‘Good move’

Government’s delayed rollout of some aspects of Education reform has got the thumbs up from the Group of Concerned Parents, but coordinator Paula-Anne Moore says the real work must now begin.

She told Barbados TODAY that Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s announcement that the September 2025 rollout would be deferred by one year to allow for more national conversation on the sweeping changes to the educational system has eased the anxiety of parents and educators who have not wholeheartedly endorsed the proposed reforms.

“We can only conclude with gratitude that the ministry listened to the deluge of disquiet and rejection – from parents and educators – related to key aspects of the initial proposals. It must have been recognised that the implementation of the initial reform proposal without widespread parental acceptance and support would only doom its success,” Moore said.

“Few parents would want to risk their children’s education to change and its inevitable disruption. We must be convinced that the major change will be successful and is necessary. To date, we remain unconvinced by too much of the proposed reform, despite great aspects such as universal pre-primary, remedial primary and secondary education, and increased neurodivergent and other testing and support.”

Delivering the Budget on Monday,  Prime Minister Mottley said despite the postponement, the Ministry of Education will proceed with non-controversial aspects of the reform, including teacher retraining, new administrative arrangements for the teaching profession, curriculum reform, school repairs and other improvements.  

She outlined that 22 master teachers will be deployed across secondary schools starting September 1, this year to elevate teaching quality and instructional standards.

Moore suggested that the reform process was being hampered by “insufficient clarity and details on the proposed major changes”, lamenting that since the Ministry of Education’s public town halls held last October and November, there have been no official updates.

The parent/student advocate however suggested that the government should assess whether its laudable objectives of improving learning outcomes for all children, particularly primary and secondary remedial education, couldn’t be addressed within the existing secondary school structure without the additional significant risk and cost of the major proposed changes, especially at secondary level.

She insisted that reform that is matched with financial, teaching and other resources introduced on a phased basis such as increasing specialist teachers, universal pre-primary, remedial primary and secondary education, additional neurodivergent and sensory testing, psycho-social support, parental education, and separate schools for students with behavioural challenges would be far more feasible.
(SD)