FIRST DAY BLUES

The excitement of their first day out to school, the first day entering a new secondary or primary school was dampened Monday by the threat of the impending passage of Hurricane Ivan.
Many eager children and their equally anxious parents however trooped out to greet this new September school day. A tradition was being given continuity.{{more}}
There was some disappointment for some younger ones however. Several schools announced that they would not have been accepting their beginners until Wednesday 8. Those plans of course had to be shelved following the passage of Ivan across our multi-island state.
Monday though was still a day of excitement for many children and our cameras took to the streets to capture some of the images of children as they filed out to school with their knapsacks, bright coloured uniforms and shiny shoes.
The children entering school this year may be among those who would not have to set the stress-inducing Common Entrance Examinations as the Ministry of Education moves towards achieving universal secondary education.
Already the Ministry has removed Grade 7 in a move that anticipates all children proceeding onto secondary school as opposed to where they formerly sat the School Leaving Examination. This latter exam often gave a last chance for these children to enter a secondary school in Form 2.
Here in St.Vincent and the Grenadines the Ministry of Education has been boasting about what it terms its “Education Revolution” that has seen a radical increase in the number of students admitted to secondary school for the first time last year. It is an experiment that the ministry has been hailing as a massive success.
This year also saw an increase in the percentage passes at Advanced Level examinations as well as an increase in National Scholarships awarded to 13.