Whether your child is entering kindergarten, grade seven or grade twelve today, the lazy hazy days of summer are now over. Monday marked the first day of school for the majority of school-aged children in The Bahamas. It was a day that was probably filled with tears for those going for the first time and excited nervousness for those entering the seventh grade.

While summer is a time when many parents bemoan about not knowing what to do with their children for eight to ten weeks, teachers rejoice at the time to re-energize themselves. However, some teachers may find themselves returning to the classroom feeling dejected about the results of the national external examination – The Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education.

Once again the national average is below a C grade and much has been said about this. I listened to some of the discussions that took place over the airwaves and read remarks offered by educators and ministry officials. While many individuals seem to think that this mark is unacceptable, I wonder if we are not being naïve to think that the majority of our school-aged children can in fact obtain a C or above on their BGCSE’s.

If we were to look at the report cards of all the high school students in this country do you think the majority of those students would have a cumulative average of grade C or above? In any environment, whether it is school or even your work place, there is always going to be a small number of exceptional and outstanding performers. There will always be those we term “slackers” or who get the D or F grade in terms of school, just as there will be those persons who just do enough to fulfill their job description or get that C grade.

Perhaps the Ministry of Education needs to be more careful about releasing statistical data to the media because having been in that industry for a while, I know that the reporter is looking for that piece of information that is going to be the lead in the story.

And, being able to lead off a story that states we are a nation of dummies seems to sell the newspapers and attract a listening audience. We know that many changes need to take place in our educational system, but the problems that pervade our schools stem directly from the social environments and homes of the students. And this is what needs critical attention from all stakeholders.

In case the general public is not aware, the average seventh grader in this country takes at least ten different subject areas each week. This means these 10 and 11 year old students must be prepared to take examinations in the majority, if not all of these subjects on a regular basis.

Indeed I have jumped ahead of myself, because there are some primary schools that require students to take even more than 10 subjects each term. So if your child is bombarded with so much material to learn so early in her life, is it possible that she is burnt out by the time she reaches grade seven or grade twelve?

To hear this D grade being spewed out over the airwaves without little explanation would really lead someone to believe that we are paying thousands of teachers thousands of dollars to sit at the their desks twiddling their thumbs. Anyone in this most taxing and profoundly exhausting profession would be highly insulted at such a judgement.

Parents, I challenge you to not wait around for the government to make those critical changes to the curriculum. Take charge and be the primary educator in your child’s life. The teacher can only do so much in each lesson.

It is therefore crucial for parents with primary school-aged children to assist in your child’s learning because that will surely make a difference at the end of the day. This means you need to make it a priority to attend school meetings and know what is going on in your child’s school.

Do not be the type of parent who only visits the school to argue about some injustice you perceive to have happened to your child. Rather, be the exceptional and outstanding parent who goes beyond what is expected and not the one who merely meets his/her financial obligations to the school.

About the author: Joye Ritchie-Greene is an Educational Consultant, Writer and Martial Arts Instructor. She is the owner/operator of The Bahamas Martial Arts Academy; president of Time-Out Productions; and is also a columnist for the Freeport News. She has a B.A. in English and an M.S. in Human Resources, resides in Freeport, Grand Bahama with her husband and enjoys playing tennis. Joye can be reached at joye_hel_ena@hotmail.com