By Sheria Brathwaite
The Barbados Cadet Corps has big plans for the development of its organisation including welcoming members from various religious backgrounds into its ranks.
Not only is it looking to significantly increase its membership but it is on a mission to become a more inclusive organisation, says Commander David Dowridge.
He said this would give the corps a bigger pool to draw from and an opportunity to influence a wide cross-section of society.
Speaking to the media Tuesday on the sidelines of the Principals’ Coordinating Conference held in the Hodgson Hall room, St Ann’s Fort, Garrison St Michael, the corps commander said: “Currently we have over 700 [cadets] and we are aiming in the short-term to go to over 1 000.
“We [are also] looking to appeal to those who are outside the normal group that would join cadets. So we are looking to appeal to people who may be from a religious [background] – Muslims, Rastafarians and other groups. We are looking to have some discussions with those representatives with the view of attracting them into the cadet corps so that they could benefit from the programme,” he said.
He noted that this may mean making adjustments including in the uniform of the corps but the leadership will first sit with the representative bodies.
Dowridge said the corps was not wasting any time rolling out its inclusion strategy, adding that by September he was hoping to have young people from various faith-based organisations.
The corp’s commander added that over the years the number of young people joining the ranks was on the decline and it is important for the entity to remain relevant in today’s world.
“Over the years the numbers fell particularly during the [height] of COVID-19. We were virtually at a standstill in terms of increasing numbers. We were down in the 300s just prior to COVID-19 but now we are on our way back up. I think a programme like cadeting in Barbados ought to impact more people. So 700 out of 21 [secondary] schools is too low a number. Resources were made available with the view of bringing cadets up to 4 000.
“The issue though is support. We need to have volunteers – adults – who are going to come out and help us with the programme. We need a better ratio between adults and the cadets. One and 30 or one and 40, which is what we have now, is not good enough. We need to have maybe one adult to every ten or so cadets if we are going to be effective in getting our programme to work. We need volunteers.”
He added that the corps would soon be putting out advertisements requesting the assistance of men and women from the public, private and third sectors, including those from the diaspora, with various skill-sets.
Furthermore, he pointed out that private individuals, businesses and non-governmental organisations could make monetary contributions to the programme.
Calling it a public good, Dowridge noted that the cadet corps has played an important role in the development of young people.
In addition, he explained that the growth of the programme could lead to reduced incidents of violence among young people and within the school system.
“We are trying to develop good life skills. We want to appeal to youngsters, their attitudes, value systems so that we have a better citizen. We believe that if we can convert everybody in Barbados to be better citizens then we probably won’t have the type of violence and the issues that we are seeing today.
“Recognising the current situation, we are hoping to be able to build out our programme and pay attention to things like dispute resolution. We want to get the basics back in – good manners, discipline, patience, honour, courage, duty.”
President of the Barbados Association of Principals of Public Secondary Schools Stephen Jackman said he believes that if more young people between ages 11 to 20 joined the corps they would be more disciplined and be exposed to a range of opportunities.
“In this time where our young people are facing so much, it is now important that schools, the cadet corps, service organisations and everything, retool to be able to offer these young people an alternative to what is being fed to them as a regular diet everyday,” he said. “Most people would think that if you put them in the cadet corps, we are going to teach them how to use the guns that they are walking around with, but that is not the case. They would be taught that very often there is no need to use a gun, there is no need for violence because most things can be resolved in other ways.”
Acting Chief Education Officer Joy Adamson said the Ministry of Education supported the call for more young people to join the programme and for adults to volunteer.
During the conference, principals and other representatives of a number of secondary schools had break-out sessions with management of the corps to discuss the way forward for the organisation.
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
