SOUTH REWARD--Milton Peters College (MPC) will be expanding its educational possibilities at the start of the new academic year in August.
The largest high school in the country will be starting an English stream and will be offering Caribbean Examinations Council- (CXC-) level exams. St. Dominic High School, the academic section of St. Maarten Academy and the Methodist Agogic Centre (MAC) Comprehensive Secondary Education (CSE) currently offer CXC-based exams at the secondary level.
MPC General Director Wim de Visser said the school was currently in “the full process” of preparing and had authorisation from its school board SVOBE to work on starting the English stream. A committee is currently working on a timetable, subjects that are going to be offered, as well as ironing out other pertinent details.
“The focus is on the academic stream Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC) and thereafter Caribbean Secondary Education Certification (CSEC),” De Visser said. “In this way we can have quality education in both the Dutch and English languages.”
The CCSLC curriculum is intended to provide certification for all students who complete secondary school in the participating territories. A common core of subjects comprising English, Integrated Science, Mathematics, Modern Languages and Social Studies was developed to provide the learner with the competencies that would serve as a foundation for more advanced studies and the world of work and life as a citizen of the region.
The CXC first offered the CCCSL competence in June 2007. CXC says on its Website that the CCSLC responds to the changing demands of education and is designed to certify the knowledge, generic competencies, attitudes and values that all secondary school leavers should have attained. CSEC examinations are used to assess and certify a student’s academic achievement after five years of secondary school.
CSEC examinations are offered under several proficiency schemes: Basic, General and Technical. The Basic scheme provides students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes usually associated with completing a secondary course. The General and Technical Proficiencies provide students with the foundation for further studies and entry to the workplace.
De Visser said the intention was to start with two classes at the first form level.
The Daily Herald was unable to ascertain where space has been created at MPC to accommodate the new English stream and what impact this will have on overcrowding at MPC. This newspaper was also unable to determine whether MPC will be recruiting new teachers or will work with teachers already on the island, and whether MPC anticipates a reduction of students in the other streams as a result of the new stream coming online, amongst other things.
