The Member of Parliament for Western St. Mary, Robert Montague, is not in favour of the Government's decision to extend high school for an two additional years under the Sixth Form Pathways Programme.
Mr. Montague also believes sixth form is a waste of time, especially for gifted students, some of whom he says are forced to attend by their parents.
Mr. Montague shared his views on Wednesday, while announcing to his constituents that he has approached Delaware State University in the United States to partner with two high schools in St. Mary to offer an Associate of Science degree during the extended high school period.
The MP says the degree will be offered to students at Tacky High School and Oracabessa High School.
He argued that children today are "ten-times brighter" than children of the past and should not be held back.
"Any child that go to sixth form have so much free time under him hand that them can quietly study and do an associate degree," he insisted.
The Ministry of Education has reasoned that the country will benefit in the long run from more students spending an additional two years in secondary school.
But Mr. Montague has also suggested that more focus should be placed on maximising the potential of those students who show signs of performing above their grade level.
"We don't have no specific programme fi bright people. We have all kinda programme fi help di man weh slow and di man weh drop out, but di man weh conquer and mek it, we nuh have no programme fi dem. And just like how Usain Bolt beat di world and Shelly beat di world, we have some bright scholars here in St. Mary," he told his constituents.
