Too early to start streaming at Grade 9

I HAVE been following the current education system with great interest and, from my observation of my child’s educational pro­gress, there are many things which I am not happy with.
I am somewhat disturbed by the fact that children, especially those going to high school, are being streamed into specific fields as early as Grade 9, which I reckon is too soon as children are still deve­loping their skills.
Their interests and strengths in certain subjects may vary or change as they further their education.
I am of the view that children should not be limited to a certain field of study at Grade 9 because they have limited knowledge of other areas of study and do not have a general understan­ding of a broad range of issues which can affect them in one way or another later on in life.
They should be given the opportunity to gain as much knowledge as pos­sible in all areas of studies.
After all, our children are the future leaders of this nation and to be able to participate and contribute meaningfully to the growth and development of this country, they need to be able to understand all aspect of issues ranging from social, economical, political, environmental, science, business and so forth in order to fully participate when their time comes.
It is not good for any child, or human being for that matter, to be well versed in one field and yet lack skills or general knowledge in other fields.
It is not say that OBE is not good but rather children should be given the chance to do all subjects from science to social science, mathematics, law, etc, when in lower secondary so they gain a fair amount of knowledge in all fields of study before being streamed.

Vetubetari
Port Moresby