Walter, who is responsible you think in the society for building the framework to sustain employment? […]BU has always held the view that Barbados is a public led economy/society. On this premise therefore if government – by policy initiative – wants to move in a different direction one would imagine a sensible approach would be one of collaboration and preparation.
David King, Blogmaster of Barbados Underground
In 2002, I was part of a group of actuaries in Atlanta, Georgia listening to a speech being delivered by Ms. Anna Rappaport, a former President of the Society of Actuaries. At the end of the speech, I rose and asked Ms. Rappaport a question.
“Which country are you from?” she asked, recognizing that I was speaking with a non-American accent. “Barbados” I replied.
“You know”, she continued, “I am amazed at how such a small country could produce such a relatively large amount of young, bright, trainable people! It is truly a remarkable achievement!”
That incident alone was enough to convince me that the Barbados brand has achieved international status and acknowledgement.
Undoubtedly, there are many other Barbadians, working in various fields of human endeavour, in many countries across the globe, who have been filled with pride as they listened to similar complimentary remarks being heaped upon their small, but much beloved Barbados. Achieving international brand name status in the areas of training, education, and professionalism, made possible by the focus and dedication of generations of hardworking Barbadians that came before us, is a feat that we must now seek to leverage.
As a people, Barbadians possess enough talent, ability, ingenuity, resourcefulness, drive, and ambition to move their country forward for their and their children’s benefit. By Barbadians, I mean all Barbadians living “on the rock”, and in the diasporic areas of Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and North America. Collaboration and co-operation among all Barbadians are extremely crucial elements in our drive towards maximization of our available resources. This definition of “Barbadian” is simple and innocent sounding on the surface, but when properly understood and applied, it can become a potent asset in our quest to find economic growth. For example, we have a massive food import bill at the moment. There are Barbadians living all over the world, who use their foreign currency to purchase goods and consumer items for Barbadians living in Barbados. This activity should be encouraged since it represents a situation in which foreign goods are flowing into Barbados, for Barbadians, without a commensurate drain on our foreign exchange. As long as barrels contain no drugs, weapons, and explosive materials, they should be moved swiftly through our ports, tax-free, into Barbadian households. The more, the merrier. Barbadians feeding and helping Barbadians at cheaper prices.
Developed countries constantly advertise shortages that exist in their professional, technical, and religious labour markets. The governments of these countries use favourable immigration policies and provide millions of job visas yearly in order to gain global access to scarce human talent. A new approach, in the areas of government and politics, must now emerge to find effective ways to carve out a niche market for Barbados in the provision of high level global human resources.
Additionally, the populations of first world countries now view the Caribbean as an exotic, idyllic region capable of titillating and satisfying their taste buds in the areas of sport, art, music, and international entertainment. These areas provide unlimited opportunities and earning potential for the successful Barbadian company and individual. In the international entertainment industry, our very own Rihanna is an excellent example. We, as Barbadians, can offer these populations more.
At present, our educational system is geared towards identifying those students who are good in English and Maths at age 11 and shepherding them towards the “older grammar” schools. The traditional media houses are routinely used to highlight the successes and dreams of a dozen or two of the top performers who are supposed to be headed for great things.
Five years later, many of those who did not gain entry into the “older grammar” schools, that is, those who attended the “Comprehensive” or “Newer Secondary Schools” are jettisoned from the secondary educational system. Perceived as “failures”, these 16 year-olds yearly add to a pool of unskilled, and unemployed Barbadians. This forever expanding pool of unemployed youths provides opportunities that are feasted upon by politicians, businesses, drug pushers, gun smugglers, sex abusers, rogues, thieves, and vagabonds. It is also developing into a dangerous social powder keg.
Some of these 16 year-olds, technically gifted from birth, relish the idea of getting an opportunity to study at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic, but their dreams are shattered as “underperformers” and “failures” from the “older grammar” schools eat into some of the limited spaces available at the institution.
Seven years later, out of an original cohort of almost 4,000 students, about a dozen or two top performers (Barbados Scholars and Exhibitionists) are highlighted and praised by the traditional media, and then encouraged by the politicians and policymakers to go away and stay away. They do exactly that.
Certainly, our educational system is flawed, and needs to undergo some adjustments. Be that as it may, all of these adjustments would now have to be implemented against the background of a country severely crippled by massive debt, a government that is broke, an agriculturally demoralized nation resigning itself to a high food import bill which gnaws at scarce foreign exchange, and a rising tide of angry Barbadians now beginning to recognize the damage that has been done by excessive political greed and corruption.
As a starting point in the discussion related to laying down an educational framework to serve the employment interests of Barbados in the 21st century, I now take this opportunity to offer some recommendations:
Primary Education
· The 11+ exams in Maths and English should continue as basic exams for all students, but the format and scope of the testing should be broadened to include computer fundamentals, French, Spanish, Chinese, art, music, performing arts, and sports.
· Scores achieved in end-of-year exams in class at ages 9 and 10 should form part of the overall 11+ score.
· Tapes and videos should be used to assist with the teaching of conversational French, Spanish, Mandarin, and Cantonese.
· Student exchange visits to and from Cuba should be pursued. We should be looking to produce bi-lingual Barbadians by 2035
· Performances in Inter-Primary school competitions should be used as 11+ scores in sports and athletics.
· Emphasis should be placed on building confidence and beginning to create a sense of national self-worth at age 11.
Secondary Education (Boys and Girls separated to correct the Biller Miller catastrophic blunder)
· Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic (SJPP) should be accepting 11+ students, based heavily on scores in computer fundamentals, and maths.
· CXC exams mandatory for all students.
· SAT exams mandatory for all students.
· Exams needed to qualify students for entry into international technical colleges and universities should be mandatory at SJPP.
· Focus should be on getting as many students as possible on to the tertiary level of education.
Tertiary Education
· Excellent scores in SAT may create scholarship opportunities at universities and colleges in the USA and elsewhere
· Excellent performances in sports, art, and music may create scholarship opportunities at universities and colleges in the USA and elsewhere
· Non-scholarship students will seek entry into the University of the West Indies and their education will be paid for by the Government of Barbados.
· Emphasis on math, science, engineering, technology, business, and sports
· Focus should be on producing workers, athletes, and professional sportspersons for the global market.
How do we find work for our graduates?
Eleven short years after Christopher Columbus set sail for the New World, the Spaniards established at Seville in 1503, a Casa de Contratacion, which, in their language meant a House of Trade. In 2015, we must now apply the concept of a House of Trade to the purpose and function of our embassies. No longer should our ambassadors and senior members of their staff be allowed or encouraged to believe that their purpose in life is to rub shoulders with international diplomats as a means of satisfying their individual thirst for social status and recognition.
Barbadian embassies must now be transformed into national institutions which are constantly on the lookout for educational, athletic, trading, investment, and employment opportunities that can be grasped by Barbadians. For example, the Barbadian embassy in the USA should be spending a lot of its time encouraging and incentivizing Sagicor (a Barbadian-connected life insurance company operating in the USA) to access the talent of Barbadian actuaries, accountants, investment managers, risk managers and other support staff living in the USA and Canada. It should also be analyzing the USA demand for doctors, priests, certified public accountants, physiotherapists, and other professionals, and advising young Barbadians who to contact, what processes to initiate, and how to position themselves to compete for these jobs. Similar efforts should be made by our embassies or “High Commissions” in Canada and other Commonwealth countries, and Europe.
Finally, the government of Barbados has suddenly relinquished its responsibility to fund the tertiary education of Barbadians. To ease the heavy financial burden that has been placed upon government’s shoulders, some ingredients of a self-financing mechanism must be introduced into our educational system. Those students who receive governmental assistance, in order to move from secondary to tertiary education, will be required to sign a contract with the Government of Barbados before they begin university studies. These students will be tracked and required to pay a percentage of their earnings for the first 5 years of their working life after graduation, regardless of whatever country they are working in. These special payments will be earmarked for spending on tertiary education.
It would be in the interest of everyone concerned to ensure that young Barbadians gain access to a tertiary education, compete for global sustainable jobs after graduating from university, and compulsorily pay back into the system so that the next group of Barbadians following them can grasp opportunities and repeat the process.
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137 responses to “Adjusting Our Educational System to Generate Sustainable Jobs for Barbadians”
Artaxerxes
@ PUDRYR
“We niggers got to be real blind when we CANNOT SEE the sign on the wall, the one that never left the one which says “No coloureds or DOGS allowed””
Hahahahahaha ……. You is de best.
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Bush Tea
@ Walter
The production of cogs for the world’s industrial wheel is NOT education.
‘Training’ …perhaps
‘Apprenticeship’ ….possibly
‘head-hunting’ … even
‘looking fuh wuk’ …mostly
But you must know that your supply and demand argument can easily applied to the world’s need for farm workers; hookers; con men; mercenaries -(like Dompey) to fight other people’s proxy wars; and even for green monkeys for medical research.
Education is a completely different animal, and it is precisely because many have devalued what is possibly the single most important aspect of the human developmental process to the status of ‘getting a job’ that this world of ours is so overwhelmed with brass bowlery.
Boss…
Education is the formal process of researching, documenting, refining, and disseminating to future generations, the consciousness of being alive. Of establishing a purpose for being; of developing the ability to reason; to communicate; to rationalise potential consequences of future actions; and to master the art and science of living successfully with others.
…thus preparing a young person to take full control of their future from a perspective of knowledge and confidence, and to chart a life for themselves that maximises their own personal talents and desires.
(Bushie had was to assemble that definition – cause most formal definitions of ‘education’ are flawed)
A very well educated person may not even then be employable …. (a la monks) because they may have developed to the stage where they operate on largely spiritual levels….while on the other hand, as you no doubt know, most employers have a preference for employees who have no clear idea of who they really are; where they are going; or what they want in life, and who will just do as they are told…(and Bushie is talking of persons at the highest possible level of employment here – although not specifically calling the name of any PS…..)
You have erred on this one Walter, but only because you brought into the generally flawed definition of what ‘education’ is all about…
Your last point is the most important. Education provides an anchor for shaping a good family unit and by extension society.
Have you read Roy’s column today? He has taken a turn in Jones.
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TheObserver
I have read and enjoyed the various contributions. Let us avoid being bogged down by semantics (or big words) as they add nothing to the discussion and is one of the ways a Bajan shows his level of education.
After reading these postings, I often have difficulty understanding the conclusion, or I get a different take-away message from other readers. My conclusion of Mr. Blackman’s fine exposition is that students should seek opportunities to study abroad and then pay back the government a little something for funding their tertiary education.
Have there been changes to the educational system in the past thirty years? Before you hasten to mention the change from O’ Levels to CXC exams, allow me to ask you if this is the same thing as changing an Eveready battery for a Duracell battery? I want to go further and state, “there were no real changes”. Correct me, if I am wrong.
And that is the heart of the problem. We have a system that was created by the British to serve their objectives and which is now expected to serve different objectives; those of independent colonies. The system continues to perform as designed; it continues to identify a select few (who in former times would march off to Britain and return as local administrators ) and to ignore the needs of the many. Instead of applying Mr. Blackman’s patches, we may have to restructure our educational system.
Also at the heart of the problem is that our educational system is a political football. Before you start fixing the system you have to first fix the inherent nepotism, cronyism, “yard-fowls” and partisanship. Whilst the average citizen is unable to further his/her education because of excessive costs, the children of politicians and well-connected citizens are able to study abroad with scholarships that the general public are unaware of.
Perhaps we can take a look at the Singapore model and see if we can employ it in the islands. Note that part of the success of the Singapore model is attributed to the honesty , integrity and vision of one of its leaders.
Mr. Blackman has prescribed some remedies without fully diagnosing the fundamental problem
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de Ingrunt Word
Bushie, it’s very difficult at times to comprehend some of your right-brain, intellectually high-brow expositions with your periodic base level, earthy and practical remarks. It seems as if there are two Bushies creating their own harmony in a cacophony of dissonance.
It is your contention that in a world where we need to do all the practical things of life, base level agriculture and farming in order to eat; manufacturing and tech in order to maximize and augment that base to a higher level; medicine to maintain health and cure the sick, etc etc that a more meaningful and practical way to look at education for Bdos is:
“Education is the formal process of researching … Of establishing a purpose for being; … to master the art and science of living successfully with others.” And the kicker: “A very well educated person may not even then be employable …. (a la monks) because they may have developed to the stage where they operate on largely spiritual levels…”
Amazing.
Previously, your colleague Pieces said earlier, “Walter’s article was thought provoking but, Bust Tea really in his inimitable style put a “in living colour” spin on it that spoke to what is really going on on the ground…”
That sir is the joy of popular debate. He who speaks well and is clearly of above average intelligence is given credit at times when the remarks if made by another would be considered truly and simply absurd (unless of course one is sitting in the library at Oxford U, or up at Cave Hill!).
In the past, you have rightly condemned the seeming ‘rote, regurgitation’ of our education system and rightly called for a broader based curriculum which charts the youth towards self awareness and a stronger entrepreneurial foundation (in all fields) but here you are suggesting this awesome philosophical path where “A very well educated person may not even then be employable”.
As they say, ‘today as everyday is the first day of the rest of our life’; so each day we come to a better realization than the day before. And today I certaintly did.
“‘Monks” it was you said, right… “A spiritual awareness!”
I look forward to the other Bushie in the days ahead because as Walter said: “Bush Tea,
Clearly you jest.”
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de Ingrunt Word
Let’s make sure the point is clear. Education is and must always be all those things you laid out. Clearly and obviously those who embrace education in its truest sense are able to ‘THINK’ and discern and apply that forge ahead well and successfully.
That goes without saying.
But to dismiss the practical side of the education ledger is nonsensical. Or even to give greater credence to the less practical side is self defeating. Having all the self awareness in the world gets us no where if the fundamental ability to act and produce is not activated.
Even Monks have to sell DVD of their singing or sell some of their produce if they want to effect any action beyond the narrow confines of their ‘spiritual enlightenment’.
But heh, what do I know.
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Donna
Observer,
The fundamental problem will take forever to be solved. Barbadians are more comfortable with a superficial quick fix. The superficial quick fix temporarily eases the situation until it resurfaces at a later date. Don’t be too hard on Mr. Blackman! He is just being realistic and practical. He knows what Barbadians are capable of and it’s certainly not a revolution a la Bushie, Piece or Exclaimer. Or a Donna for that matter.
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Hants
@ de Ingrunt Word,
Change your moniker to ” de logical word ”
@ Bush Tea,
Can you tell us how to restructure the education system and how to ” rebuild Barbados.”…..
When can we start. It is 2015.
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de Ingrunt Word
Mr Observer, as you said, “[we] get a different take-away message from other readers”.
I read Blackman’s piece as a fundamental change to the system, not mere patches. He noted some basic truths which he wanted deployed as a national policy; actions which in effect have been deployed individually for many years now. I refer here to this matter of grooming students towards scholarship opportunities in the US from an early age, for example. As all here should know kids have been taking up US scholarship in soccer, athletics, field hockey, swimming and some other disciplines. This driven by parents or community leaders/coaches.
I interpreted him to say take this trickle and make it a stated policy to push more down this path.
Correct though it be that education is a political football and the sons and daughters of the elite get theirs, I would take issue with the broad statement that “the average citizen is unable to further his/her education because of excessive costs, the children of politicians and well-connected citizens are able to study abroad with scholarships that the general public are unaware of.”
Why are the general public unaware of the scholarships? I have seen list of scholarship opportunities for years and the US Embassy had been showing them back in the day before the internet.
Don’t average Bajans have access to the Student Revolving Fund?
I hear your concerns but its too simplistic to suggest that doors are closed for the average Bajan. It certainly is a bigger burden that for those who have money but it’s a plan of action like a mortgage or other long term ‘investment’.
So as you said there are many ‘different take-away messages to this education debate but at the end of the day continued major change is needed.
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balance
“What we are seeing now is the SAME SHIITE as back in the days of slavery, where we are ceding control of our assets to foreigners..”
Bushie you are on a roll; am in general agreement with you comments on the subject but I was not aware that slaves had assets to cede in those days. Furthermore, the slaves were foreigners too having been brought here.
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Bush Tea
@ balance
Sorry about the poor communication…
We are ceding our assets to foreigners which will take us back to the same shiite as in the days of slavery where the slaves had NO assets and were no more than mere chattel.
Is a ‘foreigner’ not a PERSON who ups and moves to a strange land to live?
A slave who is moved, against his will, to a strange land as a ‘work asset’ is not technically a PERSON/ ‘foreigner’, but more a piece of property / chattel.
@ Dee Word
Bushie really don’t feel like lowering the level of discussion on education to match your understanding of the subject….. not today.
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Raw Bake
Even though I only went to school during August and even then, only on Saturdays from 9 ’til 12; I am having great difficulty reconciling how one could reform Barbados’ educaton system by retaining the “11+” or something similar.
If after all of this time it is not recognized by our “best and brightest” minds that even similar spec’d machines perform differently, and that using a “one size fits all” exam to transfer students from Primary to Secondary will always produce “failures”; then the time has surely arrived for Bushmen and Standpipe graduates to lead this charge in reforming said system.
Even so, what is the point if it cannot be patented?
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Bush Tea
@ David
LOL @ Roy
Bushie hopes that Roy remembers that he is working for OCM
…and that he is NOT a bushman 🙂
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TheObserver
@De Ingrunt Word
I agree with Hants that your name. does not fully represent your abilities.
To Two of your points:
1) A few years ago, there was an uproar in Trinidad when it was discovered that the children of politicians were studying in Europe on scholarships that more qualified students were unaware of (and did not get). i am always willing to admit that I may be wrong, but I am certain that if the truth was told, this same situation exists in other islands including Barbados.
2) On a personal note. As a UWI scholar, I remember walking out of the MoE with my completed application form for an OAS scholarship in my hands. I could have gone to my local politician, but I chose not to do so. It did not become an issue for me, as (on my own) I was trying to secure an assistant-ship at US universities and was confident of success. So yes, Revolving funds and OAS scholarships were/are available, but “many are called and few are chosen”.
If you and I can agree that the system can be worked so that an equal opportunity is not afforded to everyone., then we are not that far apart.
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TheObserver
@De ingrunt word
‘That sir is the joy of popular debate. He who speaks well and is clearly of above average intelligence is given credit at times when the remarks if made by another would be considered truly and simply absurd ”
I agree with your sentiments. It seems as if BU has attracted some very smart contributors from both sides of the fence.
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Bush Tea
@ Hants
“Can you tell us how to restructure the education system and how to ” rebuild Barbados.”….. When can we start. It is 2015.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Yes……but…
First we will have to deal with a whole heap of brass….
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pieceuhderockyeahright
@ De Ingrunt Word
Brother Bush Tea said “not today” as such related to his profound statement “thus preparing a (young) person to take full control of their future from a perspective of knowledge and confidence, and to chart a life for themselves that maximises their own personal talents and desires.”
I purposely bracketed the word young because I will try to explain to you what Bush Tea wont.
“Understandeth thou what thou readeth” were words asked in similar? circumstances.
Many of us have taken the “low” road as far as the word “education” is concerned and erroneously limit said “education” to a single plane namely “book work” then extrapolated in either “being employed or self employed”.
The Bush Man while speaking in this “electro-visual, cyberspace encounter” proposed, sotto voce, a truth that some of us did not grasp, yet he then went on to say “A very well educated person may not even then be “employable” …. (a la monks) because they may have developed to the stage where they operate on largely spiritual levels…”
The “Theosophy of the Causeless Cause” or educating oneself to the purposed point of nirvanic release for “things temporal” and in that concept one sees someone who, while living among this “constant stimulii of the eternal Brass Bowls” still holds true to a more profound existence.
Bush Tea dont jes polemicize causing he here pun BU, de man really is constant in his philosophy even in these discourses.
De Ole man barely glimpse a man of depth who practices what he say here and possibly believes in (and I say possibly here cause i ent know de man personally), but possible believes “if we slumbers have offended, think but this and all be mended, that we but have slumbered here, while these visions did appear….”
I am surprised at you Word, your usual perspicacity does not normally rely on everything to be spelt out…you have recently been entertaining conversations with mono-chanelled simpletons and consequently a cerebral myopia has clouded your normally stereophonic reasoning…
Going by the differing comments am i now to believe that an educated mind starts and end in school. Aren’t there not many process along the way for which all are responsible. Must one now accept that a realligning of the educational systems would produce an adjustment of an individual mind.
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Artaxerxes
pieceuhderockyeahright September 2, 2015 at 12:24 PM #
PUDRYR, wuh um is you really trying to tell De Word by stating “I am surprised at you Word, your usual perspicacity does not normally rely on everything to be spelt out…you have recently been entertaining conversations with mono-channeled simpletons and consequently a cerebral myopia has clouded your normally stereophonic reasoning…?”
You trying to tell De Word that since he engaging in conversations wid *****y, it retarding he thought process?
PUDRYR, wuh all them big words mean? You is a sesquipedalian?
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pieceuhderockyeahright
De ole man got one question doah?
Wunna unnerstan (not you Bush Tea) whu we dealing with?
Wunna unnerstand the absolute magnitude of what we are faced with as it relates to changing anything here?
and more importantly, does wunna understand the issues and challenges as such relates to WHAT has to be changed, what only neds modifications and what CANNOT BE TOUCHED?
Dis ent no guessing game this needs thought and ten balls for timely execution
Wunna unna dat??
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de Ingrunt Word
After lunch quickie….Yes, Artax that is exactly what the learned Pieces is implying! Gee, I wish it was that easy cause then if matching wits downstream can cause such loss of ‘perspicacity’ then confabulating wid the big boys upstream should be ‘supercalifragilistic’ to the noggin, too. LOL
@Pieces, Mr Bush Tea’s exposition was highfalutin palaver. His ‘definition’ is understood, meaningful and must be considered. It was lovely, well phrased and would earn my nod as an excellent treatise for his dissertation. This however is related to comments from Blackman about real, on the ground educational issues not ivory tower pontification.
I wholeheartedly praise YOUR ‘perspicacity if you perceive that his comments about how best the Bajan youth can maximize their talents to give themselves and the country better opportunities for real, job/life opportunities can be synthesized and summarized to ““A very well educated person may not even then be “employable”.
This is weighty and lovely:
…. “thus preparing a (young) person to take full control of their future from a perspective of knowledge and confidence, and to chart a life for themselves that maximises their own personal talents and desires.”
But let’s speak to Blackman’s piece – agree, disagree or add. The need for a change as he noted is all about getting folks to look differently at the future, infuse themselves with greater confidence and getting the maximum from their innate skills. Didn’t Blackman speak of harnessing a kid’s confidence on the field of sports as a stepping-stone to embracing his academics, for example.
You seem to be caught up in Bushie’s esoteric prose and looked right past the fundamental points made by Blackman…
With respect to you and Bushie I really don’t feel anyone here on BU, myopically sees education as ‘book-learning’ only or simply “being employed or self employed”. And that too was exactly what Blackman was saying we need to overcome in his piece.
Really Pieces. Wheel and come again!!
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pieceuhderockyeahright
Artaxerxes,
Who you is?
You is a real sharp fellow and you is also an accountant but you also is a fellow dat does look at tings in a holistic way…
Anybody who **** does be opposed to is a man wid common sense…and my beleif is not to placate fools….I must admit dat de ole man ent get like Bush Tea to pass dem by silently, I does try but…
De Word is someone whom I have great respect for. And yes i do feel that recently he been talking wid peeples dem and well if you wukking wid paint you going get daub
More and more, maybe it is the urgency of knowing dat you ent got tomorrow put down dat gots me antsy, but I grappling with how to make a change or how change will come
1) Act of God – pestilence, nature = hurricane, flood, tsunami, earthquake, meteor which kills out the souls that served the Egyptians, raises up a generation that know not Moses and demands building a new construct
2) Act of Man-made Rebellion _Civil Disobedience coupled with pilots and programs that work conceived by the visionaries and thinkers, aided by the doers, and, through osmosis, drag the indolent along in the vortex of change.
3) More serious #2 which I do not endorse particularly now on a 11×16 island
4) The Rapture
I done been in mode # 2 fuh a long time (i hope dat dont mean dat I is a number 2 man causing here in Bulbados you know whu dat mean, I bettah had go back and change dem numbers boah)
However Artaxerxes, at de ole man age dere ent too much time pun me hands is dere?
Oh I jes got to tell you dat I feel hurted causing you call me someting like a horse or sumting.
Dat ent what dat big word “sesquipedalian” mean?
or is dat is “equestrian?”
I is jes’ a simple pedestrian ambling long this pathway of life
The reality of the matter at hand is, this government does not have to competence to champion a revamp of the system OR the political capital. Dog dead!
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Artaxerxes
@ PUDRYR
Man, Piece, I ain’t call nuh horse nor nutten so, yuh, and I ain’t imply dat you is somet’ing like a horse neither. So, I sorry iffen you did feel hurted, it wasn’t my intentions.
Look, de bright peele does use “sesquipedalian” to describe a pompous fellow dat does use excessive amounts of “big, fancy words,” trying to impress peele but does end up sounding silly. Just like …… am, am……. ******.
So yuh see, Piece, if a pompous man posts a “sesquipedalian contribution” dat means it got in nuff big words.
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tworiversgallery
An interesting conversation despite the ad hominem diversions…
@pieceuhderockyeahright: There is no evidence that the Providence School is averse to “coloureds or DOGS,” they are simply averse to the poor of any species. ~$20k per year for the first year of secondary school and $15k/ yr thereafter. There is a lot of blatant racism in Barbados so it seems unnecessary to interpret capitalism as racism.
What is wrong with Providence determining how it wants to price its business?
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Hants
@David,
Did you read ” in the public interest ” by Roy Morris in Nationnews?
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Hants
I did not post a link cause he got de legal poodles on stan by. lol
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pieceuhderockyeahright
@ Artaxerxes
I was not being serious with the words but them was flowing and … however on reviewing what you said I can accept your point.
@ De Word
To the substantive anew
Of what Mr. Blackman has said, I will say that notwithstanding his definition, not every person born in Barbados, or naturalized, IS A BARBADIAN but the discussion on what makes a Barbadian is a long one and if one does not know, which is 95% of the population, then it is a moot exercise to discourse.
What does “carve out a niche market for Barbados for the provision of high level global(ly competent) human resources” mean? in practice?
The promoter of that topic and I both see eye to eye on the fact that the enabling environment is sadly lacking and the matrix that permits competent HR to create that environment is manned or “womaned” by incompetents.
I am on record here as speaking to the woeful misalignment of our education system with anything that is meaningful for local regional or international consumption, I have in many other submissions said that barring Dr. Leonard Nurse the joint Co-Nobel Prize winner, and Rihanna/Robyn Fenty we have little else that speaks to “excellence” in the context of sterling contribution, and therefore while Anna Rappaport might have spoken to the Bajan ability to be easily assimilated, SHE AT NOT TIME SPOKE OF EXCELLENCE’
Mr. Blackman’s submission speaks to the endemic mediocrity of our education system and while he does not expand too much on its ubiquitous impact, it does not take a braniac to see what this paucity has been.
The very numbers employed in our civil service is testimony to the army of occupation mentality and practice. What do civil servants produce? Nuffin!! What do they manage? Everything AND BADLY!!
But I move along as instructed per the substantive and I beg Mr. Blackman’s forgiveness if I am not too kindly in my constructive criticism.
He says “Tapes and videos should be used to assist with the teaching…”
You see why the ole man is so constantly at variance with many of these improved ideas? Tapes and videos, in an age when $236M was wasted on Edutech, in an age of whiteboards and VOIP, and Skype, we are reduced to “tapes and videos”
That is not 21st century thinking however I again give my kudos to the definitive leap beyond the anachronism proposed by Grenville the Third.
Barbados can be bilingual by 2023 IF we embraced the technology that is available BUT HOW CAN WE ACHIEVE THIS with an illiterati of a Minister of Edykashun Ronald WeJonesing and a society that has for 30 Galaxy 6 smart phones permitted the sale of FLOW TO SLIME.
Wunna getting pun wunna high horses gain Stinkliar fuh upping university fees but in 5 years time IF WE DOAN DO SOMETHING BOUT UM, internet fuh de masses is goig to be a luxury like caviar!!
“confidence and beginning to create a sense of national self-worth at age 11…” wunna ever watch TV and see them palestinians and Israeli Chilrun (are is reading?) at PHREKING 6?? Dem got more sense of nationality that 95 of our population at 60!!
De Blogmaster will attest that the point about Bajan embassies being the active tentacles of our outreach to the world is something that I have long spoken of when I have given not so glowing commentaries on Jessica Odle and we Brazilian Ambassador Phillips and a few udders.
You have just joined BU so I forgive you you lack of institutional history
Wunna does talk bout this nuff but this is something that I used to do for years sot whereas fuh wunna this is theorizing de ole man dun get he hands nasty in the faeces of life
Wunna still in the mindset of the government hiring 40 percent of the workforce, a so called ICT sector hiring 600 people, the private sector “doing their bit” and hiring 4% and they and the hotel sector which will be employing 56%, will be paying them the same 225/week that they were getting in 1975
Any ways dis submission too long, I dun
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Exclaimer
If you guys are serious about giving your children a good education I would suggest that you send them to one of the many high quality private schools that exist in Africa.
Think about it. These children would be reintroduced to the birthplace of their ancestors. They will soak up the local culture and learn to identify with their African roots.
Some will return to the Caribbean fortified with a sense of pride and belonging and will enrich Barbados on all levels. Whilst others will make a conscious decision to remain in Africa.
Take a good look at the cost of attending private schools in Africa they are surprisingly very low and churn out high quality students.
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Artaxerxes
The education system proposed by Walter has some similarities to the system currently used by China, although there are some mandatory aspects included in the Chinese model. For example, “in 1986 the Chinese government passed a compulsory education law, making nine years of education mandatory for all Chinese children.”
I believe any change in our education system must involve a continuous process for the professional development of teachers.
According to China Education Center Ltd., China has a consistent teacher development system that thoroughly prepares teachers in their subject matter, and prospective teachers, as part of their training, spend time in classrooms of experienced teachers observing teaching techniques. Once employed by a school, those teachers are subject to system of induction and continuous professional development.
The Chinese system is divided into pre-school, primary and secondary and higher education. In urban areas, the pre-school education caters for children from 1 to 3 years old. The kindergartens “combine childcare with teaching so that the children will develop physically, morally, intellectually and aesthetically in a harmonious way to get ready for their formal school education.
This is quite the opposite in Barbados, since many kindergartens serve primarily as day care centers and many of the “Aunties” employed do not have academic training in child development. Nor are they trained to deal with children suffering with conditions such as eczema.
Someone I knew infant daughter, who had eczema, attended a kindergarten where the “aunties” scorned her. The lack of attention caused this little girl to become withdrawn. Her mother enrolled her in another kindergarten where the “aunties” were trained, some in the USA. This girl’s demeanor changed from being withdrawn individual to an active individual.
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Artaxerxes
There are some students who, because they have the requisite qualifications required for entry into UWI, decide to pursue what in my opinion are “easy degrees” just for the sake of saying they attended and graduated from university with a degree.
For example, graduates may complain that after graduating, they have been experiencing difficulties finding a job even though they are degree qualified.
Then people would sympathize with the graduates’ plight and may conclude it’s a waste of time attending university, because after 4 years of study many people are unable to find employment.
However, what many of these graduates fail to tell their sympathizers is that they pursue BSc degrees such as Political Science and Psychology, Political Science and French, Political Science and History, Political Science and History or Political Science and Philosophy, but applied for positions in positions in management, finance, accounting, etc., even though their degrees does not necessarily qualify them for those jobs.
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de Ingrunt Word
Ok Pieces, proper presentation so leh we get ” [the] hands nasty. In my case mainly theorizing as I did not nor do I work in education.
First up, I sorta mentally ‘upgraded’ certain remarks made by Mr Blackman which were clearly ‘dated’. So, for example, that one one you touched on re using “Tapes and videos” is at least 40+ years old in terms of use in schools. That was mentally upgraded to the need for comprehensive use of technology in all its forms.
I am shocked though that you can cite only Dr. Nurse and Rihanna as the only two Bajans of excellence. Come on Pieces your blue and gold definitely too prominent there. You don’t have to be a world acclaimed artist or award winner to be striving and achieving excellence.
Every year hundreds of kids max out and get top grades in some of their CXC or CAPE. They may not win a national scholarship but many of them go on to achieve stupendous success in careers, discovering innovative stuff, reaching the peak of sporting superiority or making the lives of others so much better. Excellence comes in various sizes and shapes, senor.
I’ll leave with this time stamp.
I left school back in the day when the cadet corps was a big deal. A CUO was a maguffy at school and the CSUO was ‘de man’: as much hot stuff as the Head Boy. So too was much respect given to all other senor positions like QMS etc. That level of excellence was matched to academics closely in some cases and in some cases not so much, but it was about confidence, awareness of self and all those things touched on previously.
And back then, a cadre of young men -and a few women too – was able to translate that hallmark of excellence into coveted commissions at Sandhurst and other top military academies…all of them Commanders, Majors or Colonels and now respected business men and entrepreneurs …
They all started their sustainable education journeys as 11 – 12 year old lads when they first fell in love with the military and became very good at the craft.
That is the basic concept of this education discourse from the author: start early and seek excellence wherever your skills and talents take you, whether academics, sport, craftsmanship, music or whatever.
Why do you think that a degree is easy because one doesn’t obtain his/her degree in a math related field such as a: MBA, Accounting and Financial law etc? Here in America people who possessed a Master’s Degree in Accounting cannot teach because such degree doesn’t meet the prerequisite standard for teaching, so the same can be said the other way around as well.
Correction: I should have said that one cannot teach at the high school level here in America with a Master’s Degree in Accounting because such degree does not meet prerequisite standard on this level here.
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Artaxerxes
Educational Requirements for Becoming a Teacher in the USA
[SOURCE: study.com/educational_requirements_for_becoming_a _teacher.html]
Career Options
In order to teach preschool, the student must have at least a high school diploma or equivalent. To teach K – 12th grade, the student needs a BACHELOR’S DEGREE. In the case of public schools, the teacher must possess a BACHELOR’S DEGREE and also be licensed as a teacher in the state where they live. The teaching license will either qualify the instructor to teach a range of grades or a specific subject. For an individual to teach at the majority of 4-year colleges, they must hold a doctoral degree.
Preschool teacher requirements vary by state, employer and the source of funding for the program. A few programs require only a high school diploma or associate’s degree, but most require a BACHELOR’S DEGREE in child development or early childhood education. Some programs may require a national Child Development Association (CDA) credential.
Kindergarten and Elementary Teacher: Public school teachers must have a BACHELOR’S DEGREE in elementary education. An elementary license allows a teacher to teach kindergarten through sixth grade in most states. A future teacher must also complete a supervised practicum or student teaching internship. SOME STATES ALSO REQUIRE A TEACHER TO EARN A MASTER’S DEGREE WITHIN A SPECIFIED TIME AFTER BEGINNING TEACHING. Since elementary teachers instruct in all subjects, they take classes in math, reading, science and social studies methods.
Middle School Teacher: A public middle school teacher must have a BACHELOR’S DEGREE in childhood education and complete a student teaching internship. A middle school license usually allows the teacher to teach grades five through eight. Most middle school teachers must have a certain number of credit hours in the subject area they wish to teach. This subject area may be indicated as an endorsement on their teaching certificate. Areas of endorsement include language arts, math, science, physical education, foreign language and special education.
Secondary Teacher: Teachers in public secondary schools must have earned a BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN THE SUBJECT THEY ARE GOING TO TEACH, AS WELL AS COMPLETING A PROGRAM OF STUDY IN SECONDARY EDUCATION.
Secondary school teaching licenses qualify teachers to teach up through grade 12 but may include some middle school grades. Some high schools may look for teachers with MASTER’S DEGREES. High schools hire teachers in core academic areas and the fine and applied arts.
Post secondary Teacher: Teachers at a 4-year university or college usually need a doctoral degree in the subject they will be teaching. Universities and colleges SOMETIMES HIRE teachers with a MASTER’S DEGREE FOR PART-TIME POSITIONS. COMMUNITY COLLEGES typically require a MASTER’S DEGREE for most full-time positions. Vocational and technical colleges require a bachelor’s degree in the subject of instruction
I do not know where you’re ascertaining your information on the internet from, but I have noticed that you haven’t cited any source in regards to the information you’re feeding others here.
Now, I stand by my statement that someone who possesses a Master’s Degree in Accounting cannot teach at the Secondary school level here in the states.
And also ask anyone who has a child in middle-school or high – school in this country, I have two in high-school and two in middle-school, if in order to teach at these two levels that I have alluded to above: the high school and Middle-school levels, if one doesn’t require to has a bachelor degree initially, but be in the process of completing his or her Master’s in order to teach?
Are we able to desist from derailing the discussion by discussing the qualifications of a teacher in the US? Who the hell cares in the context of the discussion?
Excuse my slight grammatical error at the bottom of my statement; it’s too early to respond to foolishness.
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Artaxerxes
Artaxerxes September 2, 2015 at 9:37 PM #
Educational Requirements for Becoming a Teacher in the USA
[SOURCE: study.com/educational_requirements_for_becoming_a _teacher.html]
Dompey you are such a jackass, I quoted the source at the beginning of my contribution.
It just goes to show that your main purpose logging on to BU is to criticize certain contributors without bringing anything of substance to the blog, only criticism and written abuse.
You wrote you were born in 1966, but judging from your behaviour on BU, it seems more like 2006.
@ David
I agree with your comments re: “Are we able to desist from derailing the discussion by discussing the qualifications of a teacher in the US? Who the hell cares in the context of the discussion?”
The point is that our willingness to become sidetracked from priorities is symptomatic of what is wrong at the national level. Successful individuals, companies, countries are those who have a focus on what has to be done to move the bar UP!
We need to put on our game face in the face of what confronts us.
Any fool can go on the internet and download information to support his or her specific argument, but it doesn’t mean anything.
But the truth of the matter is the requirement for licensing is bachelor’s degree in specific areas like math, chemistry, or history, as well as a teacher preparation program.
Artax, here is the meat of the matter: most states also require high school and middle school teachers earn a master’s degree to remain in the classroom.
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Artaxerxes
David September 3, 2015 at 5:35 AM #
“The point is that our willingness to become sidetracked from priorities is symptomatic of what is wrong at the national level.”
Once again I agree with your comments, because we have a tendency to allow “outsiders” who do not have anything of substantial value to offer to influence our thinking by introducing irrelevant nonsense into the “discussion.”
In actuality, however, I don’t give a shiite about the teaching requirements in America, because it’s of no help to me or Barbados. And as such, I will confine my contributions to the topic of this article.
Point taken, David. I abhor pompous, stupid people who pretend to be knowledgeable. They irritate me.
Since this thread seemed to have digress from its originality I would like to bring attention to the disaster in Dominica and praise all the small islandl nations who have stepped forward delivering with deeds of kindness. Also I am disturbed by the small portion of monetary funds the US aid has provided in the sum of fifty thousand dollars a country which by all means can do better and could have seize this opportune time to be more benevolent its action
What can fifty thousand do for a nation who is already economically depressed and needs strength not in words but in action by wealthy countries who can do better . So far China has one of those countries who have given financial assistance in the amount of three hundred thousand US with a pledge to do more say what one wishes to say about China its efforts to give might be tied to conditions however one cannot overlook the differences of benevolence especially from the U S a country to which small nations pledge loyalty
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pieceuhderockyeahright
@ Artaxerxes, the Blogmaster is right for two reasons
Your counter, which definitively shows what prerequisites are, IN IRRELEVANT CLIMES, points out the ignoramus’ lack of any grounded information in the subject matter at hand.
You have to be careful that, like a moth attracted to the flame, you do not become an Icarus.
@ De Ingrunt Word
I spoke, tongue in cheek when I said the word “excellence”.
I was being sarcastic not to you particularly but to the bajan psyche in general, because we seem only to define “excellence” in the attendant popularity, so names like Stedson Babb, Gryner, and Suki, would not have the popular renown as Arturo Tappin etc.
We have unspoken “rungs” and classifications and degrees of accomplishment which, irrespective of our respective modalities of formal and informal “education” have crafted a nation of posturers who don’t understand what the methodology and curriculum of our educations has to be AND COMMENSURATELY, CANNOT THEREFORE PEGS SUCH AGAINST SUSTAINABLE EMPLOY (note that i did not say jobs)
The lady who sells food just outside Sandy Lane is one of the most successful restauranteers in Barbados BUT, ACCORDING TO OUR COLLECTIVE PEGGING CALIBRATION, she is not accorded the same value to an aspiring Bajan graduate from the Culinary Unit at the Hotel Cooking School as Cheffette.
In fact, when that young graduate is seeking employment, the thought of alternative self-employment, IF IT EVER ENTERS INTO THEIR HEAD, does not register a Sandy Lane type operation (and if it did that person was going to go and set up their business directly opposite that SL enterprise)
I will briefly speak to the instance of duplication that besieges the bajan mentality, you selling food successfully and I come to the same spot and start selling (snowcones, hotdog carts, coconuts, pig tails, corn) this is why we have the greatest density of lawyers in the world!!
Education, rather proper education, of the type that Bush Tea is speaking, ant that Mr. Blackman skirts, translates itself into “self actuation”.
Under such a revamped education system, an unemployed graduate student of UWI, with a BSc in Electronics can look to developing some type of solution for praedial larceny or a Marine Biologist Professor pair up with a Phd graduate in Engineering and develop a solution for the sargassum weed that clogs our shorelines every year.
Agility in thought and action instead of the Walking PHVCKING Death that stalks our nation of daylight immune vampires that we have become waiting for Two Sons to come and carry the hardened corpses of the currently mobile corpses to Westbury
Change or Die!!
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pieceuhderockyeahright
By the way that is Sargassum muticum an invasive brown seaweed that has recently found its way to the shores of Ireland.
Do a google search of edible seaweed and see what living people with proper education systems are doing
I dun
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pieceuhderockyeahright
I started that post time stamped at 8.13 at 5.37 am this morning
You are correct we don’t respect micro business. In Jamaica and many of the islands they do. If we can find a way to marry our ‘order’ and the non traditional way of doing business.
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