Trinidad Education

In Trinidad, The Ministry of teaching has the policy of free grooming for all. They preach that this free facts of life is non base on segmentation, wealth, race, sexual practice or ethnicity but rather is a way to ensure that the entire nation is educated. Though these be the promises on Trinidads and Tobagos Education Policy Paper, how is it that only nine of every(prenominal) one and only(a) thousand mint continue onto college, university or any higher education after thirdhand train? Twenty-one percent of Trinidadians live in poverty, which means that twenty-one percent of citizens do not have access to running piddle or proper health c are.Because of this, galore(postnominal) another(prenominal) electric razorren in these poor families straight enter the world of work or become beggars to help incline their family. This depicts the importance of social class on the initial decision of whether a child will be educated or not. This is not parkland as only 2 pe rcent of Trinidads population is illiterate. I would categorize myself in the middle to high status class in my country and this has, in many ways affected my educational opportunities.I lived in a town known as Diego Martin and though my locality mostly consisted of people within my same social class, the town itself has many neighborhoods consisting of people living in poverty. Pre- check education is not considered by presidency policies and and then, there are no public pre-schools and if a family wants to enroll their child in preschool they would have to do so privately and with their own money. This goes to show that the first level of education in Trinidad is in fact not free.Because of this, my parents enrolled me in a private pre-school, which would indeed have to be give for with their own money. This shows the immediate impact that class has on ones education from just the first steps. Pre-school in Trinidad usually takes about dickens days and here is where a chi ld learns his returns and letters and therefore these children living under the poverty line are somewhat robbed of these necessary learning divisions.After this, a child must then be signed up for primary school where he or he will kick the bucket the fol secondarying seven years. There are two hundred and sixteen primary schools in the country, one hundred and lxiii of which are funded by various religious institutions, thirty-two of which are funded by the government and therefore are subly free of charge, and twenty-one of which are privately run. I attended a privately run school as these had higher success rates in the SEA or Secondary Entrance Assessment examination that all primary school school-age childs are prepared for in order to gain placement in the school of ones choice.Once again, though there is an availableness of free primary level education, the members of the middle and higher social class send their children to privately run schools in order to ensure th at teachers are constantly present and not on strike due to low government wages, and that their children receive a more well-rounded education as there are funds now for sports and other recreational activities.Personally, attendance a private school made me not only whole tone safe, as there were not usually guards present in government funded institutions due to high cost, but to also gave me the opportunities to join different showy teams and go on school outings to various national attractions and the necessary dressing to gain a placement in the secondary school of my choice- the number one girls secondary school in Trinidad.The entrance examination is one aspect that I washbowl truly say that had absolutely cipher to do with class, race or ethnicity as each student was granted an identification number and placement into choice schools was through based on results. These secondary schools were again a seven-year course. Therefore, in total one should spend sixteen year s at school in order to complete what is considered a general education but the average number of years spent at school in Trinidad is eleven.This means that the average student drops out of secondary school after two years. As a female in the top all girls institution, I became very sex bias as my school continuously obtained the most government scholarships year after year. Not only that, but nationally women received a significant number of scholarships more than the men did. This may have wrongly shaped my idea that women are in fact smarter than men based on what I experienced at home.Tertiary education for many Trinidadians is extremely class bias. There is one university known as the University of the double-u Indies and though it is extremely renowned in engineering and mathematical studies it can only facilitate a very small percentage of graduates every year. Therefore, if one wishes to study, he or she may have to look at schools abroad which is a huge expense for any family.Studying in the United States has been a great privilege for me that would never have been workable if I belonged to a lower social class. Overall, my social status granted me opportunities unimaginable for many residents in my country. Despite government efforts to better the education levels of the country there is still a lot to be done in order to meet the goal that class does not find out ones level or education.