A generation divide that prevents young Barbadians from having a say in its future is one of the greatest issues plaguing the island’s development, Prime Minister Mia Mottley declared on Thursday at a youth town hall at Ilaro Court.
The nationally broadcast and streamed town hall on The Charter of Barbados and the Future of Work involved several members of her cabinet, as well as representatives from the Future Barbados youth think tank.
Referring to her own statements as a minister a generation ago, Mottley said: “When I was Minister of Education and Culture in 2000 and I spoke during the National Reconciliation Committee’s meetings chaired by former UWI Principal Sir Keith Hunte, I made the point that the greatest issue we faced in Barbados was generational and I share that same view today. This country has not replaced its population since 1980 and in 13 years’ time our workforce will be smaller, and this world is presently faced with major challenges like pandemics and climate change. If we are to build this country it will only be through our younger generation, so your voices matter. This meeting is one specific event I requested for independence as we make the change to a parliamentary republic.”
Stressing a distinction between leadership and management, she declared: “Leadership allows you to make decisions from a principled position and it means you should have inner peace and courage to stay on the path you set out, no matter how difficult things get, and you will accept the consequences of your actions. Managers, on the other hand, are those who can get things done, and in many instances, they can assist leaders, but not all managers are leaders, and as we go forward we need leaders at all levels of our society, not just political and in business, but within families and communities as well.”
Tamaisha Eytle of Future Barbados described the organisation as a “moonshot factory” aimed at developing social enterprises to resolve some of the problems Barbados is facing.
“Initially we identified five different matters, then that moved to seven, and now we are working under nine sub-headings,” said Eytle. “These include ‘future health’, where we are looking at how best to combat non-communicable diseases; ‘future blue/green’ – how to deal with climate change and opportunities in that field; ‘future safety’, which treats to the prevention of crime and early intervention in that regard; and much of what we do is grounded in ‘future technology’, looking at low-cost, technology-based solutions to these dilemmas.
“Beyond that, there is ‘future wellbeing’, where we will seek to create supportive mental health and wellness structures; the ‘future of work’, ensuring decent work for decent wages and a supportive environment; and ‘future learn’, looking at transforming our education system. We intend to fast track transformation in these areas by taking in some cases six months what now takes years to accomplish.”
Former journalist Alex Downes, who leads the wellbeing pillar, said he considered the Charter of Barbados “a guiding principle for Barbados, and our wellbeing pillar is grounded in ensuring enfranchisement for all Barbadians; it is a multi-sectoral, all-inclusive thing and one of the key elements of this charter is that it shows for us to move forward we must respect each other no matter who we are in terms of our backgrounds or personal views”.
Other members of the think tank suggested that early intervention through the education system is one way in which Barbados can stem the tide of crime and violence.
Jonathan Reid, who is researching criminal justice reform for the group, said: “Barbados has done badly as a small country when it comes to the rate of imprisonment per capita as we are in the bottom 20 per cent on that list. We also have a high recidivism rate, and I believe one of the reasons for this is that there may not be enough activities for inmates to get involved in at this time. At present, it is only carpentry, baking and tailoring, but we believe if they had more activities that they could draw on so they can be more productive citizens when they come out of prison, that would give them less incentive to go back.
“Now, in our consultations, we have spoken with the Barbados Defence Force, the Prison Service, the Probation Department, the Government Industrial Schools and the Ministry of Education to gather information and to come up with possible solutions.”
Co-chair of the wellbeing group, Shane Edwards, said: “We have to start the reform process from as early as primary school and within the schools themselves. When I was at primary school we had etiquette classes teaching us fundamentals like good manners, and at secondary school, this became Business Etiquette, where we learned how to conduct ourselves properly in the workplace. This seems to be missing from schools now.
“What we want to do is create a reporting system where any bad behaviour is put on record from early, and to ascertain the causes of this behaviour, and the aim is to track the student right through their school career. With that information, we can reach out to the child and determine whether the school is not catering to their special interests hence their deviant behaviour and try to get them to channel their energy in a more productive manner. The aim is to intervene at the right moment to prevent them from going to prison or ending up dead.
“We are also considering the creation of a ‘citizens app’, similar to what is available in the United States and other countries now, which will act as a personal safety network aimed at protecting yourself and those around you. With that, you can report on any questionable activities around your community, and armed forces members will have a special login where they can access public cameras and check them, and this service will be available on land and sea.”
In response to Edwards, Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw told the town hall: “We see education reform from a holistic perspective, and one of our main concerns is how do we avoid ‘losing children within the system?’ We have more counsellors and social workers with us now, but we recognise that we have to do more. We already have a system in place where we track students’ behaviour but we now have to work on how we can get more out of it and get the teachers more fully involved.” (DH)
