During the time of Dr. Eric Williams and later Kamla Persad-Bissessar as Prime Ministers of Trinidad and Tobago, the education system went through many changes. In earlier times, particularly during the 1950s, access to secondary education was considered a privilege rather than something available to every child.
In those days, only some of the best and brightest students who passed the required examinations were able to gain entry into secondary schools. For these students, attending a good secondary school was almost like gaining admission to a university because of the limited number of places available.
Many students who did not qualify for free secondary education but still wanted to continue their schooling had to attend private schools and pay tuition fees. These private schools operated somewhat like a voucher-type system in the sense that parents paid for their children to receive an education. If students became seriously disruptive, the respective schools could expel them, and those students might then move to another school that was willing to accept them.
Today, access to education is treated very differently. Every child has a right to an education, and schools must therefore find ways of educating students with a wide range of abilities, backgrounds and behavioural challenges.
As the debate continues about how to deal with disruptive students, simply sending them home may not be an adequate solution. If a student comes from a troubled or disruptive home environment, sending that child back into the same environment may do little to address the underlying problem. We therefore need to consider alternatives that provide these students with an education while also maintaining discipline and protecting the learning environment for other students.
One option that deserves serious discussion is a school voucher system. Under such a system, parents could be given greater freedom to choose schools that are best suited to their children’s educational needs. These schools could include traditional academic schools, vocational and technical institutions, and schools specifically equipped to assist students with behavioural or other challenges.
A voucher system could encourage different types of schools to emerge and provide parents and students with more educational choices. Instead of expecting one type of school to meet the needs of every student, different institutions could specialize in different areas and offer programmes suited to the abilities, interests and needs of their students.
The objective should be to ensure that every child has access to a meaningful education while maintaining proper standards of discipline and learning. Trinidad and Tobago needs an educated and skilled population capable of contributing to the country’s future development.
Let us have a serious national debate about whether a school voucher system could play a role in achieving these goals.