Why 16 subjects?

I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning to sail my ship –Aeschylus

Whenever CSEC results are released, there are always those students who write a seemingly ridiculous number of subjects. While most applaud those kids for constantly raising the bar and pushing the envelope, there are some who think the kids are just overdoing it by writing too much. Well if the truth be told, some of us actually write all of those subjects because every one of those subjects means something to us. The CSEC level is the only level where you can afford to do subjects outside of your career choice. In my case I’d chosen medicine quite early but in our system of education, we enter med school right after CAPE/ A Levels. This meant that I’d be doing BIO/ CHEM/ PHYS/ MATHS for two years then all those specialised medical subjects for another seven years. How would I be able to learn about the many other things that interested me? The CSEC syllabus is nowhere as detailed as the CAPE syllabus, so you actually can do a wide swath of subjects. However, it isn’t too simplistic – doing a wider range of subjects ensures that you can grasp most concepts discussed at any forum.
By just writing science-based subjects because you’re going into medicine, means I’d probably be pretty lost when someone, for instance, is discussing history.
How would I understand our political predicament if I didn’t learn about JFK and the Bay of Pigs? Information Technology gives me a keen insight into the information age in which I’ll be living the rest of my life. And how would I have been able to live without the love of poetry that English B has imbibed in me? Or appreciated the fragility of our environment without Geography?
So not all kids sign up to write loads of subjects because they have visions of themselves collecting trophies and prizes or parental pressure. They may sign up because they actually want to know more about the world outside of medicine, outside of engineering, outside of law. It was for this reason that in the U. S., you have to do a BA or BSc in the states before going on to medicine or law. I hear a lot about parental pressure so I know it exists. In my case, I had to fight my parents to write sixteen subjects. They insisted, however, on no extra lessons and that I keep up my extra- curricular activities, such as Hindu Society, house activities, (Go E House Pilgrims!!!), movies, vacations, etc.
By fifth form, we students have an idea of how much we can handle since in the third form we would have been exposed to at least sixteen subjects. I believe if you don’t challenge yourself, you start to get sloppy – lazy even. The choice as to how many subjects should remain with the child. So even though school seems geared for just preparing you to get a job, you can make it much more than just that, by trying to sample the field. My father, for instance, did the Science A Levels – but having done sixteen GCE “O” Levels, had no problem going on to Economics and Law. There’s that old saying, ‘Aim for the stars and if you miss, you’ll land on the moon’. Both the stars and the moon would give you a wider perspective. But so will a wide ranging education! The only way is up.