IT is pretty clear that Monique Grant-Facey, principal of the Portland-based Happy Grove High School, is determined to get the best out of students whose future she has been entrusted to shape and guide.

Grant-Facey — who has served just under two years as principal at the institution, having previously served as vice-principal at her alma mater, Titchfield High School — believes schools should break the mould of being labelled traditional or vocational.

“What we have to be doing now is to look at what is happening in the global society and not just what is happening in Jamaica. How do we equip students to fit into the new millennium?

We cannot continue to create students who cannot cope,” Grant-Facey explained to Jamaica Observer North East.

 “There are many subjects that are now irrelevant, and when we have a student doing a subject and at the end of the day cannot get into any occupation, there is no sense in it. When we look at what is happening in present day society, it is a skills-based one. So, therefore, we have to gear our student towards that; whether they are weak, bright students, or slow learners, we have to equip all of them so that at the end of the day they can generate their own employment,” she said.

To complement its traditional subjects, the school also focuses on electrical installation, construction, woodwork, and technical drawing, with 67 teachers on staff.

Grant-Facey added, that “We are working to let our students know, for example, that farm and agricultural science is a real subject to be loved and appreciated and not dirty work, which is a popular misconception.”

It was obvious during the interview with the Happy Grove principal that she is very focused and a very energetic individual, while expressing herself with great aplomb.

“We have seen improvement in the last five years in mathematics and English and our students have also done well in the technical and vocational areas.

“Last year we saw an improvement of 50 per cent in our mathematics examination results and the quality of the grades as well. We had more students getting grades 1 and 2. Construction has done well also and there was a 100 per cent pass in physical education that we have maintained over the years,” she revealed to Observer North East.

She noted, however, that there is a challenge with reading at Grade 11, particularly with Alternative Secondary Transition Education Programme (ASTEP) students, despite seeing improvement with a few.

“We work with different types of students and our teachers are involved in retooling so that our students are productive at the end of their time there. This is the 21st Century; students have to be equipped and I think we are getting there,” the Shortwood Teachers’ College and University of the West Indies graduate said.

“If you look and see that things and times have changed, some of the traditional subjects we will soon have to pack them up. Mathematics and English will always stand while some of the others will not take the students anywhere.

“One of my greatest delights is seeing students whose lives have been impacted in a positive way. Happy Grove continues to bridge the gap between a traditional high school and a vocational high school. We want to ensure that our curriculum mix is diverse and one which offers our children the path to development.

“There are some students who will go along the traditional pathway and that is fine, Happy Grove will accommodate but we have to be the bridge for the others and getting them to do the skill subjects,” Grant Facey said with passion clearly etched on her face.

Source: Jamaica Observer