#BTColumn – Muddled thinking on education

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today Inc.

by Dr Ronnie Yearwood 

I did not think that I would find myself writing yet another article or commenting on education in Barbados so soon.

This week the Minister of Education rolled out a summer school programme to catch up with the lost face to face time during the term, but with teachers not seemingly onboard.

The Prime Minister also resurrected the idea of a University College of Barbados, in what appeared partly as a whim because if you listened beyond the announcement, there was an admission that no funding was available.

Changing the name of institutions is not reform. Making up policy on the fly is not smart. Perhaps it explains why in Education this Government seems to stumble from one misstep to another, with our educational system and children as the casualty.

Policy on the fly

Take the policy to have summer school. Everyone understands the idea to try to catch up for the time lost during the academic year. However, it does not appear that there was proper consultation with parents and children, and teachers on the matter.

The other issue is, can a few weeks during the summer really catch up for the lost time during the academic year? Very unlikely, and that is in normal circumstances, but with exhausted children, exhausted teachers, exhausted parents, the situation goes beyond challenging.

As there is not yet any other school transfer system it was obvious that there would still need to be an 11-plus exam this year, so why was this not better planned.

If there was true consultation with stakeholders and as hard as it would have been, it is likely students, teachers and parents would have preferred to have the exam done this month following the return to school and just get it over with.

Further, as I have suggested in this column and others have also done in other spaces, perhaps use the first term of the new academic year, once students have been transferred, as a bridging term to catch up for lost time.

I am not sure who the Minister is trying to impress with half-baked solutions labelled as volunteering to teach summer school when in effect it is not.

Teachers are effectively being bullied because the teachers who do not volunteer will be “called out” as if something is wrong with them or that they do not care, which will be far from the truth.

The teachers that are not appointed to the civil service are likely to feel pressure to “volunteer” for summer school. Teachers, for the most part, work hard in challenging circumstances and a little support and empathy could probably go a long way, just about now.

As I said in a social media post this, week, “Teachers and this is at all levels from primary to university do not get 3 months of holiday a year. And if they did, you know what, they would deserve it.

I wish some people would stop beating down the profession and rally behind teachers who perform yeoman service.

The so-called holiday is used for training, updating courses, creating new courses, reading and getting new materials, creating new materials, publishing, marking, presenting work to colleagues, management meetings, and yes teachers have family and friends who also need some of their energy.”

Take your pick

If we examine the idea of a University College of Barbados, it was proposed in 2005. The world has changed a lot since then. In fact, the world has changed a lot in the last year and some.

The Prime Minister however seems to believe we have to have this “University College”. This is what I mean about making up policy on the fly because it may sound clever or pretty but where is the analysis?

Actually, the 2010 National Advisory Commission of Education (NACE) stated, “For some time now there has been discussion surrounding the proposed establishment of the University College of Barbados which would see the amalgamation of the Barbados Community College, the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic and Erdiston Teachers Training College.

NACE recommends: the retention of the BCC since funding the UCB would divert already challenged financial resources from the UWI, already an extreme cost to Government, and would further place pressure on the education system by diverting much
needed funds from primary and secondary institutions and from the implementation of developmental programmes.”

Perhaps the Prime Minister and the Minister of Education should the read the NACE report or is government only a continuum for convenience. Like you, I am just tired of all the silliness, spin and constant political campaigning.

Why say things that there is no intention of doing? Is it about grabbing a headline today, so who cares about tomorrow? Why announce something that actually may not make sense or cannot be done, could jeopardis the existing structure of the educational system and that a National Commission already recommended not to do? Hubris? Folly? Politics?

Take your pick. The real decision-making needs to take place around what sort of society and economy are we trying to build and what sort of education system will get us there, instead of grand but empty ideas, which were questionable then and may still be now.

Holding my hand

In an interesting admission the Minister of Education at the renaming of the Barbados Community College Hospitality Institute, stated, “I feel as if the Prime Minister is the Minister of Education… and I say that with all sincerity and I want people to appreciate that PM Mottley has the best interest of education at heart and continues to guide and hold my hand making sure we have a team of people that are able to bring about the transformation that is necessary.”

I think we can also say with all sincerity, perhaps then the Minister of Education should be relieved of a role that appears beyond her programming capability and one it seems the Prime Minister is doing anyway.

Dr Ronnie Yearwood is a lecturer in law, lawyer and social commentator.
Email: yearwood.r.r.f@gmail.com