(CMR) Some parents have contacted Cayman Marl Road complaining of the new graduation date for Clifton Hunter after being notified on Friday of a “last minute” change of date for the ceremony. Now, a petition is being circulated to get government to reconsider putting the original date back in place.
They have gotten together and protested against the change stating that the date change has significant consequences for them; which they could not properly prepare for this year.
In an explanation letter the school indicates that a later date has been requested by many in the past so that they would have all exam results available to them. They felt that students needed the opportunity to “demonstrate their successful achievement prior to receiving their academic awards”.
The graduation dates have been changed to late August for both Clifton Hunter and John Gray High Schools. However, parents are complaining this now presents a logistical problem for many of their students – some of who are studying abroad and have already been accepted.
One parent noted that they had family members who had already purchased tickets to attend the graduation ceremony. Now they will be penalized and have to make additional arrangements if they are able to attend at all. In addition, some students will not be able to attend the graduation because they are slated to start school overseas at other institutions.
One parent noted:
“Why change it with such little notice to parents? What's the rush and why not leave it until 2020 giving people amble notice from now?”
However, not everyone is against the change of date with one parent stating that the change made perfect sense to her:
“The reasoning for the change of date makes perfect sense in my opinion … I completely agree, and I think its long overdue. And it will save past graduates having to return to the following year's graduation ceremony to collect their honours awards. University applications shouldn't be affected because all grades should be in before the actual ceremony, and once the exam results and diplomas can be made available that should suffice as the ceremony is just a formality.”
Parents have also noted that prom will now happen before graduation on June 29th.
There has been no formal response from the ministry as yet on who they will handle the complaints.
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