Graham: Sports dumbing down student

[Time]

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/c...-down-students

Mr Grayham, Wolmer's Boys is a downtown all boys school and should be commended for its top 10 achievement. Compared to Campion we get the 2nd best GSAT boys, less affluent parents and we are an all boys institution. Yes we do recruit sports students but their success helps to attract good GSAT boys who chose schools based on sporting success.

[Sir X]

The guy is is an idiot,they fail to see what $$$ a successful athletic program brings into the schools.How they use it is a different matter,some use it better than others.

Given the economic reality schools would be dumb not to capitalize on its rewards.

[Mosiah]

You have an idea how much money it brings in? Yuh have an idea how it is used?

[Sir X]

No, hence the comment....How they use it is a different matter,some use it better than others.

We agree that money is coming into these underfunded overburden educational institutions because of athlethics!

[Islandman]

Money is coming in for sports, on that there is no doubt. I am not sure about any other area of school life.

Graham needs to stop oversimplifying the issue though. You cannot compare CSEC results without at least acknowledging that GSAT intake has a lot to do with the outcome 5 years later. It is intellectually dishonest to not do that. That aside I agree with him that we have misplaced priorities on this issue , not just individual schools but the society in general. More than half the secondary schools in the country are failure factories and have been so for 50 years.

Also, when 7 of the 10 schools with the best results are girls schools from various sections of the island and boys schools are under performing there is clearly something to consider about how we are failing our boys in the classroom. This problem doesn't start at high school but it apppears to be more severe at that level.

[Assasin]

The minister said he want the schools to show their account and expenditure. That would be good to see who is doing more with less and maybe copy that formula.

[Islandman]

Yes that would be good information to analyze.

I am really interested in this school Belmont Academy in Westmoreland to know what type of GSAT intake they are getting ad how much being a new school vs an upgraded school has factored in their success. Mannings is the traditional school in the parish and are always high in the list so for Belmont to be breathing down Mannings neck is worth noting.

[Sir X]

Thanx ,island,its as if the success of champs caused it

[Sir X]

Maybe Don could give us an input as per how much money came into JC from the old boys when they won almost everything in the early 2k after being in the wilderness in almost 3o years ,and how they spent it.

I could be wrong to assume that schools would be worse off academically ,given our economic situation without school boy sports, specifically champs and football.

I doubt it.

[Assasin]

yes, never heard of that school before this. It is worth seeing what they are dong and also remember how these school do well in the wider context knowing the violence and scamming currently going on in Hanover.

I stop reading Muggy articles because he doesn't seem to think there are as may success now as in his days, and that nothing has changed much. He is not open to any argument and it is just based on his opinion.

There was a time in the 90s when many of the schools were not doing good but there has been some progress now even though we have a far way to go.

[Jangle]

Every year these "intellects" come with the same BS. Jamaica as whole has its priorities wrong. I've asked the question before and I'll repeat it.. What happens to these Immaculate and Campion students after they get their 8 and 10 subjects and move on to college? When they're done they're still struggling to get decent work in Jamaica. Islandman made a valid point about the quality of the GSAT intake into many of these all-boys schools. What would happen to the majority of the kids who don't make the grades to enter the Immaculates and the Campions? Prior to converting these smaller schools from Secondary and Junior High into full high schools, there was a stigma attached on these schools. They were and still are given the dregs and they were forgotten. The Ministry of Education barely acknowledged them. Now that they're full high schools and doing well in sports, they've gained some form of recognition which is good for them and can generate money for the school. A prime example is Papine High and St. Catherine High who I see winning races and generally doing well at Penn Relays. Sports offer another path for many of these kids. Bolt I understand was a dunce.

[Sir X]

Hypocrytes,lets have it their way take away champs and manning cup,lets see the educational shitstem improve ...lol.

I bet it would get worse.In the 90s JC was known as the school with students who most likely would transfer into the criminal educational system.

[Assasin]

So what you think?? UWI shoulda pull out of the NPL? Maybe they would do a better job educating their students

[Mosiah]

So what you think?? UWI shoulda pull out of the NPL? Maybe they would do a better job educating their students

HUH?!?

[Don1]

Maybe Don could give us an input as per how much money came into JC from the old boys when they won almost everything in the early 2k after being in the wilderness in almost 3o years ,and how they spent it.

I could be wrong to assume that schools would be worse off academically ,given our economic situation without school boy sports, specifically champs and football.

I doubt it.

A few things come to mind...

* Significant money started to flow into JC for its rescue and rehab about 8 years ago. This had ZERO to do with athletics. It was just when the alumni found the leadership to do the job..i.e. Danny Williams

The school was then and still is MASSIVE. Population is about 1900 boys...up from 900 in the 1980s. The campus is also HUGE and VERY OLD with no upgrade or even good maintenance for decades. Class were being held in the canteen and assembly hall..and convenient open spaces. So the campus buildings had to be rehabbed and new facilities built.

That's primarily where the money was spent...not on sports people or facilities....or in response to success in sports.

30 years in Manning Cup wilderness...but we were winning Champs throughout the 1990s without that generating much alum money

Even with the new money the school is still too big. Should be about 1500 to be better managed...in my opinion.

Question...Do you compare the results of JC at Champs or Manning with say a co-ed school with 700 students? Some would probably say a direct comparison would be "unfair"..nuh choo

* The Graham guy starts his argument with a conclusion...with no data to support it. That's a sure sign of an ignoramus...or a guy with an agenda...or a combination of the 2.

I support the belief that sports should not negatively impact academic performance. But where is the data supporting this conclusion? Ans: There is none.

Since there is none what we're dealing with the common hazard of causation vs concurrence or correlation. Nincompoop reasoning in other words

* The education study and its ranking output is simplistic & shallow in methodology and subject to gaming by schools. To the extent that schools have different criteria for exam taking...5heir results are skewed.. That renders it suspect at best...and unscientific trash at worst.
It's not to be taken seriously...by serious education advocates....until its method is changed or proved adequate by independent experts in data analysis.

I was approached to expound on this critical subject by some serious foreign people who've done work in JA education...and wish to see JA education improved. They may do their own study. So I wrote some notes on my perspectives.

Can put that in a doc and post this afternoon...afta mi rounds done

Education is too serious a subject to be hijacked by charlatans n nincompoops offering Fake Science which people lap up without question