Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves stated that he believes the Ministry of Education is not closely monitoring some of the graduation rules implemented by some schools, principals, and teachers. He also expressed concern about the possibility of parents successfully suing a school.
Gonsalves said on Wednesday that schools are now denying some students the right to graduate for some inappropriate reasons.
“There are some schools that deny somebody the right to graduate for some of the most unreasonable and disproportionate reasons. If you miss an exam, you have eight subjects to write; you missed one. In some schools, I understand that’s a reason not for you not to graduate.”
“So, you can use those seven subjects to gain admission to Community College, but you cannot graduate.” You can get them and go to university, but you can’t graduate. Some parents will put these schools in court and win.”
According to Gonsalves, there is a misconception that graduation follows some antiquated tradition.
“There is a common misconception that graduation is a privilege rather than a right, stemming from an ancient rule I’m not familiar with.” Well, I have some news for you: graduation is indeed a right, and even if it wasn’t initially, it is a right based on the doctrine of reasonable expectation.”
According to Gonsalves, if a student behaves badly and the behavior is egregious, then things must be reasonable and proportionate by all means.
“We need rules, but they must be reasonable and proportionate.” While I am confident that 99.9% of the rules are reasonable and proportionate, senior officials in the ministry sometimes need to monitor the complaints I receive. You don’t want to have a situation where everything is centered and directed. You must give some latitude to the schools and their management. But surely they have to stay within a broad frame of reasonableness and proportionality.”
