Jamaica's Minister of Education, Thwaites: More than 800 failed to turn up for Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT)...."We cannot afford for children to drop out of school prematurely,"

Wednesday, June 17, 2015 -- Balford Henry   

MINISTER of Education Ronald Thwaites said yesterday that his ministry is concerned about some 800 primary level students who registered to take the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), but failed to turn up to sit the exams.

Ronald Thwaites

"We have tracked them down and we are ensuring that they are placed somewhere," Thwaites told the House of Representatives in a statement.

"We cannot afford for children to drop out of school prematurely, whether it is because of pregnancy, whether it is because of a lack of lunch money, whether it is because of disinterest in their education. It matters not," he stated.

The minister noted that the Ministry of National Security has stated that staying in school reduces the likelihood of anti-social behaviour later on in life.

Thwaites made the statement as he informed the House of Representatives that of the 38,662 who had registered for GSAT, 37,575 had sat the test. He said that 33,546 were placed in high schools, and 3,177 in technical high schools, while 836 were sent to primary and junior high schools.

He said that 27,189, or 73 per cent, were placed in their schools of preference, and 9,486 -- or 25 per cent -- in schools in close proximity to their homes.

He said, too, that 8,682 students on the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education sat the test, of which 6,704 or 74 per cent were selected for the schools of their choice, and 1,489 placed in terms of proximity to their homes. more