Programme driving down school suspensions, says education ministry

A major push by the Ministry of Education Transformation to curb poor student behaviour is paying off, with school suspensions slashed by 60 per cent this term, officials revealed during a workshop promoting values-based learning across secondary schools.

A revamped programme named VIBES (Values-driven, Inclusive, Behavioural Excellence, Empowering Learning Environment) engages secondary school principals, guidance counsellors, social workers and school officers to build on the skills they have already developed.

Juanita Brathwaite-Wharton, senior psychologist with the ministry, said the government has increased the complement of student support staff in the education sector from 10 to 40.

“To operate under a multi-tiered system of support, which is a proactive way of dealing with behaviour management where we enhance universal interventions for all students, helping to inculcate the values that we want to see our children exhibit.”

Brathwaite-Wharton explained that their work extends beyond the psycho-social.

“We’re looking at things like enhancing the teaching of maths, enhancing the literacy programming within schools, that’s from the academic perspective, but under the psychosocial perspective.”

The Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) curriculum focuses on social and emotional learning: “Especially the social and emotional learning component of that programme, where we teach children the skills that we want them to exhibit in terms of anger management, emotions management, we want to build their self-esteem and so on as a preventative measure.”

The ministry recently began a partnership with the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus following the launch of the Educational and Psychological Assessment Unit (EPAU), designed to support students with learning challenges.

The unit will serve primarily through a referral system with the Ministry of Education and also work directly with schools and families. It offers psycho-educational screening and assessments, teacher and principal workshops, and guidance on interpreting assessment reports.

The senior psychologist said the ministry has also started targeted interventions to identify students who require additional assistance, noting that some students need multi-modal, multi-agency support addressing housing, parenting, mental health, juvenile justice and substance use.

“A big part of the programme is helping schools understand how to identify students who need help and to do so early so that we can provide them with early intervention because the earlier you intervene the better the outcomes for both the students and the school.”

Cyrilene Willoughby, education officer with oversight of guidance counselling, highlighted the ministry’s collaboration with community groups to further support students.

“We have Echo Nation, but they come in to address various aspects of need among our young people, and we try as far as possible to address what we see. We listen to them, and we know when we listen to them that there are certain things that they think they know that we need to help them to understand, so we target whatever issues are brought up, so that you would find a wide cross-section of programmes across the secondary schools.”

Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw said the ministry was already seeing positive results from these initiatives, including a reduction in school suspensions.

“When we compare last term to this term, the number of suspensions has significantly decreased. I understand by 60 per cent, and no doubt it has to do with the work that you are doing, the work that the principals are doing, the work that the teachers are doing across the system. I want to see that number reduced by 100 per cent.”

“I don’t only want children who are academically sound, I want children who have values, who have good attitudes, who know who they are, they don’t have to lash out, they don’t have to fight,” said Dr Archer-Bradshaw.

She closed by encouraging workshop participants to incorporate the FIRM method.

“F means Fair, I means Inclusive, R is Relevant and M is Modern. So let’s be firm, keep pressing on, because our mission is to ensure that every child in Barbados has a chance.”