PM remembers renowned educator Pat Symmonds

A lady of great poise and impeccable manners, who mastered the English Language, and made indelible accomplishments in education, community service and politics, is how Dame Patricia Symmonds has been remembered by Prime Minister Mia Mottley.

She said the renowned educator, former senator and privy councillor, who died today at age 94, lived an extraordinary life and left Barbados much better than she found it.

Mottley said the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), of which she was a long-standing member, was saddened by her passing.

She said that the educator was the best and probably is the last, of a unique classical group that represented the best of Barbados, exuding and instilling the importance of character and civil conduct while encouraging achievement and personally assisting and influencing hundreds as a result of a modern view of personal and national development.

The Prime Minister said: “Her life was one of dedication, exemplified by long service to every institution in which she was involved. She had a historic and much loved tour de force of a career at the St Michael School, where she taught for all of her teaching career. That career began in 1945 and ended in 1985, with Dame Patricia as Principal from 1976-1985.

“Her tenure remains one of the most storied in education in Barbados, and was illustrative of another central aspect of her life that she always, on merit, rose to the top and broke new ground. Her pioneering work at The St Michael School forged an education developmental nexus that was very much ahead of its time.

“It included strengthening religious principles to encourage discipline, personal responsibility, humility and leadership; expansion of the school orchestra and the enlargement of the school curriculum to include sports and other extracurricular activities.”

Mottley indicated that what can never be captured adequately is how Dame Patricia put a new sheen on The St Michael School as an enviable institution, nor the confidence and pride she instilled in hundreds of students’ circumstances and potential that meant the difference between failure and success.

No wonder she was universally revered by those who had the good fortune to be tutored and guided by Dame Patricia, Mottley said.

Dame Patricia was also a part-time lecturer at the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill and gave free tutorials, but her work in promoting and developing English as a subject of study and language, also occupies a special lofty place.

She was a founding member and president of the Barbados Association of Teachers of English for 22 years from 1967, leading work that evaluated external examinations and English curricula and, in a watershed achievement, secured the separation and independent grading of English Literature from English Language.

Mottley said: “It goes without saying that Dame Patricia, who was also a member of the International Federation for the Teaching of English, conducted numerous training sessions in writing and speaking English across the board. Many also in conversations with her would also get a gentle reminder of the correct construction of a sentence or correct pronunciation. Simply, there was no greater proponent in Barbados of the English Language.

“Dame Patricia also had a range of interest that included Chair of the Royal Commonwealth Society, President of the Friends of St John Ambulance Brigade, of which she was also a member, the National Trust, Barbados Family Planning Association, among others.

“An avid cricket fan, she was also a life member of the Barbados Cricket Association. And, of course, the Barbados Labour Party will always be deeply grateful for the gift that was Dame Patricia.

“Her devotion to our party is legendary, demonstrated not only in tireless work in numerous areas but in attending almost every possible meeting, branch or national, even in later years when she had to be assisted.”

The Prime Minister recalled Dame Patricia would invite budding politicians to her Strathclyde home and treated them to a taste of her delectable cooking, in the most unobtrusive way dispensing advice so that at the end of it all, they only remembered a delightful occasion.

Dame Patricia served in the Senate for 13 years, becoming the first female Deputy President and was a member of the Privy Council.

She was General Secretary of the BLP between 1986 and 1994 and was a President of the Women’s League. She was also a Deputy Chair of the Commission on Social Justice, Deputy Chair of the National Commission on the Status of Women.

Dame Patricia received numerous awards for her powerful contributions to education, civil life and politics, crowned with her appointment as Dame Commander of the British Empire by the Queen, in 2000. anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb