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President of the BNCPTA, Shone Gibbs speaking yesterday. Left is Andrea Austin, CXC’s Assistant Registrar, Marketing Officer

Plans on to expand transitioning series

The Barbados National Council of Parent Teachers Associations (BNCPTA) intends to expand its transitioning workshop series to include youth who will be leaving school.

 
Word of this has come from its President, Shone Gibbs, as he delivered remarks at the opening ceremony of the Moving Up – From Third Form to Fourth Form’ workshop for students entering fourth form and their parents, hosted by the BNCPTA in conjunction with the Caribbean Examination Council.
 
Gibbs explained that in addition to the ‘Moving Up’ workshop for which the response had been overwhelming, resulting in two such workshops being held this month, the Association also 0‘Moving On – Transitioning from Primary to Secondary’, which he explained was the first in the series. Gibbs said the BNCPTA is heartened by the response from the target audiences to these initiatives and in particular the support shown by the parents.
 
“The Moving On will remain, the Moving Up is new but will remain; but what we also have in the transitioning series is the Moving Out, which will cater to those students who are leaving school to pursue higher education or the world of work. The reason why we did not attempt moving out this year is because we felt it was necessary to engage other key stakeholders to have the correct programme for the Moving Out students,” he said.
 
The President indicated that such stakeholders will include the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Human Resource Association as well as tertiary education institutions. By working with these entities Gibbs said, they will be better able to respond to any concerns that may be expressed by the students.
 
His comments came as he reiterated his call for parents to remain involved in their children’s educational journey, especially beyond the Common Entrance Examination. With that in mind, he applauded the parents who attended yesterday’s seminar and urged them to keep that interest strong.
 
“At this juncture they need you more because they are making critical decisions that will impact on the rest of their lives… Please maintain that interest and journey with your children to avoid the pitfalls and to reduce the stress associated with this period in school and position them correctly for the world of work and higher education,” he said.
 
Directing his attention to the students, he encouraged all those present to make full and best use of their time in school and to be “teachable at all times”.
 
“Be part of the process that you too would help to give us a good return on our educational investment and at the end of the day you would be the greater beneficiaries, because at the end of the day no one can take your education away from you. As long as you have it you have it for life and you can build on what you receive in schools,” he said. (JRT)

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