Redman’s lament

On the Brass Tacks Sunday edition of September 23, President of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union Mary Redman raised two important issues. The first relates to what she sees as a tendency on the part of some principals to ‘cover-up’ and or ‘down-play’ the number of high-risk students at their schools. This, she attributes to the fact that some principals do not want to ‘make their schools look bad.’        

One would suggest that it may be true of some heads, not of all. It may be true of some teachers as well. After an incident at a school, one principal implored the students not to broadcast the event beyond the school compound or as it was put, ‘what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas.’

To some degree, this is understandable, no principal or teaching staff delights in making his or her school look bad. Invariably, the principal and staff are held to carry some of the responsibility. Besides, one isolated incident should not colour the culture of an entire institution. However, if in fact children are seen to be at risk of falling through the proverbial cracks, why would any principal worth his salt want to deny that fact?

By the same token, one should look to see when such trends are becoming too common and seek to do something determinative about it. It is said that sunlight is the best disinfectant. It is not without reason that Chapter 7 of my text on Harrison College is entitled ‘Social Ferment and the Dissolution of the Ethos.’ One realised that things were changing and not necessarily for the better. It was not primarily the fault of leadership or of the teachers. Schools were being swamped by hostile counter-cultural forces and were in retreat. Principals must recognise when the culture of a school, both academic and behavioural, is deteriorating and seek to address, not ignore it or skirt around it in one pious Speech Day address after another. Head-teachers must also realise that the school is not about them, but about generations to come long after they have retired to the obscurity from whence they came.

The tendency of some principals to downplay inconvenient truths may relate to a culture of silence that pervades much of Barbadian society. Barbadians are reluctant to speak truth to power. This is not a country in which we see a lot of profiles in courage when it comes to challenging the establishment. Too often, advancement within the system is dependent on or acceptance of an uncritical, accommodating mentality.     

The second issue raised by Redman concerns what she calls the ‘serious disparity’ between the public monies spent on the UWI, Cave Hill as compared to other areas in the education sector. As she hints, some might see her opinion as constituting a heresy. She urges a re-evaluation of the funds expended on university schooling and points to ‘too much wastage.’ One hears the rumours, but it is difficult to know the truth in a country where so much is always hidden in the shadows.

Some time ago, Sir Frank Alleyne, himself a long-serving Cave Hill teacher called for an audit of the university. To its credit, Barbados has developed an educational infrastructure that would be the envy of most developed countries. It ranges from pre-school to primary to secondary to tertiary to technical and vocational, to university level, much of which is financed by the Government through taxation. This means that there is a lot of physical plant to finance and maintain.

Given the legitimate demands of each division within the schooling process, we have privileged university education over other sectors. This is because it is seen as representing the higher level of intelligence ostensibly contributing more to the socio-economic outcome. This is not only socially unjustifiable but economically questionable. It is unjust to spend large amounts of money on university plant when primary school facilities, latrines and surroundings are in the state recently revealed or when primary school teachers have to pull their pockets to buy teaching aids for small children.

Does one graduate in sociology and psychology contribute more to national development than five carpenters or plumbers? The president of the BSTU has raised some issues which must be addressed beyond the grandiose notions of so-called education reform.

Ralph Jemmott is a respected retired educator.