Should I have therefore said the plan is too vague and filled with too much rhetoric and jargon to be meaningful? A strategic plan however – dated 2005 to 2025 – is too old school and can never be good in my humble opinion, not in today’s rapidly changing economic and social environment. Far better are shorter more targeted plans not these multi-year ones that do not stand the test of time and are far too broad with too many platitudes and clichés. The seas are rough – and sailors cannot afford to take the long nap that this plan offers. So the destination and strategies must of necessity be re-assessed constantly.

Prof. Warde had some informed, detailed, sensible and clear proposals for retooling Barbados in Science and Technology. The picture he painted had implications for other sectors of the society and also pointed out some of the flaws in a post colonial educational system that has changed little at the primary level.( Should Prof. Warde write the plan?) I was definitely there at the Frank Collymore Hall and I took a few notes.

Paraphrasing Prof. Warde:

There is a need to eliminate the 11 Plus examination. It contributes to feelings of inferiority among people taking it who did not pass. Children should not be made to feel inferior. St Kitts has eliminated the 11 Plus and are doing well. The guiding principles of the CXC need re-examining.

There is a reason for redefining education: we need a new vehicle of human empowerment and social transformation. The system no longer works. We have to study the implications of internationalization of education in a globalised world given factors such as the rapid obsolescence of knowledge in the information revolution.

The ideal CARICOM person lives by five basic principles according to CARICOM 1997 IDEAL:
1. Live together
2. Learn to Be
3. Learn to Do
4. Learn to Learn

Barbados must adopt an inquisitive approach to education and learning. In the current system, a large fraction of children will lose interest in Science and Technology when they go into school. Low coast approaches should be adopted for inquiry based methods of teaching. This has been done in Chile, Venezuela and other countries. Creativity is fostered in this way i.e through inquiry. Entrepreneurship cannot be taught from a book in a classroom. So that the present system fails because it does not expose children to sufficient inquiry.

Re: Science Trinidad and Tobago and some other countries have a more advanced system of teaching through inquiry methods. In general Barbados has to create more Math Olympics, Science Fairs, Science Museums, new mentor incubators and internships, special summer programmes. Teachers need to be retrained.

I did not miss the great intervention by the outstanding Professor’s village school-teacher (?) either – a poetic, humorous, intelligent and dignified ode to the traditional Barbadian sustainable development model, when social education was an essential part of good parenting and work ( feeding pigs etc) was not considered beneath one’s dignity but a part of what we now call community development. Why should we have to raise funds for community development when our communities intuitively had models of development that people now pay handsomely to learn?

David

as word WordSong would attest, the good MIT professor claimed that it was necessary to understand the effects of the change and prepare for them, and he did speak of “revolutionary ” change and not “evolutionary” change, which is a clear indication of how critical the change process is for there to be any hope of success for these small economies going forward.

As you might be aware, there was a Barbadian who at sixteen reached the semi finals of the junior US Open Grand Slam tennis event. He was regularly beating the likes of Michael Chang, Jim Courier, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras (all now tennis legends) who were his peers at the time, but was forced to give up the sport to pursue academics at Stanford by his parents….! He is Martin Blackman, son of the past GoCB who clapped so enthusiastically at the end of the lecture …! Hypocrites …

Wordsong …..Thank you for such an enlightening post. You have hit the nail on the head and I totally agree with you. We have to start with training our teachers first in order to implement such a model. Our society despises an inquiring mind especially coming from those that are deemed less “educated”. Our system does not allow open discussion between teacher and student. We still have that Massa approach to teaching. Science is taught only from books and not as a living subject. We have a long way to go but we have to start ASAP.

BAFBFP

Martin Blackman had to go back to school at age 30 because he was getting his backside regularly beaten in tennis. He was an early bloomer at age 12 but was surpassed by the others later on despite the support (you claim he did not receive) from his father.

Prof Ward is an eminent scientist and educator. The institution at which he works, MIT, labels itself a most highly selective institution. One must be in the top 5% to get in. It does NOT admit a broad range of abilities. Please google the Bronx High School of Science or Stuyvesant High School or the Brooklyn Technical High School for a look at the admission practices of the three top PUBLIC high schools in New York if not the USA. What about your beloved Singapore? What practices do they have? Trinidad is the top performing country at CXC and CAPE and they have an 11 plus system of selection and transfer from primary to secondary school. Barbados’s performance in the regional CXC examinations objectively surpasses that of St.Kitts. I do not care if we retain the “11 plus” or not, I just hope that people do not believe that the removal of the 11 plus ALONE (or even in part) will be the solution to our school problems. I believe it is the introduction of the other changes suggested by Prof Ward (curriculum content, assessment methods and management of schools etc) that will make the difference. Removal of the 11 plus is easy, the other suggested changes are difficult to implement.

I believe that along with the removal of the common entrance exam, we should get rid of the separation of primary and secondary schools. There should be one type of school for ages 7 to 16 and then specialised institutions there after. Before age 7, children should be allowed to play, get dirty, have fun and be loved.

It is also my fervent belief that the single problem with our school system is that we (Barbados) will not admit that the present system was designed to address concerns and situations existing 200 or more years ago. The world has changed. Not even the Anglican Church supports slavery anymore (LOL).

@ David, miller

There will be NO change. The design of the system works very well for those who finance the political parties and the University of the West Indies. For the people, it ain’t broke …!

@ IslandChick

Wordsong was only regurgitating what he heard at a lecture on Monday …

Yes you did. Don’t quite know what it is, but you did do something wrong …

@BAFBFP – You had better read what I wrote. Clearly you did not the first time.
” You should have been at the Springer Memorial Lecture at the Frank Collymore Hall on Monday delivered by a prominent Bajan Professor at MIT. He also presented a development plan that focused on developing the young human capital of the region into PRODUCERS of GOODS (as opposed to services). He said Barbados is guilty of producing too many Lawyers and economists. Courtney Blackman said they were too many finance people.Everyone in the room clapped. They were all hypocrites of course after all most of them were of the same service provider elk … He also was opposed to the eleven plus.”

Talk about regurgitation! Or was it because you suspected I was a male?

@ David and IslandGal, thank you. This fora offers me an opportunity to get some of my ideas and feelings about a number of topics out. I enjoy participating, especially when the comments are reasonable and balanced. I like to draw on my own experience of work to inform the issues I write about. I believe I have a contribution to make and that is why I am here.

@ BAFBFP : About Prof Warde’s address, I stated VERY CLEARLY that I was paraphrasing: What exactly is your point besides some sort of strange hostility for no apparent reason? You do a great discredit to yourself. Before now I had some measure of respect for you.

Again let me repeat:

“Paraphrasing Prof. Warde:

There is a need to eliminate the 11 Plus examination. It contributes to feelings of inferiority among people taking it who did not pass. Children should not be made to feel inferior. St Kitts has eliminated the 11 Plus and are doing well. The guiding principles of the CXC need re-examining.

There is a reason for redefining education: we need a new vehicle of human empowerment and social transformation. The system no longer works. We have to study the implications of internationalization of education in a globalised world given factors such as the rapid obsolescence of knowledge in the information revolution.

The ideal CARICOM person lives by five basic principles according to CARICOM 1997 IDEAL:
1. Live together
2. Learn to Be
3. Learn to Do
4. Learn to Learn

Barbados must adopt an inquisitive approach to education and learning. In the current system, a large fraction of children will lose interest in Science and Technology when they go into school. Low coast approaches should be adopted for inquiry based methods of teaching. This has been done in Chile, Venezuela and other countries. Creativity is fostered in this way i.e through inquiry. Entrepreneurship cannot be taught from a book in a classroom. So that the present system fails because it does not expose children to sufficient inquiry.

Re: Science Trinidad and Tobago and some other countries have a more advanced system of teaching through inquiry methods. In general Barbados has to create more Math Olympics, Science Fairs, Science Museums, new mentor incubators and internships, special summer programmes. Teachers need to be retrained.”

There endeth my paraphrase of Prof. Warde’s statement, which if you had read carefully, I would not have had to be forced to repeat. Moreover, you have caused a very good discussion to deteriorate.

My God some ah wunna women ain’ got nah skin at all at all … but I gun be nice and lef you be …