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WHAT'S
GOOD ABOUT CAP?
Submitted by TTUTA's Primary Education Committee
For the past four years, TTUTA has maintained the position that it
supports the Continuous Assessment Programme in principle, but does
not support its implementation until certain pre-requisites are in place.
This had lead some persons to believe that TTUTA 'does not want CAP,
and that the Association is resisting the implementation process.' Let
us review the rationale for TTUTA's position.
Support
for the practices and principles in CAP:
Firstly, any programme to be implemented within the education system
should have sound philosophical underpinnings. The Continuous Assessment
Programme has as its fundamental tenet the need to look at the holistic
development of the child, through ongoing monitoring and systematic
feedback.
Consequently, the needs of the child be they medical, social, academic
or emotional are considered, and emphasis is placed on the fulfillment
of these needs, in order to empower the child to achieve his or her
full potential.
In our primary school system, where much time was formely spent on instilling
conformity, and assessment techniques were summartive rather than formative,
the Continuous Assessment Programme is a positive step in providing
our young children with the necessary skills and attributes to become
functioning members of our global society.
Secondly, the CAP promotes a number of good teaching practices that
all good teachers should include in their repetoire, for effective delivery.
These include project teaching, the development of an item analysis
to guide in testing, varied methods of assessment, records of students'
performance, their weakness and strengths, the intervention strategies
used to help these students and the eventual outcomes.
For many of us, these practices are not new. The modern teacher must
be a leader, an innovator, a guide, employing these practices in the
best interest of our charges.
One of the merits of CAP is that it seeks not only to assess our children
and identify their problems, but it also proposes referral systems to
address these problems. This has always been one of the challenges faced
by teachers. Auditory and visual screening upon entry into the primary
system, social and emotional evaluation, and the establishment of a
unit to which these challenged children could be referred for professional
assistance, are definitely desirable practices.
We often hear the statement, 'we are in the business of education'.
Any business, however, has well-stated and attainable objectives, clearly
defined strategies and time lines for operation and a management plan
that will outline functional roles and allocation of both human and
physical resources.
The Continuous Assessment Programme is structured in this manner. There
are clear objectives, support strategies and systems, physical and human
resources have been identified and a management committee proposed.
If there is to be investment in education and profitability attained
by all stakeholders - the Ministry of Education, students, teachers,
TTUTA, parents and the community at large - then proper management of
the programme is essential.
Why
does TTUTA hesitate?
If TTUTA
finds the CAP so laudable, why then do they refrain from encouraging
teachers to participate fully? Despite admission by the Ministry of
Education that there are certain criteria that must be satisfied before
proper implementation can take place, we still hear of instances where
supervisors and principals are attempting the programme.
These are the pre-requisites that must be fulfilled if TTUTA is to fully
support the Continuous Assessmment Programme:
| i)
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All
primary schools must be equipped with the necessary equipment and
infrastructure to facilitate the preparation and storage of the
records and documents that would be inherent in the programme. These
include photocopiers, computers and metal filing cabinets. Security
for all schools is also necessary.
Additionally, personnel such as clerk/typists and other necessary
office staff should be placed in all schools to assist with record-keeping,
filing and other clerical duties. |
| ii) |
Non-contact
time for teachers is an important aspect of CAP. If teachers are
to efficiently implement those good teaching practices previously
mentioned, then provision must be made for each teacher to have
the necessary non-contact time required for preparation and documentation.
This must be recognized at both the school level and at the level
of the Ministry of Education. |
| iii) |
As
stated, the establishment of procedures and systems for assessment
and referrals of students in need, to qualified professionals, is
imperative in this project. However, TTUTA insists that in the first
instance, persons so trained must do screening of pupils. This means
collaboration between the Ministry of Education and other relevant
bodies. Secondly, the Diagnostic Prescriptive Services Unit which
would deal with student referrals, must be properly staffed and
strategically placed in the educational districts, so that they
could offer the desired standard of service required to effectively
assist our students. |
| iv)
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There
must be a process of training and sensitization to the programme,
for those involved (teachers and principals), as well as for the
general public. |
| v)
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The
success of any project depends on its management. TTUTA reiterates
the need for the reinstatement of the CAP Management Committee,
the body charged with the responsibility for the management of the
programme. This would serve the need for planning for the programme,
monitoring its implementation and working as a change agent in the
process. The management committee would also be the avenue through
which the various stakeholders, such as the Principals' Association,
the NPTA and TTUTA, would make their inputs on the programme. |
It is
indeed pleasing to hear that the government has allocated funding for
the CAP for the fiscal year 2004.
The Association hopes that this would auger well for the proper organization
and implementation of the Continuous Assessment Programme in a timely
and systematic manner. If the Ministry of Education is serious about
the provision of quality education for all our students, the ad-hoc
approach to programmes and reform in the system must not continue.
As teachers, our professionalism is manifested in the strategies and
activities we undertake to get our students from one learning outcome
to the next. Let us do all in our power to provide quality education
for them.
TTUTA therefore waits anxiously to see the returns on this investment
in our education system. We advocate that our returns must not only
be reflected in numbers or buildings and monetary terms, but also in
the calibre of individuals who come out of our schools.
November 2003
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