Denominational primary schooling: The case of Trinidad and Tobago

In developing countries, the trend has been for government to assume gradual control of schools run by religious organisations, while allowing them to retain their religious affiliation. In the Caribbean, the relationship between church and state educational systems has generally been cordial. This is particularly so in Trinidad and Tobago, where almost three quarters of the primary schools are denominational: Roman Catholic, other Christian, Hindu and Muslim. However, a significant proportion of pupils do not adhere to the host faith. Demographic trends and internal migration have disturbed the previous pattern of population, but the most important factor is the influence of the Common Entrance Examination, which controls entry to secondary education. Certain primary schools achieve high pass rates and attract large numbers of applicants from all sectors of society, while School Boards and principals accept over-population and set entry criteria other than religious affiliation. Variation in curricula is limited by recently drafted requirements, the government provides the bulk of school funds, and regularly inspects all schools. Such controls may enable the present government to fulfil its intention of deemphasising the Common Entrance Examination, but it thereby runs the risk of endangering the religious tolerance engendered by the present multidenominational nature of religious schools.

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Zusammenfassung In Entwicklungsländern ging das Bestreben der Regierung dahin, allmählich die Kontrolle über die von religiösen Organisationen geführten Schulen zu übernehmen und ihnen dabei ihre religiöse Bindung zu belassen. In der Karibik bestand bisher im allgemeinen ein herzliches Verhätnis zwischen Kirche und staatlichen Erziehungseinrichtungen. Dies gilt besonders für Trinidad und Tobago, wo fast drei Viertel der Grundschulen Konfessionsschulen sind: römisch-katholisch, anderweitig christlich, hinduistisch und moslemisch. Eine große Anzahl von Schülern gehört allerdings nicht der Glaubensrichtung der Schule an. Demografische Trends und Bevölkerungsfluktuation haben frühere Bevölkerungsmuster verändert, aber der wichtigste Punkt ist der Einfluß der allgemeinen Aufnahmeprüfung, die den Eintritt in die weiterführenden Schulen reguliert.Einige Grundschulen haben hohe Erfolgsraten und ziehen dadurch viele Bewerber aus allen Gesellschaftsschichten an, wobei Schulbehörden und Schulleiter eine Überbelegung akzeptieren und andere Aufnahmekriterien als religiöse Zugehörigkeit festsetzen. Änderungsmöglichkeiten im Curriculum sind durch kürzlich herausgegebene Anforderungsrichtlinien eingeschränkt; die Regierung zahlt den größten Teil der Schulmittel und inspiziert regelmäßig alle Schulen. Diese Kontrollen mögen es zwar der gegenwärtigen Regierung ermöglichen, ihre Absicht, die Bedeutung der allgemeinen Aufnahmeprüfung zu schwächen, zu verwirklichen, aber sie riskiert gleichzeitig, die durch die gegenwärtigen multikonfessionellen Religionsschulen ausgelöste religiöse Toleranz zu gefährden.

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Résumé Dans les pays en développement, le gouvernement assume habituellement le contrôle continu des écoles régies par les organisations religieuses, tout en leur permettant de conserver leur adhésion religieuse. Aux Caraïbes, la relation entre les systèmes éducatifs publics et religieux est généralement cordiale. C'est particulièrement le cas à Trinité-et-Tobago, où presque les trois quarts des écoles primaires sont des écoles confessionnelles: catholiques romaines, diverses écoles chrétiennes, écoles hindoues et musulmanes. Cependant, un nombre important d'élèves n'adhère pas à la religion de l'école. Les tendances démographiques et la migration interne ont changé l'ancienne structure de la population, mais le facteur majeur reste l'influence de l'Examen général d'entrée, qui réglemente l'entrée dans le secondaire. Certaines écoles primaires ont un taux de réussite élevé et attirent de nombreux candidats issus de tous les secteurs de la société, tandis que les conseils et les directeurs d'écoles acceptent une surpopulation et fixent d'autres critères d'admission que ceux d'appartenance religieuse. La diversité des programmes d'études est limitée par des contraintes mises en place récemment, le gouvernement octroie l'ensemble des crédits à l'éducation et inspecte régulièrement tous les établissements scolaires. Pareils contrôles peuvent permettre au présent gouvernement d'imposer sa volonté pour diminuer l'importance de l'Examen général d'entrée, mails ils risquent en même temps de mettre en danger la tolérance religieuse engendrée aujourd'hui par la nature multiconfessionnelle des écoles religieuses.

     

Leading educational improvement in Trinidad and Tobago

School leaders in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) now have the important responsibility of initiating and implementing school improvement. This raises the question of their leadership capacity and the competencies that are required for school leaders to fulfil this new role. This article focuses on school leadership in T&T. The study presented in this article utilised a qualitative interpretive research design employing a range of data collection methods, including questionnaires and interviews. The results of the study confirm a need for developing a new type of school leader who is: better trained, more research oriented, more of a risk taker and autonomous.     

Fostering inclusive education: principals' perspectives in Trinidad and Tobago

This paper shares elementary school principals' perspectives from one urban school district in Trinidad and Tobago, regarding factors that might enhance or limit their and/or their faculty's readiness for inclusion in their schools. Qualitative data collection comprised a self-administered questionnaire and focus group interviewing. Respondents comprise 18 school principals. Findings revealed a philosophical readiness to embrace inclusive practice, but resistance towards assuming responsibilities for such students within the classroom. Recommendations to facilitate more effective inclusion hinged upon teacher education, leadership and collaborative practice.     

The school improvement policy context in Trinidad and Tobago

There have been appeals within the educational change (EC) and school improvement (SI) literature for research to explore more non-westernized and developing country contexts (Dimmock, 2000; Harris, 2009; Harris & Chrispeels, 2006; McMahon, 2006). This article is a response to those appeals. The study maps the SI educational policy contexts of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), a developing country in the Caribbean from 1850 to 2010. Literature on EC and SI within this country and region is sparse. This article illuminates on research which reviewed the development of SI particularly in the secondary school sector. It identifies distinct phases of SI in T&T and proposes that these phases are linked to significant educational policy development eras within the country. A documentary-based research approach was employed. This investigation is significant because it documents the SI movement in T&T and provides an understanding of how the country experienced educational change.     

Supplementary tutoring in Trinidad and Tobago: Some implications for policy making

Globally, private supplementary tutoring is a huge business and the practice is expanding rapidly in many regions of the world where it never existed before. In some of these regions it is posing a novel set of challenges for education planners and policy makers. The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which supplementary tutoring is impacting on the goals of the formal education system in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). The participation rate in supplementary tutoring at primary school level in T&T was found to be high (88.2 per cent at Standard Five level), with the majority of the students being privately tutored by their regular school teachers. Their main motivation for taking private tutoring lessons was to try to secure a place in one of the few elite secondary schools in the country. The authors of this paper admit that there is no quick solution to the problem, especially if it is understood as a part of the process of cultural change. They contend that the key to breaking the elitist tradition lies in modifying public understanding about education and convincing parents and citizens at large that a wide range of options and opportunities exists outside the narrow confines of the old colonial economy and the old colonial schools.     

Socialising principals: early career primary school principals in Trinidad and Tobago

This paper utilises an interpretivist framework and recent developments in practice theory to examine the conditions which influence practices of socialising into the role of school principal in Trinidad and Tobago. The results indicate that for the 11 early career primary school principals, role socialisation occurs within complex practice landscapes, where the practices of preparing classroom teachers for the principalship materialise within a context of contest. There is conflict between historical antecedents and the expectations and practices of socialising institutions such as the church, the school, the community and the Ministry of Education. This small-scale study has implications for leadership preparation practices and highlights principal socialisation as a challenge of context and history.     

Decentralisation as and for Education Reform in Trinidad and Tobago

Centralisation is the traditional mode of decision‐making in the education system in Trinidad and Tobago, but proposals have now been put forward to decentralise. The purpose of decentralisation, as claimed in the recent Report of the National Task Force on Education, is to improve the quality of education that has been falling for some time, despite significant inputs since political independence about 30 years ago. The article reviews both the proposals made and the problems that are inherent in the concept of decentralisation, and against this background specifies what Trinidad and Tobago might do in order to make its plans for decentralisation work. Why the state has turned to decentralisation at this period in its educational development drive is also critically examined. Findings indicate that the political agenda, and not necessarily immediate concern for quality improvement, is the driving force behind the decentralisation move. The proposals, however, still have a good chance of successful implementation and of achieving the stated goal of quality improvement, but before these can be realised, inputs, among them factors relating to the core technology of teaching and learning as well as training of personnel to undertake implementation, are needed. Some suggestions as to how these might be accomplished are given.     

Public and private schooling in France: an investigation into family choice

Since the end of the 1970s, more than a third of all French pupils have attended private schools either continuously or temporarily. The private sector appeared as a second chance, but one that was not seized in equal proportions by all social classes and was thus a source of new inequalities. Moreover, it appeared that although pupil recruitment in the public sector was more democratic, the private sector had more success in equalizing results and scholastic careers. Today school switching continues to increase: more than 40% of pupils attend or have attended the private sector at one point in time and almost one family in two makes use of it for at least one child. In this respect, we have observed important similarities in the school careers of parents and children: some families remain loyal to one of the two sectors while others switch between sectors. Ideologically-based choices seem to be on the decline: the main reason families use the private sector is to improve their childrens' education. There remain, however, important regional differences in provision and use of the private sector.     

Antecedents affecting science achievement scores in classrooms in Trinidad and Tobago

This paper initially notes the role of scientific education in a developing country and the need to enhance scientific education among the school population. Enhancement of science education for all pupils is dependent on the distribution of schools, quality of schools and pupil participation in any country. To understand how science education is advanced in a developing country it is also important to know who is currently succeeding in science education in schools and to understand how this success is distributed amongst the school population. Thus, this paper questions whether school-based science achievement may be predetermined by antecedent factors or whether there is an equal opportunity of success amongst all pupil participants. A review of the literature has found that many antecedent factors affect school and science achievement, and these factors may be more important than within-school processes thought to enhance science education. The antecedent factors refer to: social/home background; age, religion and sex of the pupil; school class level and size; type of school attended and its locality.This study assesses how antecedent factors affect science performance in a representative sample of pupils in primary and secondary schools throughout Trinidad and Tobago. The representative sample totalled 1998 children, aged 6–10 years. Pupils were selected from a geographic transect of Trinidad and Tobago, which fulfilled demographic criteria. Once pupils were selected, biographic data were obtained for each child. Science achievement was measured by an end-of-term science examination designed for each class by the class teacher and graded on a 100% scale (within each class). Within class pupil scores were ‘standardized’ for comparisons between classes, schools, etc. Results from the analyses are summarized as: science achievement scores decrease as pupils increase in age. Girls perform consistently better than boys, with a slight variation in the sex by religion by school level interaction. Pupils in private schools score higher than pupils in similar levels of state schools. Pupils from a middle class background perform better than pupils from a working class background. Differences in performance relate to the religion of the child, with Muslim pupils scoring higher than Hindu or Christian pupils. Pupils in single-sex schools perform at higher levels than pupils in co-educational schools, and this is true for girls-only and boys-only schools. At the secondary school level the type of school attended is related to science achievement performance with pupils in prestige (usually church controlled) schools performing better than pupils in the comprehensive (state controlled) schools.The results support, develop and refine the previous literature on school and science achievement. Unusually, girls are at the forefront of science achievement in both primary and secondary schools. Also, traditional prejudices of social class, school status and location are confirmed within the school system in Trinidad and Tobago. A number of directions for future research and classroom action studies are indicated which focus on the existence of these inequalities.     

Everyday personal laptop usage in secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago

The e-Connect And Learn (eCAL) programme is a Trinidad and Tobago government-led initiative, launched in 2010, that grants personal laptop computers to students entering secondary school. The purpose of this paper is to provide a snapshot of how students are using these government-issued personal laptops 3 years after the programme’s launch. This paper explores the fissure between what the policy recommends and what is actually enacted in the context of laptop usage in the classroom. Data were drawn from 1,451 students, from 32 secondary schools across Trinidad and Tobago. Responses indicate that students are falling short of the expectations for in-class laptop usage and in schools where usage is less often but on a regular basis, laptops are mainly used for technology-related subjects. These findings not only suggest that students’ everyday personal laptop usage in the classroom is not in alignment with the eCAL programme goals, but also highlight some of the issues to be considered by other countries when implementing large-scale laptop programmes.     

Community engagement in the implementation of educational policy in Trinidad and Tobago

Inauguration of double-shift junior secondary schooling in Trinidad and Tobago in 1973 created several problems for local planners, policy makers, parents, and students themselves. In some cases solution has been found, but in others problems have remained defiant and irresolute. In the latter category is the problem of deviant student behaviour during off-shift sessions, believed to be the result of poor student choice regarding the use of time. Recommendations have been made to redress this situation through engagement of community groups. This paper argues that this approach is problematical and contradictory and will not achieve stipulated objectives. The main reason for the gloomy outlook is the principle of decentralization, which must be taken into account in any attempt to engage the local community. Community engagement is examined against certain imperatives of decentralization. The paper concludes, however, that as a strategy, community engagement is doomed to failure. Poor choices by junior secondary school students in the use of their off-shift hours are therefore very likely to persist.     

Designing instructional television for concept learning in low-achieving pupils in Trinidad and Tobago

In Trinidad and Tobago, educational television is developed for the general secondary school population and is not generally designed to address specific learner needs. In this study, an instructional video production was developed and targeted to low-achieving students of the secondary school population, in the Junior Secondary sector. Content was drawn from the social studies curriculum and the focus of instruction was the acquisition of concepts and generalisations. There was sufficient evidence that the video production facilitated a moderate level of learning. It was also evident that there were areas of the production where instruction was not adequate. Two aspects were identified for further work. First, given the wide range of achievement levels noted in the current evaluation, there is need to identify more precisely the learning needs of the mainstream of the Junior Secondary population. Secondly, attention must also be paid to designing productions that could facilitate learner capability to link items of information and attain more complex levels of learning.     

The role of educational choice in occupational gender segregation: Evidence from Trinidad and Tobago

We analyse the role of educational choice on the degree of occupational segregation in Trinidad and Tobago during a period in which educational policies intent on equating gender opportunities in education were implemented. To this end we utilize waves of the Trinidad and Tobago labour force survey over the period 1991–2004. Our results show that while educational segregation has fallen substantially over our sample period, this has not translated into less occupational segregation. This suggests that the educational policy has not been sufficient to combat occupational segregation. However, results at a more disaggregated level show that experiences have been heterogeneous across educational and occupational groups.     

Determinants of Academic Success within Classrooms in Trinidad and Tobago: some personal and systemic variables

Within the context of expanding placements for secondary education and the call for improvement of quality within the educational systems of developing and developed countries, this paper considers who and (comparatively) how well students are succeeding in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The paper notes that there have been a limited number of studies in the Republic which provide information on opportunities for school success at the macro level of the school system. Additionally, there is much conflicting information published which explores factors determining success and failure in developing and developed countries; such factors include personal/biographical and systemic/school focused variables. There is also very little information concerning whether these variables have a similar effect at the micro/classroom level. In relating determinants of classroom level success to the expansion in quantity (and supposedly quality) of the educational system in Trinidad and Tobago, we question whether a greater opportunity for education actually results in a greater probability for all students to succeed. A proportional, stratified, random, clustered sample of 992 secondary school students (5% of the 2nd and 5th form population in half of the educational districts in Trinidad and Tobago) was selected for study. Information obtained for each student included systemic information (school attended, type of school, school size, education district, locality, managing authority, single‐sex or coeducational school, form level and class size) and personal information (sex of student, age, occupation of father and mother, religion and classroom based end‐of‐term test scores in each of the curriculum areas studied — with an average overall score). Analyses of the within‐class test scores showed that a large amount of variance was accounted for by the systemic and personal variables, and the most telling of the variables were the type of school attended and gender of the student. Students in traditional schools obtained higher scores in traditional curriculum areas than other students, and girls consistently gained the highest of the scores. Further analyses showed significant differences with reference to parental occupation, the size and locality of the school and school sexual make‐up. The results show a consistent bias to success of female students, from a middle class home, attending an urban traditional school, in all curriculum areas except social studies. Students attending government managed schools at the 5th form scored higher in social studies than those in traditional schools. The results confirm that the quantitative expansion of the secondary school system in Trinidad and Tobago did not expand in quality educational opportunity for all, except in the new curriculum area of social studies. Interpretations of the results relate to the existing literature on developed and developing countries and the particular situation in Trinidad and Tobago.