#BTEditorial – Parents want fairness and equity

The annual anxiety and debate over the transition of the island’s primary school students to the secondary school system has started.

This week, approximately 3 300 children wrote the controversial Barbados Secondary Schools Entrance Examination (BSSEE), often referred to as the 11-Plus Exam.

From the looks on their faces or the comments attributed to them in the media, the youngsters faced some challenges with this year’s paper. Many of them cited a particular section of the mathematics exam as posing the most difficulty.

They expressed a mix of emotions from excitement to nervousness. And when it was over, the frowns on their foreheads were replaced with smiles on their cheeks, knowing that it was finally over.

Those who were fortunate to have benefited from consistent supplemental teaching to bolster the limited classroom sessions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are likely to perform better than their peers who did not.

Even in the current conditions, the rivalry for entry into the so-called “good schools” will not abate simply because there was a pandemic that upended the lives of these children, their households, and the teachers who were challenged to deliver educational services.

In a few weeks when results are released, there will be joy for some and gnashing of teeth for others facing disappointment with the outcome.

In any event,  our republic will soon likely confirm a decision that was seemingly in train since last year, that the island will move to dismantle the current process of assigning children to secondary schools.

While most will concede that the BSSEE process demands restructuring, it is how we get to that  point and the alternative that the Ministry of Education intends to introduce, that is of greatest concern.

Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Education Ms. Santia Bradshaw told the media that the groundwork for overhauling the education system, including the 11-Plus Exam, had been prepared by senior officials.

According to Ms. Bradshaw, the much anticipated report was with the Prime Minister and Barbadians are expected to know soon the decision of the administration.

“I always used to speak to the fact that the changes that we want to make in terms of the transformation is not an overnight process. People feel very near and dear to the Common Entrance Examination.

“It is what we all have grown accustomed to and in order to make that transition, you have to change mindsets, you have to improve the schools. We had to put in place the Director of Education Reform in order to work with the various institutions, the educators, in order to make that transition,” the Deputy Prime Minister explained.

Barbados has long been a country shaped by notions of pedigree and status.  It is one of our little open secrets. And as we strive for upward mobility, which is largely led by educational achievements, parents will want to make the path of our children much easier than our own.

Those who have been through the “newer secondary school versus older secondary school” experience, are aware of the deep rooted biases and stereotypes that frequently follow past students of newer secondary schools.

Even with the many educational and professional achievements of students from newer and older secondary schools, some people still perpetuate the backward narratives and tropes.

Social commentator and retired educator Ralph Jemmott wrote in this publication earlier this year: “Fundamental change to a schooling structure can be complicated and must be carefully thought out as it will have far reaching consequences for the future.

“It should not be the object or subject of symbolism as so much of Barbados is becoming.”

More important, he highlighted that the problem with education reform is that various groups have different agendas.

“Persons, stakeholders if you wish, invariably want different outcomes from schooling, outcomes suited to their own purposes. Most parents want to see their own children advance in the world financially and socially.”

We argue that there must be public confidence in whatever reforms are instituted by government. Without confidence in “the system” to be fair and equitable, then we will lurch from one crisis to another.

The fundamental issue is not that there is no need for change to the current system of allocating children, but ordinary Barbadians want to know that their children will have a fair chance at success and access to the opportunities available in the country.

They want to be assured that their children will not be condemned to stand on the sidelines and watch others flaunt the trappings of the head start they were afforded.