How important is geography?
Marjorie Henry, Contributor

The summer holidays are over, and it is back to school again. As the expression goes - 'free paper bun'! For some of you the holidays were too short to get done all the things you wanted to do. For others, they were just too long and oh how you longed to be back at school! Well, regardless of what you thought of the duration of the holidays, a new school year has started and there is academic work to be done.

With the new academic year comes the start of another series of Study Guide lessons in geography. The lessons that make up the series are intended to assist students in their preparation for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams. These are students who are now starting grade 10 (fourth form) and grade 11 (fifth form). Welcome to all of you and, in particular, those of you who are reading the lessons for the first time. Some readers may have sat the subject in the last examinations and were successful. To you I offer my heartiest congratulations.

Some of you may be undecided about doing this subject. You may even be asking yourself, 'How important is geography?' Permit me to explain to you that knowledge of geography is needed in several areas. Included in such a list are meteorology, aeronautics, aviation, physical planning, environmentalist, surveying, cartography, agriculture and geology. The subject extends across many disciplines whether in the field of science or arts. It is, undoubtedly, an invaluable one and should be pursued once you have the opportunity to do it.

Now that I have won you over into doing geography, let me encourage you and the others who had already decided to do the subject to work hard at it. Passing the subject in the external examinations should be your goal. There is a thought that says -

"Successful students set goals to achieve the things they consider important."

As examination students, you need to decide what is important and valuable to you. I would want to think that getting good grades in your examinations would be important and valuable to you at this time. Your performance in the examinations will determine your future academically. May I also add, that, based on what is important to you, you set goals in order to achieve it.

In order to do well in geography as well as in all the other subjects you have selected to do, you must be aware of the content of the subject. In short, what is required of you to know about the subject. This information you will obtain from a syllabus for the subject. At the outset then, I am advising you to purchase for yourselves a copy of the syllabus for each subject you are doing. These can be purchased at the CXC offfice located at Caenwood Centre on Arnold Road in Kingston. Once you have a syllabus in your possession, you must read through it carefully. Always refer to it for the topic being done in class. You can go in search of information relevant to the topic as outlined in the syllabus. Prepare yourself for class by reading ahead of the lesson. This will enable you to better follow what is being taught, and you may just be able to make valuable contributions to the lesson as well.

In order to obtain knowledge on the subject, you must be able to find information on it. One source of information is your textbooks. There are several geography textbooks on the market that you can access. The following are recommended: -

• CSEC New Integrated Geography by Sheldon G. Bleasdell, et al.
• Geography for CSEC by Jeanette Ottley, et al.
• Geography for CSEC by Nelson Thornes
• The Caribbean Environment for CXC Geography by Mark Wilson

Some of these textbooks may be on the book rental scheme, so you should not experience any difficulty in accessing them. Where you can, purchase the others. No one text entirely covers a topic, so the additional reading from other textbooks will certainly provide you with more information on a topic. In the final analysis, you will be better prepared for the external examinations.

Marjorie Henry is an independent contributor. Send questions and comments to kerry-ann.hepburn@gleanerjm.com