Secondary School Certificate.

Sen. Simons was replying to Opposition Sen. Neletha Butterfield who was worried over an 18-year-old student who did not have his grades for the BSSC.

She asked why a study into retaining youngsters had not been carried out earlier to help students with similar problems.

The retention study was looking into the effects of "holding back'' some students who had failed to make the grades.

But Sen. Simons defended the system stating that the alternative to the present BSSC was one of two extremes.

He said: "The challenge that an education system faces is determining graduation requirements and what standard should be set.

"We could design a certificate that only a small percentage of the school population could hope to achieve. That was the GCE or the school certificate.

That leaves the majority of students without certificates.

"Then there is the other side where standards are so low that everybody gets a certificate. Then the certificate is not worth anything.'' Sen. Simons pointed out that the BSSC is aimed at allowing around 75 percent of entrants to qualify.

He said: "There will always be some cases of students who have spent five or more years and do not have all the requirements for the certificate.

"It is trying to set a balance for the majority but not so low that everybody gets it.'' He added that the study into retention was being undertaken and stressed that people always felt these studies should have taken place earlier.