Public asked to weigh in on school inspections
(CNS): The Office of Education Standards (OES) is calling on the general public to offer input, thoughts and comments on the new schools inspection framework. The office will be holding district meetings and conducting social media polls via the government Facebook page to encourage educators, parents and community members to weigh in on plans for a new regime regarding expectation of standards in Cayman’s public and private schools.
Education remains a hot topic for government and Chief Inspector Peter Carpenter, who developed the new proposed framework based on input from members of the Educational Council, principals and school staff, said they want the public’s input.
“The idea is to provide educators, parents and community members with the standards, goals and
expectations prior to an inspection, so that all stakeholders understand and agree upon what ‘excellent’ looks like,” he said.
The framework, which is available in the CNS Library, applies to all schools and aims to organise the goals of the education system into six areas: student achievement, personal and social development, effective teaching, curriculum quality, safety and support of students, and school leadership.
During the previous PPM administration, when Tara Rivers held the education portfolio, a series of major baseline inspections were carried out that revealed some damning results regarding standards and achievements in schools. Since then, the education department has been working towards improving education standard across all schools.
The inspection regime was also considered an area that needed reform. This is among the proposals in this new document, which will be discussed at the district meetings set for the next two weeks.
The district meetings start on Wednesday, 23 May in Cayman Brac. Most are scheduled to begin at 6:00pm, with the exception of the Bodden Town meeting, which starts at 6:30 pm.
The schedule is as follows:
| Cayman Brac | Wednesday 23 May | Creek and Spot PS Lunchroom |
| West Bay | Monday 28 May | Sir John A. Cumber PS Library |
| George Town | Tuesday 29 May | John Gray HS School Hall |
| East End | Wednesday 30 May | East End PS School Hall |
| Bodden Town* | Thursday 31 May | Bodden Town PS School Hall |
| North Side | Friday 1st June | Edna Moyle PS Munley Miller Hall |
See proposed framework and the baseline reports in CNS library
Category: Education, Local News
When an inspector inspects a school and does not ask to see the register of that class inspected, how does he/she know if the difficulty children have been removed for the purposes of the inspection?
Address behaviour and you will subsequently address academic achievement. The children at public schools do whatever they want, and get away with it! How are they expected to achieve if the teacher has to stop teaching to address unruly, disrespectful, or disruptive behaviour every 5 minutes? The amount of parents showing up to inquire about their child’s academic progress is abysmal. These children don’t feel obliged to do any work, and they don’t have to! They’re promoted regardless of achievement, maturity, or social skills. These children would never be tolerated in the private schools. Observe the amount of parents that show up to PTA meetings and reporting sessions at public schools and compare that to private. Look at the percentage of teacher turnover every year. What does that tell you? Public school teachers make more than private school teachers but they still won’t stay. Inspection was not needed to figure out the issues at the schools. Ask the teachers. Teachers are not going to lie about the conditions, they have to work in them. Maybe if the local community actually valued education, they would see some changes. Institute a no tolerance policy for bullying. Require parents with students enrolled to attend reporting sessions. Retain students that are not achieving the expected standard. Hire professionals trained in education to work with special needs children. Reduce class sizes to facilitate more one on one work with the teacher. Hire supply teachers so assistant teachers aren’t expected to cover staff absences, therefore not being there to reduce the student teacher ratio in classes. Require students to be prepared with supplies for class. Create a curriculum with texts that support it. This isn’t rocket science. Or we can just pull the cover over our eyes, I mean it’s only Cayman’s future we’re talking about. I’m sure it will work itself out if we just keep doing what we’re already doing and expect different results.
It’s the Cayman way of life as you said the kids do what ever they like and get away with it. It’s the same with the adult Caymanian population they do what ever they like and get away with it. We see every Monday morning done Caymanian is dragged off to the courts , they get suspended from their jobs with pay wait a few years and then win their cases and return to work.
We need more expat teachers to scapegoat.
They certainly need less third world teachers.
“The framework was developed from input by principals and staff…….”
So the teachers tell the inspectors how to do the job?
The government sent a lot of money training a certain lady to be chief inspector of schools; after a short while she was ‘promoted’ into a ministry as chief officer and shortly afterwards buried in a job without a title in an office no-one can find.
I hope the current holder of the chief inspector’s office takes note: if you really do the job you were hired for, don’t expect to remain for very long.
Is that the one that was moved out of the Ministry because she doctored a report from an overseas consultant? If so, that has less to do with her being removed for doing her job, and more to do with her deliberating giving both the government and the Caymanian people false information. It was a classic CYA move, but she was busted.
Well if you like foreigners coming here and judging schools by UK standards when so many children are creamed off into the private sector, then you have the right inspector. How can Red Bay with its abysmal results be classed as satisfactory? Just saying!
The framework is all his own I think as I certainly was not consulted and neither were any of my colleagues.
There is no bullying in our schools.
There are no gangs in Cayman.
No dishonest politicians.
No bullshit curriculums.
No thousands of foreign locusts.
No, all is well.
There are no corrupt leaders or management kicking out good teachers fighting against bullying
There is no hate toward gays since it is a christian loving environment.
There are no high up officials who were moved and promoted to get them out of the classroom for which they were wholly unsuited.
Absolutuely no favoritism based upon ethnicity, race, or religion.
I have never heard of incompetent adminstrators that need consulting on obvious solutions.
Aint no disruptions, all da classes is quiet so teachers can do der job. It is paradise in da classrooms.
No knife fights, drugs or alhohol at any of the schools
There is no coddling and definitely no derivative racist attitudes from their parents.
Definitely not, and all the students are giving untainted opinons as professional evaluators so we know just who to blame all the problems that aint our fault.
There is bullying by teachers!
I know, its disgraceful. Teachers are making students come to class on time, to not use their cell phones, to do homework, and to be respectful of the teacher and other students. There are even teachers trying to get through a lesson without outside distractions so students with ADD induced by their environment can concentrate. The cahones of these teachers. Its a good thing we have middle management and administration to protect our children from these monsters. These teachers are obviously racists and we are better off without them.Lets make Cayman education independent from furiners like we should our nation, We will all be better off.
As long as CIG illegally denies free education to expat kids I do not care how bad the locals are.
Nothing illegal about it! It is rational, economically necessary, and a clearly stated and accepted condition on the permission of any expat to come and be here.
You need to consult Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Articles 13 and 14 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, plus a load of other international conventions that Cayman is party to as a BoT. Primary education should be both free and compulsory for all children. Secondary education should be generally available and accessible (which means having places available for all that want them). Further, “Education should be affordable to all, with textbooks, supplies and uniforms provided to students at no additional costs”
Let’s start by not broadcasting when you are going to show up shall we?
On Cayman Brac surveys, be it staff or parent, are hardly anonymous. Thus, if all don’t reply, inspectorate should understand. The CB mafia still runs one primary school on CB.
CB Mafia runs more than the school, bobo. Get out from under the rock.
Sorry Jo Jo can’t go back to the Brac , still got more work to do , read all the other comments that will keep you busy for awhile longer .
MsJo Jo Education Minister need to do some work and take all the money that is being spent on cruise pier studies , and spend the money on education . Then she need to go to the schools that have the sign that says “No Foreigners Welcome Here ” and take that sign down . Then go into the schools and make sure that no SEGREGATION exist in the kids . Then go to LA and make sure that all Laws prohibit SEGREGATION . Then she can go back to Brac .
Hahahaha! You mean you actually want this Minister of Education to actually do something? First she knows absolutely nothing about education and secondly she is too busy doing what I have no idea.
Who exactly are carrying out the current school inspections?.
4:17 pm , there is segregation that is existing in the schools, and they just got some hell for it . This is their sneaky way of addressing it .
We need to reinstate the old system of a middle school. this would help to curtail any future problems. Focus on getting our children educated to surpass all college and university standards and show that we care for our future. GOD BLESS the Cayman Islands.
We should also reinstate British Exams rather then Trinidadian equivalents.
Trinidad does not have it’s own O levels exams. They use CXC which is slightly above GCE.
Plus the trinidad population is most educated in the region with a surplus of labour.
The CXC is in no way above a GCE, and is certainly well below the Cambrige IGCSE’s or International Baccalaureate qualifications we should be enabling our children to strive for.
That is certainly not true as nearly all UK educational institutions accept CXC and CAPE for entrance to their programs.
Sure, but it is not as respected and far less stringent than IGCSE’s.
Bro this is the carribean and most member countries are using CXC. Some are the most educated carribean folk come from Trinidad, Barbados and Jamaica. Cayman is still a British Colony so free to follow British rule.
Huge issue (at least on Brac) is lack of appropriate vocational certification. When a student can tear an engine apart and put it back together, or create an exceptional weave in no time but has trouble with the written exam (if one exists) they should be able to earn a living with that skill set. Time for CI certification.
Are you for real. They cannot pass GCSE’s possibly the easiest of exams and now you want them to take IGCSE’s.
Not bashing the educators, but the machinery, but just how can they manage to ask for public input on standards when there are classes without teachers and supplies, no daily nursing staff, core subjects are diluted with a nebulous curriculum, very little extra tutoring or special needs support offered, local teachers are discouraged and unsupported, after-school music progs are now cut, school busses without AC, baths without proper sanitary facilities, and libraries without computers!
To actually do the Survey: (a) Do ANON Surveys at the September PTA meetings (the only one parents bother to attend). This would ensure that some actual parents respond. BUT have it all handled by a 3rd party as DES survey handlers would contaminate the results. (b) Do the same thing for Students. Have a survey perhaps to coincide with their prefect elections. Ask UCCI students to administer it for neutrality.
Publish the raw results within 48hours – or it is all of lost value.
Survey Monkey?
Sure, or NPS / Mail Chimp / Convert Kit etc. None of which require consultants.
Local teachers are not pushed out. They choose to go because either they cannot deal with the behavior, are simple not good enough or move over to the Ministry or Department if they are REALLY incompetent.
UCCI needs to get its own academic standards in order before being asked to do this.
Increase school sizes and allow expats into the schools so that segregation is decreased
No, give every Caymanian parent a voucher for 10,000 (or 25,000 if their child has special needs) and let them send their children where the want. Failing schools will fail. The best will win. Instant integration.
No banker, lawyer, doctor or accountant or wealthy expat is ever going to send their child to a government school. The only way to achieve true integration now is by facilitating the entry of Caymanian children into private schools.
8:34 pm , I take it you know what INTEGRATION is , but do you know that SEGREGATION exist. in the schools today ? That’s not a good road for the kids or anyone to be on .
I have nothing against Jamaicans, but their attitude to our children is disrespectful within schools. Stop hiring people from jurisdictions with inferior education systems to our own. It makes no sense.
Please enlighten us all and use some examples of places in the world where this idea of yours is done.
That’s right, you can’t, because that would be discrimination – not to mention a waste of funds!
Sending Cayman children to private school does not automatically guarantee academic success! It’s a joint effort between the educator and the individual student, mostly the latter though.
Nowhere else in the world has dug itself into the hole we are in. Removing economic barriers to private education is now the only way to get a broad economic and cultural cross section in our community into the same schools.
I have no shame in reserving the benefits for Caymanian children. All expats know having to pay for their children’s education is a condition of them being here.
Re: Private Schools
(a) They’re full, many with waiting lists up to two years
(b) They have much higher scholastic standards and aren’t required to automatically advance failing children nor equipped to absorb special needs kids
(c) No bad apples tolerated
(d) Attendance taken
(e) They cost more than $10k!
And government schools cost 20K pers student. Cayman Prep, 12 K – and they have special needs kids.
It depends on what you mean by special needs. Don’t they have an entrance test and if a child scores below a certain quotient, they are refused entry.
Segregation may be decreased, but bullying no.
There is an epidemic of bullying in all of our schools.
Forgive me if I did not raise my children to be bastards.
There are hundreds of expats in government schools. They are however almost all from lower socioeconomic strata. That is not helping the diversification we strive for.
Ensure all kids in KS2 can READ and give grinds to KS2 to bring their grades up to standard….the government (or maybe the port director) should pay for these grinds.
What is this grind you speak of?
Allow children to repeat a year if they are too immature or have fallen behind too much.
No, require it!
ALL the evidence suggests that repeating a year makes absolutely no difference. If the child has failed why do you assume its not the teacher who is at fault. So you leave the child to go through the same bad teaching and expect a different outcome?
Teach kids from government school how littering kills the environment. So unfortunate that there are NO anti-littering campaigns tuaght in Gov schools from first year toward.
This is something that parents should have instilled in their children from a young age. The government/ school should only be reinforcing the lesson.
How about the parents actually parent their children and the schools get on with teaching?