LETTER OF THE DAY - Highly irresponsible

The Editor, Sir:

I read, with amazement and disbelief, the article titled 'Students experience exam nightmare' in Wednesday's Gleaner that tells of students at Alpha Academy and Wolmer's Girls' School sitting their examinations to the sound of gunfire from the current emergency in Kingston:

"While the exam was in progress, gunmen and police engaged in a more-than-hour-long gun battle metres away. The sound of high-powered weapons rocked the buildings where the students were sitting their exams.

"'It was scary, but I still did my best,' said one student."

It is obviously highly - completely - irresponsible to have schoolchildren sitting examinations under such dangerous and disturbing conditions! What has happened to our judgement and common sense?

It is clearly unfair to our high school students to be sitting crucial exams while the sound of gunfire rends the air outside of their classrooms! The psychological pressure and strain on those students must be horrendous, however brave their smiling faces may appear to be. They cannot be certain that they will be able to return home safely at the end of the day. How can they possibly do their best in the examinations under such conditions? Clearly, the responsible thing to do is to postpone such examinations until the dangers and conditions of proximate warfare have ended.

The confidentiality of the examinations may be an issue/concern that may cause reluctance or unwillingness to allow a postponement of the exams, since they are regional to the Caribbean and not exclusive to Jamaica.

Lives should take precedence

However, it would seem that concern for the lives and safety of the children should take precedence. The examination administrators should be able to make some accommodation for extreme situations, where lives and safety may be at stake, such as war, civil unrest, earthquake, hurricanes, etc. Perhaps the use of alternative questions may ensure the integrity of the examinations.

Let's get real!: The children/students are undoubtedly in some potential danger from stray bullets, as their schools are so close to the fighting. Hopefully, the Ministry of Education will take prompt and forceful action to protect the children by endeavouring to postpone the examinations. A few weeks' delay may just save a few lives ... and permit the children to take their exams under normal conditions.

We owe them, our children, a responsibility of safety and protection.

I am, etc.,

ANTHONG G. GUMBS

aggumbs@aol.com