This post is trending again on the site. I’m guessing it has something to do with its subject, Keondre Herbert, being named Antigua and Barbuda’s top CSEC student of 2018. Read about his 20 Grade Ones here: https://antiguaobserver.com/top-csec-student-named
Congratulations to Keondre (whom I also remember from my first Jhohadli Summer Youth Writing Project in 2013). It’s always a beautiful thing to see young people (people, really, of any age) strive and achieve their goals. When it’s a young person you knew along the way, it’s extra nice.
There’s been a lot of debate in my social media about the point of the ever-climbing number of CSECs being sat and passed. I don’t know…I do think our educational paradigm needs to be reviewed (as in, what is its purpose and what are we really measuring with these standardized tests, and what’s the real world value of it all etc. etc.) but I can see how raising that question every year just when the CSEC results are announced can stigmatize achievement. So, let’s have that conversation in…I don’t know, October. But by all means, if we’re serious, let’s have it.
This post began as a spark during a primary school graduation. I drafted and submitted it as an article for consideration. I decided to publish it here today after receiving an application letter to the Jhohadli Summer Youth Writing Project from the young man, Keondre, featured in the article. He began in his letter by saying that he doesn’t want to be a writer but that his parents thought my workshop might help him develop his writing skills in preparation for high school. I hesitated…was this something he-himself genuinely wanted? But reading on about his love for reading and his uncertainty but openness to seeing what the workshop had to offer, I decided to offer him a spot. That his letter was clear and articulate and honest was a good sign. I publish the post here for the same reason that I wrote it, while there is no single way to parent and…
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