNS by purposely taking an already established and widely understood quote out of context.
Thank you, 3:21. I was wondering whether to reply but decided it probably was not worth it. BTW, though I spoke of the King James Version as being “beloved today”, I was referring to its language. I am a non believer but can still recognize the beauty of its translation. “Suffer the little children to come unto me” is a bit less flat than “let the children come here”!!!
Poster@10:56am
Don’t get you cassock in a twist ladies, I know perfectly well the meaning of “suffer” in the Bible…
As for church school fees, it is written also that there shall come a great Profit.
Nice one 7:51!!
Poster@10:56am
Church-owned schools are not-for-profits and they are audited and adhere to the same law that other not-for-profits adhere to. Try again.
St Ignatius is not, along with some others.
I really detest the way religious organizations have their tentacles in formal education.
Some may do a good job, but there’s always that underlying element of indoctrination.
So what, indoctrination begins at home. You do not have to send your kids to a religious school.
Say what? You don’t have to send your kids there, but the ones who make the decision and the ones who suffer aren’t the same people.
Corporate special interests too.
The cash siphons and the poor value for money on education from greed mongerers running these schools abroad and domestic (pulling the stakeholder card) is beyond unethical, to put it nicely.
Any religion needs to be taken out of schools.
As a CCC alumni this is embarrassing for me. When I went to register my first daughter, I was asked to produce a police record and I found this to be very offensive and never did continue the process. I guess in a way asking for that police clearance was a blessing to me and my child.
Dear Triple C writer,
I must say you have a great imagination. There is no way this school asked you for a Police Record when registering your child for school. I am sure this not a requirement.
Listen to me numbnuts- the school DID ask me for a Police Clearance and I have no reason to tell anything but the truth. If you would read what I wrote, you would see that I did not infer that it was a requirement- I said that I was asked to produce one.
I graduated from Triple C, with a good education- so it would be obvious that Triple C would have been my first choice to enroll my child. Do I believe that the school has declined- I absolutely do believe this.
Dear Triple C writer,
I can confirm that you are the world’s greatest lier. As per the Triple C School admission requirements via their website, it clearly states that an Immigration clearance (let me break it down for you genius) which means please state if you are Caymanian or another nationality and if you are another nationality (not from Cayman) you will have to provide work permit documents etc.
Also, I didn’t state in my comment in regards to your education. Glad to know that you graduated from Triple C School with a good education as it made you it into the person you are today. Your opinions are your own but think again in regards to Triple C School declining in regards to other schools. I’m sure that Triple C school is one of the best schools on island and parents who send their kids don’t have to worry about them trafficking drugs or experiencing drugs like Cayman Prep, JGHS, Catholic School etc.
I also never said that this was recent- in fact, it was in 2005 that this occurred. So I am hopeful that their policies did change as I have had no reason to revert and check.
And if you think that there has never been or will never be drugs in CCC- best you think again.
Let’s be honest. Triple C teaches children that the Noah’s ark story really happened, life doesn’t evolve, the Earth is 6,000 years old, and invisible demons go around jumping inside people. Triple C is not a real school. It’s a factory that takes impressionable children and turns them into crazy adults that society then has to deal with for decades.
#lame
Have you heard about red bay primary?🥶
But you probably grew up listening to fairy stories and believing in Santa Claus. Yet there is no ptsd breakout when children are told or find out it isn’t true. Do you know why?
Because Santa Claus was never expected to deliver, neatly gift-wrapped: eternal salvation, or a wonderful place we were told our loved ones all went to after they died. At no point in time was I told to pray to Santa for all of my problems to be solved. Santa doesn’t let millions of children around the world starve to death each year. He brought me some killer socks though. Jesus ain’t give me sh*t besides suffering in the name of “faith” to some foreign deity.
So yeah: are you really trying to equate the two? If so, you are part of the problem. Take a step back and look at the control that your cult has over your ability to think critically.
Yikes, take it easy their George Carlin loll, but I agree and understand your point though. People need to get real and cut the crap. Let’s love each other for f**k sake and help each other out! This world is awful because of us humans
We are pulling our child out of triple c, as soon as possible.
We should have done it sooner, as most of his friends have been moved elsewhere in the last 18 months too.
Senior leadership have been treating the children as a congregation more than as students for a while. Religion has become more important to some in leadership than education.
Very very disappointed.
Dear Writer,
I’m sorry you feel this way but good luck to your child as I am sure you are an expat anyway. Please tell all your expat friends to not register their kids for Triple C School because they can’t get their kids into any other school because of long waiting lists. Shame on you and them for using Triple C school as a hub while waiting for your child to get into another school. Oh by the way, Triple C School has produced many good students and citizens of the Cayman Islands with very good education. Just ask Mr. Samuel Rose who has a very good job and very well respected Civil Servant of our Cayman Islands Government.
I wouldnt be surprise if you are a member of Triple C. You just spewing pure shit and not focusing on improving at all. That’s why your school is so shitty and failing. At this point just cut and paste your school somewhere else away from Cayman loll.
What did you expect ?
Religion is the opposite of education.
Duh…
As a Triple C School alumnus, it is very disappointing and disheartening to witness the disarray the school has declined into and its rapid fall from grace.
Sadly, I cannot say that I am surprised given hearing of multiple poor accounts and the mismatched priorities of the most recent former principal.
Triple C School was better than this.
It never really was. Just never used to have inspections.
No you’re wrong. Triple C was always a joke 25+ years ago when I was attending prep.
Cayman Prep is traditionally Catholic.
What exactly is your point?
Can we be constructive about our future here? Just because the world is on fire does not mean you have to keep adding gasoline.
Prep is traditionally Catholic? Errrr….no.
Prep is part of the United Church of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Presbyterian/Methodist – i.e. Protestant, certainly not Catholic.
You’re thinking of St. Ignatius which has had its own problems recently.
Prep has ZERO to do with being Catholic.
It has, however, always been a phenomenal school!
Prep is Protestant, unless something has changed recently. St. Ignatius is Catholic.
19/06 @11:52am – Facts please!! Cayman Prep is not, was never and has never been affiliated with the Catholic Church. It was founded by the Presbyterian (now the United) Church and is still operated by that Church.
The St Ignatius Prep & High School next door to Cayman Prep is operated by the Catholic Church!!
Triple C was always weak.
Sadly the focus on religion overshadowed any motivation on improving the standards of education.
And recently Triple C had a real bozo as a Board Chairman.
Yep, 10:59, ex member of the Education Department!
He taught me in government school years ago. He’s barely literate but a nice guy.
There was a lively homeschool event today at Dart Park. The group was massive. Now I understand why!
WHY??? Can you explain?
Spot the public school kid…
Perhaps parents that cannot afford massive monthly fees or wish to avoid the religious BS have no choice? If local you can send your child to learn gang culture for free.
In my experience those who complain the most about those “massive” fees, amazingly, still manage to afford $70k trucks and $300k boats.
Exactly! I’m tired of um. They gets more they should, wastes it and complains. They are also the ones that tell the less fortunate to get it together and then the so call help stops their.
The Church of God branch in Canada is being labeled a right wing cult and facing fines and sanctions for defying their Covid rules. Absolutely bonkers that Cayman happily runs a 17th Century indoctrination camp in the 21st Century, while pretending it’s preparing kids for the future, or the job market.
Hello Anonymous person. You obviously did not benefit from an education. The Church in Canada is being persecuted because your government has to make someone the boogey man other then themselves. Canada should be ashamed of themselves. Kenny gets to break the rules, gets caught then sends the police helicopters and patrols to arrest a pastor. There have been no infections linked back to any of the Churches being persecuted. What are you afraid of? You have been indoctrinated by the CBC obviously.
When the Church aligns itself with people such as Alex Jones one should be concerned.
Thank you ironically anonymous Joseph person, it’s a pity your ilk cannot retaliate with your kookery hijinx against those calling a spade a spade. Appreciate your affirming misguided hatred, and repeat that the Church of God is a cult. You are proof of that.
It’s just politics, Joseph. Pay no mind to it.
Hey 18/6 @ 3:17pm – “Cayman” does NOT run Triple C School and never has. The Church of God established that school some 80 or 90 + years ago and still operates it.
Anything to criticize Cayman, eh? How’s Canada doing with educating it’s indigenous people? How are those “state schools” doing after centuries of forced separation, atrocities and human rights abuses, eh?? Perhaps you could either stay there and check up on them or simply return to do so (if you’re here in Cayman).
PS. the “Church of God” has more branches than a tree! The one you refer to in Canada may not even be connected to this one!
There is no God!
My dog is god!!!! I totally heard him say it once.
FYI :
1) Cayman is not Canada
2) Church of God is congregational, not a denomination.
3) Church of God = 1886
4) labeled right wing in Canada means you are centrist .
5) more and more everyday Canadians are standing up for their rights – probably too late, but nice to see. ~ Cdn expat, Catholic
These Islands have been governed by relics for decades so this is really not that far fetched.
I certainly would never compare The Church of God branch in Canada with Cayman Prep. Totally absurd.
It’s Triple C that’s affiliated with “Church of God” not Prep.
They are all absurd, Johnny. Have you ever seen God?
Yeah, I saw him playing on a hockey rink in Canada. He was Great.
I agree with Anonymous 3:17 pm. Separation of church and state should be 100 %. If someone wants their children to get a meaningful education, don’t send them to a religious indoctrination schoo!
Justin Trudeau has ruined Canada. Plenty of economic refugees
20/06 @ 6:18am – Hmm – seems like a lot of Justin Trudeau’s “economic refugees” found their way to Cayman!
Send them back to Canada! Cayman doesn’t need them!