Parents are welcoming the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Information’s Sixth-Form Pathways Programme as a practical approach that caters to all students regardless of their academic performance.

The Sixth-Form Pathways is part of the Ministry’s implementation of a seven-year high-school programme. It allows for students who complete grade 11 to enrol in the programme and pursue a two-year course of study with alternative opportunities alongside the traditional sixth-form curriculum.

For those who choose not to attend a tertiary institution, the certification they receive at the end of the Sixth-Form Pathways Programme will prepare them to enter various fields of work or receive further general or technical training.

In an interview with JIS News, retired teacher and father of one, Kenrick Thorpe, commended the initiative as a “good programme”.

“From my understanding, it caters for those who are academically inclined and for those who are not. Those who are not academically inclined will do [skills training], which is very good.” Mr. Thorpe said.

“I think it’s a good programme and I know if it is carried out as planned by the Ministry, pupils will benefit from it,” he noted.

St. James resident and mother of two, Gloria Brown, told JIS News, “I think it’s a very good idea, but [I think] the [cost] for the kids [to attend school] needs to be subsidised for the two [additional] years”.