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| Minister of Health, Donville Inniss (FP)?? |
Do not judge your child entirely according to its eleven plus results.
This admonition to parents came today from Minister of Health, Donville Inniss, while speaking at the Graduation Ceremony of the West Terrace Primary School, at the Western Light Church of the Nazarene, Oxnards Crescent, St. James.
He pointed out that working hard at their designated school and becoming committed to a cause were much more important goals for students. "I serve in a Cabinet and in a Parliament in Barbados today with men and women whose success has much more to do with their commitment to a cause than with which secondary school they attended," the Minister offered as an example.
Parents and guardians were also advised to continue to set standards and values which would assist their children in dealing with negative peer pressure.?? "Do not be afraid to encourage them to set standards in their hairstyle, dress and general deportment…your child will be eternally grateful to you for doing so.
"Teach your child money management. We have become a materialistic society where there is a blurring of the line between our needs and wants.?? Your role as parents …is to help your child to separate the needs from the wants.?? Such an example will be beneficial to you and the next generation," Mr. Inniss stated.
Graduands were congratulated for their performance in the Barbados Secondary Schools Entrance Examination.?? They too came in for some words of guidance from the Minister: "Learn to be tolerant and respect each other; embrace differences and see opportunities to learn from each other and with each other…Always respect those in authority, that does not mean you cannot challenge someone, but do so in a manner that is not rude or aggressive," he advised.
Mr. Inniss also impressed upon the students the importance of reading, while lamenting the fact that he was not seeing enough "quality graduates" in society who had the ability to read and think deeply. ??To counter this, he urged them to spend less time with electronic games and more in books.
Some 87 students graduated from West Terrace Primary.