The Ministry of Education, Secondary School teachers and the Office of the Public Service Commission have been criticized for failing to provide secondary school students here with sufficient relevant career advice and pertinent information on their planned course of study at university.

This criticism came from Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves yesterday as he sought to outline in a clear and precise manner, the requirements necessary for students desirous of pursuing university studies, including the financial costs to be incurred.

Speaking on WEFM’s Morning Program, Prime Minister Gonsalves said that every single year he makes the criticism that these institutions do not provide a sufficiency of information in a form which is readily available and understood and digestible by the students.

“They don’t give as good career advice, and they don’t give the kind of advice I am now giving here in respect to the financing,” the Prime Minister said.

Dr. Gonsalves noted that the CXC programme essentially begins in Form 4.

He went on to explain a situation that occurred sometime ago, whereby two students from a premier secondary school here, who wanted to study Meteorology after completing their secondary education, were told by their teacher upon leaving Form 3 to go to Form 4 that in order to study Meteorology, they must do Geography but that Physics is not a requirement.

“Well I don’t know where that teacher or teachers got that information from. So, the students did Geography, Biography, Chemistry and Math…but don’t even have O’Level Physics, now they going to go to University. The problem at that time is that there were no programmes taught for Physics O’Level outside of the school system, in other words no evening classes because you needed access to the labs” Dr. Gonsalves said.

He added that “In situations like this….the system would have failed those two young women.”

The Prime Minister stressed that it is vital that students in secondary school and at the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College be provided with sufficient and relevant information on their choice of study at university.

Taiwan National Day Celebration

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