GSAT and extra lessons

What is your experience with “at school” extra lessons for GSAT preparation? In this article published by the Gleaner…

Axe coming for extra lessons – Lead Stories – Jamaica Gleaner – Monday | June 25, 2012.

The Minister of Education says:

 He added: “We know the financial struggle that many parents are already facing. … I have heard of cases where children in preparation for GSAT (Grade Six Achievement Test) have been going to extra classes for three years, so what we would like to know is what is going on in the ordinary classes. Why this is happening?” Thwaites stated. The education minister added that a review of the contact period between teachers and students is one of the measures his ministry will be looking to as a means of fixing the problem.

“We have to insist that we do it right the first time, and this is why the Jamaica Teaching Council legislation is so important because we cannot transfer teaching from the regular contact hours,” Thwaites told a Gleaner Editors’ Forum last Thursday.

The Teachers say:

….The president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association, Paul Adams, told The Gleaner that the money the teachers collect for extra lessons are just merely contributions.”The fees that they charged are contribution, they are reasonable. These teachers sacrifice their time with their family to provide lesson for the children,” he argued.

And the parents of the PTA say:

Meanwhile, Marcia McCausland-Wilson, president of the National Parent Teachers’ Association, said extra lessons, in most cases, are offered to children whose parents can afford to pay and so they are normally ahead in their schoolwork. “The weaker students in the class who need the lesson, but can’t afford to pay, do not get extra lessons most of the times. There are a few teachers who will have extra lesson for the entire class but not the majority,” she lamented.

McCausland-Wilson said her association has received complaints that the topics taught in extra lessons are normally being introduced there for the first time, adding that an investigation would be done.

We would Love YOUR opinion, especially if you have been through the GSAT preparations recently.