Rights as a student of the Northern Caribbean University
As a university student I can say without bias and with many others to testify, university students rights are sometimes disregarded by stakeholders, persons in authority and sometimes the student themselves. Rights stated by the Education Regulations 1980 like the right to elect a student representatives to represent the student body on the board are considered but the voices of these representatives are sometimes stifled due to power. However in Jamaica, the Jamaicans for justice (JFJ) did a survey which revealed that 71% of student representatives voted freely on school board decisions while 29% faced restrictions on their right to vote due to concerning and potentially unlawful restrictions. Students are obligated rights such as ;
•Safety- This is a concern and every student has right to be in a secure environment. There should be no physical or mental harassment. Moreover, the classrooms should be free of conflicts, bullying and physical fights even among the students. Students should be provided counselling sessions as well as training to be able to tackle such situations in school.
•Proper guidance – School students are at risk of being affected by bad influence and they need to be guided properly to help them. It is the right of every student to get proper guidance and during school; they can get the best advice from their teachers.
•Regular feedback – Students should be informed about their academic as well as extracurricular progress by their teacher on regular basis. This helps students to improve in the weaker areas. The feedback should not only be about the subjects mentioned on the report card but also about their behavioural, moral values and uprightness.Â
•Leadership and Team participation – Students should be given equal rights to participate in activities at school, be it sports, academics, extracurricular. These activities will impart knowledge and skills that are practical in nature like motivational skills, interpersonal skills, logical and cognitive ability etc.
