#BTSpeakingOut – PM must take action

 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

It is hard to argue with Dr. Ronnie Yearwood that officials at the Ministry of Education and the Minister herself have to be held accountable for what can only be described as irresponsible conduct over the IDB applied test of first formers.

My daughter and another woman who is as close to me as a daughter without being a blood relative are professional teachers with now over 5 decades of teaching between them. During their careers they have been involved in development of special programs and administered many surveys.

Both these professional teachers were appalled when I asked them to follow this story in BT. The common reaction when they read the first stories was “what in hell were they thinking?”

They went on to comment about the statement coming out of the Ministry that they were aware of the sensitive questions and asked they be removed. Their question was “who verified the request was complied with before the survey was given?” Of course we know there was no verification and the IDB is quoted as saying they were asked but chose to leave them in.

The government cannot slough this off as a minor error.

As Mr. Yearwood has stated, there has been a breach of several laws involved in this case.

To quote the Attorney General of the United States “nobody is above the law” a statement that applied to Barbados as well.

Now it might slip through the cracks of justice if the survey was done anonymously but from reports it was not. The children were required to add their names and hence it was no longer anonymous and a clear breach of privacy.

More to the point just what does the gender indentity and sexuality of an 11-years-old have to do with Computer Science?

Those involved at the Ministry starting with the Minister herself, have to go. If the PM does not make changes then we have entered into the era of entitlement of the Mottley government which means Mr. Yearwood probably should be better situated for the next general election.

Alex Currie

North Saanich BC