For those parents whose children are not, or no longer are in the public school system, Pre-Voc, in a nutshell, refers to a section created during the Educational Reform in an attempt to integrate the students who were unsuccessful at the CPE exams.

Trying to reach out to these students in this manner is, in my opinion, the most sublime gesture of the whole Reform. It really is THE ?winning formula (this time for the people), in the sense that although they have a different curriculum, the children from the Pre- Voc section do not go to a stigmatised school; they share the same school and the same uniform as those from the mainstream.

We would be hypocritical if we denied that, as parents our bedroom conversations did not initially include our apprehensions about the influence these children, older and perhaps much more street wise, would have on our own children, who for the most part are brought up in a cocoon. Thankfully, our worries never became family lounge conversation, and they never became a major PTA concern.

The PTA and the school body worked together to encourage an attitude of fairness towards these students and a culture of sharing and being humble about whatever gifts one child may have over another.

?Boys are different?

Three years of cohabitation (the order of the day these days!) in our school and the verdict is unanimous: not once, in the last three years, has any Pre-Voc child been guilty of any reprehensible behaviour. The few and minor problems we have experienced as a school invariably came from a handful of students from the mainstream. Admittedly, one cannot talk about great friendships having formed between the mainstream and the ?Pre-Voc? students; the affinities between them may not be strong enough. However, they have worked together very closely and side by side in mutual respect. They have organised together various sports events and cultural shows in a way that should be an example to us all and the Pre-Vocs have contributed greatly and extensively to the life of the school through their often superior artistic and sporting abilities.

The cohabitation may not have been such a success story in all schools and the problems reported vary in their nature and gravity, especially in boys? schools. ?Boys are different?, I am often told. I would never know first hand, but I am prepared to believe other parents and educators and fully appreciate their difficulties and share in their anguish. However, the recent move by some PTAs to mobilize to request support to ?end the Pre Vocs away? is frightfully worrying, unwise and morally unacceptable. PTAs are supposed to represent the whole parent population. By turning against one segment of the very people they represent, they are shooting themselves in the foot and falling short of their remit. Besides, where exactly are we planning for the Pre-Vocs to go? They have the same right to a public school seat as any other child their age.

I was heartened by the dozens of students I have spoken to and who, not only do not want to part from the Pre-Vocs, but they do not seem to understand why they should. Some lessons we sometimes learn from our own children!

My intention is not in the least to downplay the problems some children are experiencing and which are creating a legitimate fear, verging on paranoia, especially in boys? schools. The problem is real and a solution has to be found, be it in more vigilance, stricter discipline, counseling, more severe sanctions, more parent involvement and education, more attempts at integration, a more suitable curriculum, a more fulfilled student life?.but throwing away the baby with the bath water is inhumane, heartless and should not be endorsed by any civilized society.

Touria PRAYAG