Dear Editor,
I have read, with concern, a letter published by sections of the media on March 3rd, 2018 under the caption “Private school or terror camp?” This letter was signed by a “Concerned Parent”.
Editor, allow me opportunity to support the cries of this parent, and also to bring to the attention of the relevant authorities and the general public my own experiences at another private institution located in the heart of Georgetown.
Editor, my daughter once attended a private institution that holds classes from forms one to five. She started the school in the second form, and had moved up to the third form class last September when I was forced to remove her, a few months ago. Editor, my heart trembles as I pen this letter, because the things that my daughter had endured at that institution I would wish on no one’s child.
Dozens upon dozens of homework assignments were usually given, and those had to be submitted either the next day or before the said week was completed. The children had to reach to school for at least 08:30am in the morning, and had to take mandatory lessons till 4:30pm (16:30h) in the afternoon. This was further worsened by the children having only 20 minutes’ lunch break and absolutely no extracurricular activities such as sports, concerts, or even tours, so as to give them a well-rounded curriculum. Tell me, how can we expect these young minds to stay sane and not become stressed, when all that is forced upon them is school work and more school work?
Bear in mind, Editor, that the mandatory lessons attract a separate fee from the school fee, and was either a few dollars shorter than the school fee; or, in some cases, it was the same thing.
Like the concern shared by the fellow parent in the previous letter, although the Value Added Tax was removed from the school fees, the headmaster still continues to charge parents the 16%, claiming he had not being notified by GRA. If that’s not all, the headmaster of the school, who is a popular TV host, has a horrible attitude towards both the kids and, to some extent, parents. My daughter was bullied and harassed more than once by teachers of the school, and nothing had been done about it because of the unapproachable manner in which the headmaster usually carries himself.
School should be a second home; however, we can clearly see that these private schools are out to get money, and would achieve that even at the cost of their students’ sanity.
Editor, the Ministry of Education should take swift action before this situation gets further out of hand and results in yet another crisis that would deteriorate an already broken institution. As it is, there are few or no laws at all that monitor how these private schools should operate, hence advantage is being taken by these unscrupulous individuals to profit off the situation at public schools and the desperation of parents for a better education for their children. It is therefore imperative that relevant agencies lobby for these pieces of legislation immediately!
Yours faithfully,
Frustrated parent
