Ronald Jones, Minister of Education
The following comment was posted on another blog by Simple Simon in response to a question from BU about the sudden closure of Alma Parris, a school that was established to serve special needs children. Is there a need for such a school in Barbados? – Barbados Underground
@David June 29, 2017 at 10:49 AM “An impassioned interrogation by Cynthia Forde of the Ministry of Education on the talk show today, why was the Alma Parris School at Speightstown closed without proper disclosure?”
You can be sure that the Ministry of Education would not dare to close Harrison College, or Lord forbid Combermere School unless there was first extensive consultation with “stakeholders”
According to M.P. Cynthia Forde on Brasstacks on Thursday, the teachers and the principal were informed about the school’s closure after 2 p.m. on Monday. It seems that the students were informed on Tuesday morning, and that the parents like the rest of us heard about the school’s closure on VOB’s 12:30 p.m. news on Tuesday afternoon. This is not good enough.
Was this a hasty decision? When did the Chief Education Officer first hear of the closure? When did the School Board hear? When did Cabinet hear? Was the Chief Education Officer consulted about the closure? Or was she simply told? Was the School’s Board consulted about the closure or was the Board simply informed? Was Cabinet consulted about about the closure or was Cabinet presented with the Cabinet paper regarding the school’s closure only at their Thursday morning meeting?
Is the school’s closure a part of the Ministry of Education’s clumsy attempts to deal with declining enrolment because of declining birth rates? And if so why Alma Parris? Is it not true that the parents of Alma Parris students have more that done their patriotic duty by producing more than the average number of children unlike those demographically unpatriotic parents who have produced a single child for Combermere or Harrison College.
This school’s closure means that these special needs students will be separated from their peers, siblings, cousins etc. come September. Changing schools is stressful for even the best of students, for these students the change will be even more stressful, and will increase the likelihood that these students will withdraw from school.
The truth is that when it comes to special needs students we never treat them as well as we treat the “bright’ ones.
A society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable “mene, mene, tekel, upharsin (Daniel 5:25)”
We will be weighed in the balance and found wanting.
Is it our minister of education seen acting in the most vulgar way on the Nation? If so, is he fit and proper to be in charge of the nation’s youths?
My sources in education told me that ths is a case similar to Alexandra.
It is alleged that the principal is the problem. There are allegations that he is the minister’s friend.
My sources tell me that the teachers were very frustrated, felt that the principal was not or could not deal with matters arising from dealing daily with challenged children………they felt frustrated and absenteeism was high.
It would seem therefore that rather deal with the problem……..which would probably mean a breakup of the friendship…………..the easy way out was taken to close the school…………never mind how many other people would be disadvantaged.
Why would you close a whole school because of a headmaster?
You have no idea what passes as governance today! Did not this same ministry nearly break up a whole school because of a headmaster already?
A precedence was set, David.
How will absorbing the special needs children in mainstream impact their development?
In the VOB evening news, it was reported that the ministry met with some parents today. No report of this meeting on CBC tonight…..I dont listen to CBC but did so tonight.
The children will be sent to Darryl Jordan, St George and another school which I cannot remember now. So you see the pattern……stick them in the schools which are already facing huge challenges daily. St George Secondary is a war zone daily, my sources tell me.
Some parents with kids over 16 asked for them to be sent to skills training and were at first told that there was no room. However the minister “assured” them afterwards that places would be found for the children. I really hope so!
Stop referring to those kids as ‘special needs’.
@Kevin
Why was the Alma Parris Memorial School established?
@ David
Why would you close a whole school because of a headmaster?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
What you REALLY mean to ask is :
…’Why would an intelligent person close a whole school because of a headmaster?”
…you know full well …that we both can give a dozen reasons why Jones would do so…
Our ass is SOOOO grass!!!!
@Prodigal Son July 6, 2017 at 2:48 PM “My sources in education told me…It is alleged that the principal is the problem. There are allegations that he is the minister’s friend…Prodigal Son @July 6, 2017 at 7:31 PM “St George Secondary is a war zone daily, my sources tell me.”
Dear Prodigal:
Methinks that thy needs some new sources man. Why don’t you go outside, let the wind blow pun ya, talk to real, real people, see with your own eyes, smell the roses, hang around in the bus stand, go to church, etc. etc.
Then perhaps when your sources tell you bare igrance…you will recognize it as such.
There is a huge difference between a mutually respectful professional relationship and being friends.
Are Mr. Jones and Mr. Francis godfathers to each others children? Do they lime at the rum-shop together? Do they eat pudding and souse together on Saturdays? Do they play dominoes together? Do they go to each other’s family weddings and funerals?
Study ya head man.
And anyway wha’ ya boy Owen got to say about the closure of this school in his constituency?
Mr Jones says that no particular school is better than another. However it seems the same may not be true of principals. The principal of Alma Parris School is obviously not good enough to be placed at either Combermere or the Frederick Smith school or the Springer Memorial school. It is notable that the Alma Parris students are to be transferred to Darryl Jordan Secondary, St George Secondary or Grantley Adams Secondary. I remember, some years ago, at my child’s primary school, the principal telling us parents that if our children did not “pass” the common entrance they would be offered places at one those three schools because “there are always places there as few people choose those schools”.
I wonder if Mr Jones will dispel the rumors that the reason why some schools did not issue student reports yesterday was because of the ministry’s non payment of the bill for the internet based student report system?
I am way too disgusted with Jackass Jones to comment here on this subject right.
Glad to see the world saw his hypocrisy. his wukking up mentality on that NYC video, he is just a repugnant, disgusting mirror image of all the other ministers, senators, speakers of the house, house slaves of parliament.
BU would be so much better if bloggers did not seek to denigrate each others contribution. If you have nothing to contribute to the topic, read and go your way!
We are discussing an issue……. putting reasons for the closure of an institution which was set up for a pressing need for at risk children and it is brought down to the level of liming in a rum shop.
SMH!!!!
I am sure that we all remember when Owen said words to the effect that land should go to the highest bidder. What if the DLP holds the EXACT SAME philosophy? Am I the only one who noticed that last Friday when the Minister spoke at George Street about the closure of the Alma Parris School that he also mentioned that two new medical schools would be opened. Man we got to learn to put two and two together. The Americans, vey, very smart people have a saying, “follow the money.” What if a school for special needs is not a profit center. What if an off shore medical school in that same location is a profit center and can for many, many years bring in serious money? What if a few hundred wealthy medical students can add some life to Speightstown, money for government, money for supermarkets, money for landlords, money for restaurants, money for watersports operators, money for churches (lol!!! they like money as much as the rest’ ‘o we too), enought money rolling into Speightstown, that our dear Owen or his replacement is rolled right out of his secure St. Peter seat.
As the Americans say “follow the money.”
What is the downside if any to populating Barbados with these medical schools? Especially if the government is allowing locals to attend. It must impact Cave Hill?
Some ‘o wunna say that you don’t go to George Street pun a Fridays. You really should.
Some ‘o wunna don’t go rubbing shoulders with Mia and the B’s. You really should.
Some ‘o wunna don’t listen to CBC/DLPTV. You really should.
Some ‘o wunna don’t read the Nation. You really should.
Some ‘o wunna don’t read the Advocate. You really should. I can’t believe that I have said that.
If ya don’t go to different churches/temples/synagogues/mosques (politically speaking of course) how do you ever expect to learn the WHOLE TRUTH?
@Prodigal Son July 7, 2017 at 10:02 AM “We are discussing an issue…it is brought down to the level of liming in a rum shop.
@Prodigal Son July 6, 2017 at 2:48 PM “It is alleged that the principal is the problem. There are allegations that he is the minister’s friend.”
I wonder what would have happened if some’o wunna allegators din’ bring it down to the level of “‘e is the Minister’s friend”?
Stupssseee!!!
David July 7, 2017 at 4:18 PM “What is the downside…?”
True dat David.
But sometimes if ya desperate fa money ya does have to sell the only fowl cock in de yard to the itinerant salesman, even though ya own children hungry.
An election coming up. Where de money?
Desperate times demand desperate measures.
Simple Simon neither “B” nor “D” but only de idiot who does ask real, real foolish questions.
David,
Remember the excuse used for invading Grenada, an illegal act that gave rise to the RSS.
Stop thinking of Speightstown as a almost dead, shabby, 18th century town.
Instead see Speightstown as as a beautiful historic town, with west coast beaches, a library, a museum, supermarkets, vibrant fruit and vegetable and fish markets, churches, a police station within walking distance, one of the best artisanal bakeries in Barbados, ready access to public transportation, not one, but 2 older secondary schools, a number of beautiful historic buildings just begging to be converted into professor’s residences and student dorms…Bajans may not have money (or may be they prefer to put their money to rot away in bank vaults in New York and London) or may not see the potential of Speightstown, but there are plenty of people in the world with money and who see the potential.
@Hal Austin July 7, 2017 at 4:26 PM “Remember the excuse used for invading Grenada, an illegal act that gave rise to the RSS.”
Grenada was invaded because one set of YOUNG BLACK MEN, took another set of YOUNG BLACK MEN and one morning put them up against a wall and shoot them DEAD, DEAD, DEAD with MILITARY guns provided by de white people dem.
This in a country of 100,000 people where everybody famly to everybody else.
Power? You so hungry to take power over 50,000 peasans and their lil’ hungry children that you willing to shoot you grandmother, third cousin son in the head with a gun that the white people give you?
That said the Ministry of Education should consult with the students, their parents, their guidance counsellors, their teachers, the principal, psychologists etc to ensure that each child is optimally placed so that each child can reach his or her full potential.
Just this morning on Talk ya Talk Uncle Jeff was relation a case of one of these very special children who was born in the 6th month of pregnancy weighing 1 pound 6 ounces and who has therefore struggled because through no fault of her own she has had such a difficult start in life. If this child needed 4 months in the hospital before the doctors REASONED that she was fit to be discharged she could the question now is why are we seeking to discharge her from secondary school just because she is 16?
The doctors did not discharge her from hospital at 24 hours old as 8 pound babies are discharged, so why can’t we the taxpayers continue to pay for her education until she reaches the emotional/neurological/psycholgical/academic age of 16? Do we really believe that a series of numbers on a birth certificate is the be all and end all? That question for the Minister self.
And notice to all ‘o we. Anyone of us can have such a child, or grandchild, neice or nephew by January 1, 2018, even though nobody in our family is pregnant as of July 7, 2017.
The old people had sense. They knew that wha’ int catch ya, ain’t pass ya yet.
Simple….I dont know why Hal is trying to rewrite Grenada’s history, he knows it was that animal Bernard Coard, who he said did nothing wrong, with Coard’s cannibal for a white british wife, who drunk and greedy for power…murdered Maurice Bisho the prime minister, the 8 months pregnant Jacqueline Creft and 17 others…just because they wanted power.
But there is Hal…lying to his heart’s content to rewrite history, the US is a lot of things which I take pleasure in pointing out, but they were invited by Caribbean leaders…Dominica’s Eugenia Charles and Barbados’ Tom Adams….to invade Grenada, as a firner journalist, Hal should know this, but there he is soreading propoganda.
….you either have RSS patroling and securing those tiny island borders or the US and Brits will do it for you…you cannot have it both ways, pain in the ass Hal.
At that tome the Caribbean had no security services, they should have called Hal instead.
I am still to emotionally pissed to discuss this topic, it will take a while.
Hal needs to understand that a lot of us were reasonable, thinking adults during the period October 19 to 25, 1983.
Hal needs to understand that we are still reasonable thinking adults.
If he wishes to rewrite history he will have to wait until we are dead.
Unfortunately for him we are not anywhere near dead yet.
“Tree of Knowledge” by Dion J. Pollard.
WE HAVE TO BE MADE DUMB TO EXIST IN THIS SITUATION! We have been robbed of our common sense, our intellectual capacity, our culture, creativity and sense of reality. Having been taught to be dumb, Africans will experience a CONSCIOUSNESS, an INTELLECTUAL EXPANSION, a CLARITY OF VISION, a SPIRITUAL HARMONY and an INCREASE IN INTELLIGENCE, when we summon the COURAGE to regain and reclaim our AFRICAN IDENTITY, CONSCIOUSNESS, CULTURE & TIME – Dr. Amos Wilson”
Coard’s wife was not British. She is an uptown “browning” Jamaican. And even though it was claimed when she was released from prison more that 10 years ago that she had breast cancer and needed treatment outside of Grenada, it appears that unfortunately she is not dead yet, and in fact continues to live the life of a privileged uptown “browning” Jamaican woman.
@Prodigal Son July 7, 2017 at 10:02 AM “BU would be so much better if bloggers did not seek to denigrate each others contribution. If you have nothing to contribute to the topic, read and go your way!”
You trying to silence me?
Lolll!!!
Ok Simple…she should still be rotting in prison, or hung years ago, so should Coard.
Prodigal Son July 6, 2017 at 2:48 PM
Don’t you get tired telling lies?
The school was underutilised. Its school population was dwindling to nothing. Parents were loathe to send their charges to that school. It is considered in Bajan circles as the Duncey school and it stigmatised the students for life.
Another school which is just like that and will close down in the near future is the Edna Nicholls school. That is a school for delinquent children which scars children into perpetuity.
@ C. Cadogan July 7, 2017 at 7:33 PM
“Prodigal Son July 6, 2017 at 2:48 PM
Don’t you get tired telling lies?
The school was underutilised. Its school population was dwindling to nothing. Parents were loathe to send their charges to that school. It is considered in Bajan circles as the Duncey school and it stigmatised the students for life.”
Come on Carrion, the school cannot be that badly ‘stigmatized ‘having produced outstanding graduates like both good yourself and the other mentally-challenged yard-fowl “ac” aka Angela Skeete the accredited cretin.
After the upcoming whitewash of the DLP there would be so much space left at George Street that all the “Duncey school” children could attend with Stinkliar teaching them the difference between fractions, decimals and percentages every Friday afternoon.
@Carson C. Cadogan July 7, 2017 at 7:33 PM “The school was underutilised. Its school population was dwindling to nothing. Parents were loathe to send their charges to that school. It is considered in Bajan circles as the Duncey school and it stigmatised the students for life.”
If this is so, then how come parents are objecting to the school’s closure?
@Carson C. Cadogan July 7, 2017 at 7:36 PM “Another school which is just like that and will close down in the near future is the Edna Nicholls school. That is a school for delinquent children which scars children into perpetuity.”
And when you close the Edna Nicholls school, where will you send children who need to be separated from negative influences for a period of time time, and given the intensive therapy which they need so that they can learn to moderate their troublesome behaviour?
Are we going to close the hospital next? because as we know hospitals are deeply stigmatizing places.
All those sick people…really, really sick people…Oh Lord, some of them are even dying people, some of them are even dead people.
Let us therefore close all the hospitals so that nobody is ever again subjected to the stigma of death.
LOL
That is a school for delinquent children which scars children into perpetuity.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
What an idiot!!
What ‘scars children into perpetuity’ is the delinquency into which they are allowed to fall. When these delinquents are left in the regular system with other vulnerable children, they can scar a WHOLE GENERATION for life…. These schools were created to prevent that…
No wonder they see increasing taxes as the answer to their over spending.
With these jackasses in charge of Bim, it is no wonder that we are on our last legs….
@Bush Tea
He should mention that what stigmatizes and tratramutizes children also is when the state agencies fail to deliver on their mandate, for example, the Child Care Board. How many children have died because of the negligence and incompetence?
@Carson C. Cadogan July 7, 2017 at 7:33 PM “The school was underutilised. Its school population was dwindling to nothing.”
Don’t you get tired of telling lies for the DLP? One day, sooner or later you will have to meet your God. And what excuse will you offer him for the lies which you have told for the DLP?
The Alma Parris school was designed for 150 children, as of last week the school was educating 143 children. How can that be considered a serious decline?
And in addition all sensible people know that special education is optimally delivered in a small school setting. You know as well as I do that parents with money who have special needs children seek to send them to small schools such as the Derrick Smith School And Vocational Centre which has been designed to educate a maximum of 100 adults and 70 children in any school year. Click on the link below to see your Prime Minister and your Minister of Education at the $20 million official opening just 27 months ago. “The facility will have a staff complement of about 30…Government will be responsible for the operational costs by way of subvention.” How much will this subvention be? My understanding is that it means that government, that is we the taxpayers are paying the staff, paying for the utilities, paying for the maintenance, paying for the equipment and materials for the workshops, paying for the cultivation services and seeds for the school’s agricultural plot, waiving the property tax etc., etc., for ever and ever. About $20 million per year I think. Fair enough. But what about the Alma Parris School, how much money was that school receiving? About $2 million per year maybe for a school with the same number of students as the Derrick Smith School? Was the Alma Parris School adequately funded? If not why not? And if the Alma Parris school was to be closed would it not have made good sense for them to be transferred to the Derrick Smith School?
But no we have idiots like Carson C. Cadogan talking foolishness about a school stigmatising children, so shut it down, and Kevin saying not to call the children special needs when his own Minister of Education uses the same phrase “special needs” as though shutting the Alma Parris School, or refusing to acknowledge the special needs of these children will make special needs children go away. And the DLP holds such idiots close to its bosom.
http://www.barbadostoday.bb/2015/04/17/us10m-special-needs-facility-opened/
And note that we the tax payers will be subsidizing the education of young adults up to the age of 23 or 24 at the Derrick Smith School. Nobody is putting them out of the formal school system just because they have turned 16 (on their birth certificates only). Please note that in yesterday’s media some of the parents of the Alma Parris students have rejected the Ministry’s “offer” to put their 16 year olds out of school. The parents know that their children can benefit from formal education beyond the age of 16, and perhaps up to the age of 23 or 24 just like the Derrick Smith students.
“”How many children have died because of the negligence and incompetence?””
NONE/
Even at Primary school , children would tease each other by telling them that they are going to Alma Parris. More than a few fights have started as a result.
Increasingly parents were refusing to put down Alma Parris schoo as a school of choice for their children especially since the school was seen as the Duncey school of Barbados. The evidence is there no matter how much you Barbados Labour Party brown nosers try not to accept it.
DAVID
Any of your Great grand children attend Alma Parris school?
Carson…you are such a useless piece of shit, those special needs students should have theur own transportation, the best special needs teachers, they should not all be lumped together in one environment but exposed to the wider education system so their skills can be assessed and their contributions to society identified, they do have a contribution to make.
Unlike you who think your only contribution to society should be bribery and corruption and picking up hundreds of millions of taxpayer and pension dollars to give to the parasitic Maloneys, Cows and Bizzys…money which should be invested in special needs children…you small island rat.
I have seen first hand in North Anerica, the contributions of special needs people to society….it is unparalleled.
You have a very abled senator with a disability in parliament and you are on here poking fun at special needs people., you Kuttapa-Harris slave….now that is a major disabilty.
Well Well
Due to your impassioned plea what I will have done for you is this.
I will make representation to have the Alma Parris school reopened in order to accommodate you.
How about that?
@Mr Blogmaster, it is unfortunate and wasteful when important issues like this get lost in snide political snips…the real issue of developmental challenged children does not go away with the closure of Alma Parris.
Barbados (as other places) will continue to produce children who do not pass that first step screening test we call 11 plus. So whatever the social stigma associated now, unless the government addresses the problem aggressively we will pay a much more tangible and destructive comeuppance socially with young adults lost to a life of criminality, sexuall and other vices in the growing subversive sub-society.
Those who know would affirm that the Alma Parris concept was devised under a past administration in recognition of the long known problem re children scoring way below standard at common entrance.
It is not a fantasy that Bajan youth have scored zero on that exam…an aberration maybe but very real. And it is quite real that every year severbal of our kids score an average of 20 or 30 across the tests. Way below acceptabilty.
Where do we think these kids go…what do we think happens to them…do we think they come from Mars?
So Alma Parris goes away but there is the Horizons opened a few years ago, the aforementioned Derrick Smith school and the other schools that every year take in kids who trail their peers academically and lwho also lack other cognitive skills to succeed with their peers. This is not a silly matter.
It is strikingly impossible to grasp therefore why govt would almost stealthily close this school. That’s not to say that it did not need to be redeveloped. It did from a location and operational perspective but farming these needy children into schools where they will become the left behind lackeys is unconscionable.
Some of these kids are realistically not ready for secondary school in the context we frame it and no amount of vacuous palaver but pol operatives here or from the MofEd that all schools are created equal will change that.
Either schools like Parris are developed to bring these kids to maturity (and that was the plan back then) and/or we aggressively deal with the subculture of ‘children’ as parents which spawns this entire issue.
How many of these developmentally challenged youth have the parent at home who is operationally illiterate, spaced out regularly on drugs, is in jail or a resident in our ‘green gates’ hotel??
And I will not mention that 400 lb gorilla that beats us all to submission : drug culture.
Folks like the Jeff Brookmes of this world (warts n all) know the issues well and in his stint at Parkinson’s was doing his biit to address it head on …the overall problem is huge and growing.
Agree with you Dee Word, the snide remarks, we have idiots and we have those who show no respect for others. BU will intervene when it gets overbearing.
Agree with your comment in the main, the three schools the Alma Paris former students are to be dispersed are known for the lack of discipline and rowdy elements. How do we expect special needs children to cope? Didn’t the teachers at St. George Secondary break down in tears recently because of the opportunity given by the MoE to listen to their pent-up concerns?
http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1163489
The fact remains, the school has been closed and will remain, and the student body has been reassigned to other schools in Barbados.
They will not be disadvantaged, a great deal of thought has gone into this decision. the children interest will continue to be protected.
All of you BLP brown nosers can continue to live in the fantasy World you like to live in.
That is incredible…a great deal of thought has gone into the decision….could have fooled me.
If the Min of Education can make the incredibly unreal remark that all schools are the same then I find it impossible to appreciate how that mind set can bring great uncorrupt thinking to a serious matter as this one.
There is great subterfuge here which will be discovered down the road one presumes.
One cannot set a policy that a cohort of kids need special guidance and then some few years later change course completely to reintegrate those kids to the same system from whichis they were moved…WHAT has changed??
Why has Horizons been initiated? Is that Parris but reset properly? Or is it something else? Are the kids being played to suit messaging and optics?
I don’t know but speculation here is vastly more important to be clarified that anything re an irrelevant UN vote. This one really affects our society.
Give up.
It was the proper thing to do.
The Govt. has the best interests of its citizens at heart. Including all school children.
Carson…ya so stupid, ya missed what i said.
i never saiid the school should not be closed, so what will you promise now.
i said
special needs should have their own transportation
the best specialized teachers
integrated into the school system and not bungled together
assessed to identify skills which will allow them to contribute to society of which they are quite capable, that is what makes them special
the money being given away to the parasitic business people should be spent on their special needs instead
if you would focus less on being someone`s slave you would understand.
pedantic
You are only wasting your time and other peoples time.
this discourse for lack of a better word, is purely academic.
Well despite the much bellyaching about the economy – by most BLP louts like David of BU
The NCF should be more than heartened by the thousands – actually 10,547 party 🎉 goers – who flocked Kensington Oval to witness Phenomenal Friday 2017.
It truly was a magnificent spectacle going down to 5 am today.
Then our beloved Transport Board service was there at the end of the show to take patrons safely home
Kudos to all in involved
As the first paying event by the NCF for 2017 with such a large crowd in attendance……then the remainder of the Crop Over season seems set for record success
Eat yuh heart ❤️ out….. David
The majority of Bajans smarter than you ……!
So much thought was put into this decision……..
…….. yet the teachers were only informed the week the decision was announced.
……..yet parents only knew when it was announced on VOB news.
Where was the consultation with the stakeholders?
To send these challenged children into already toxic environments where teachers have to deal daily with behavioural problems minute by minute thus reducing teaching time is waging a war against teachers.
What do Barbadians expect from a rotten decaying government??
DAVID
By the way your countdown to elections is incorrect. But that is in keeping with a lot of the information on this blog.
prodigal
I know that you have a lot of time to waste. so you can carry on from now until Jesus comes again.
It is not going to change a thing. You old pensioners have too much time on your hands. Say Hi for me to Well Well the next time you see her
At a public meeting at St Martin, St Philip after Harold Blackman had resigned from cabinet, he said this:
“If I had served God as I served the DLP, my seat in heaven would be secured”.
This is still a sad commentary on people who serve political parties rather than being honest.
There is no one who cares about this country rather than a party can honestly say that the dlp has not destroyed the economic, social and moral fabric of this country in nine short years.
It is going to be a herculean task to rebuild this economy.
prodigal
One of these days I hope that you will write something that is even remotely sensible.
the DEMCRATIC LABOUR PARTY took Barbados from a village to a NATION.
And back to a village again!
@ Carson C. Cadogan July 8, 2017 at 2:11 PM
“…the DEMCRATIC LABOUR PARTY took Barbados from a village to a NATION”
So Carrion, you are subscribing to that axiom of “what goes around comes around”?
Yes indeed a nation owned and controlled by ‘foreigners’ and facilitated by the local nouveau riche like the Mulatto Maloney fella.
This is not what the founding members of the DLP envisaged for Barbados and its black citizens to be returned to a village of slaves. A village, this time around surrounded not by fields of sugarcane, potatoes and yams but overgrown with bush and cow itch and overrun by vermin of all kinds.
But we ‘vaguely’ remember the leader of that deceitful lying party futuristically warning Bajans of being returned to the cane grounds of Marchfield. How eerily true his words of prediction are fast becoming a reality.
Just remember, Carrion, that Japanese made SUVs and Chinese assembled 40 inch smart TVs are not bought with Bajan cut-plate Mickey mouse money but with hard earned forex.
dpD
Good point……….it was so well thought out that they have been assigned to the three lowest performing schools in Bim.
Yes you heard right lowest by far…..despite the slayer of Demons stating that all schools are equal.
Its a sad day when the system willfully throws its own children to the wolves……yet we have a caring govt.
Miller
Chuckle…….what yuh wasting yuh breath for?
Our education system is one of the best in all the World. Studies have proven that. So inspite of you BLP brown nosers trying your utmost to demonise Barbados , people the World over are proud of what Barbados has to offer in the education field, have you noticed how many Medical schools are setting here and an Engineering school is to follow.
My advice to you and gender confused Mia Mottley is to buy plane tickets and fly to hell out of Barbados .
Well Well bought her ticket and flew to Canada. Please follow her lead.
Yes and no, Vincent …let’s agree and disagree!
The minister’s remarks are meant to create a perspective that TEACHING talent is equitable across the school system…in that he is on solid ground but as it relates to student skill/development his remarks are piffle.
Now with that in mind the choice of schools for the children makes perfect sense. Yes they are being disadvantaged but at least they will be among comparable peers.
They would have been truly thrown to the wolves if they were asked to go to a CP, Cawmere or any ‘older secondary’ school of that ilk and definitely too some of the newer secondary types like St.Leonard’s or Deighton Griffith to name two of repute.
The important dynamic is to appreciate the students that attended Alma Parris. As far as I am aware these were children who tested as ‘developmental challenged’. That is NOT a smear or disparagement but simply a fact of life….we have challenges in life (for various reasons) and develop at a slower pace than others.
The educators completely understand these issues but it seems they are playing a public game of hide the facts to suit their purposes.
The Horizons school is a vocational center geared towards exactly this type of child…
Recall for example what Grenville revealed here weeks ago about his development….and where is he now!
Some of these kids are just like him…rough jewels needing the care and attention to bring out the sparkle…it is not easy mining for jewels!
There is an report in Barbados Today where Cynthia Forde said that as far back as from the days when Ronald Jones was head of the BUT, he was opposed to the creation of a school like Alma Parris.
She outlined the thinking behind setting up the school. She said that the ministry at the time realised the need for what they termed an “Alternate Secondary School”. Jones then as the union bully termed the school an “ass” school using the acronym.
So it seems as if on his way out, he is fulfilling a promise to close the school with no regards to the 143 children and the teachers who were trying their best with them. The ministry did not allocate any students to Alma Parris for the last two years so they knew what they were planning.
By the way, does anyone know how good a teacher Jones was? I have heard that he was hardly in the classroom at Milton Lynch………cause let me tell you, he is the biggest failure ever as a minister of education. A big arrogant buffoon.
I hope Jones know that he has the power now to close the school but an incoming BLP government will reopen it for the benefit of the children of this country.
We need to pray for the teachers of these three schools to which these children have been sent.
DPD
You stated my point…developmentally challenged is vastly different to being slow learner like Grenville or Einstein…..I stand by my statement above.p
prodigal
was Cynthia forde one of Tom Adams side girls?
Min Of Education, The Hon. Ronald Jones
https://www.facebook.com/DLPBB/videos/1487262621336538/
Vincent
This Grenville man is getting on my nerves.
Apparently he still does not realise that the dlp is the government since 2008. The man is forever blaming the BLP for the woes of this country. The dlp is not responsible for anything it has done since 2008 that has put this country in the black hole it is in now. It is the BLP’s fault.
He apparently called the Pine this week and as expected he had to sing a tune that Maureen would allow him to sing. So from what a low info caller said on Brasstacks, he explained “everything” good.
That was a call from hell…………I cannot believe that after the taxpayers have spent millions on education that it has produced such idiots. I was “shamed” for this woman and to think she may have children…………..She believes everything she hears on CBC, she believes everything Grenville said. She said a politician sat her down and explained things to her……….my gosh if it was Kellman………her call is understandable.
David Ellis asked her what has the dlp done wrong, can she name anything the dlp has done wrong since it became the government…….she said she cannot think of anything they have done wrong.
And there you have it…………ignorance at its best………typical dlp supporter.
Prodigal
You should realise by now that a well orchestrated pincer attack has been planned for the bees.I would suggest to you that the bees are fighting many parties as a strategy by this poor rakey govt.
When some one declares that they cannot reveal people because they are in business and maybe affected…….one must wonder about the power of their convictions.
I bow to your fortitude to listen to CBC….not me.
Vincent
You are right.
There is also the matter of finding out if a certain Lawyer and QC is really a bona fide Lawyer and QC.
DLP Baxters Road event
https://www.facebook.com/DLPBB/videos/1496340637095403/
“There is also the matter of finding out if a certain Lawyer and QC is really a bona fide Lawyer and QC.”
An this solves the multitude of problems that confront Barbados.
@Vincent
You are listening to the talk show?
David
Yes I am…..very informative,as to its setup and the early effeorts made,the number of children who are now wortwhile adults and the telling point about deviancy if absorbed in those other schools….it is a pity that dpD is unable to do so….it would give him a better understanding of the difference between slow learners in the system and special needs children.
VoB must be congratulated for hihighlighting this issue. We tend to impersonalize these kinds of issues that affect minority elements in our society.
Well done!
> >
David
Agreed.
That difference @Vincent is well know…very well known to me. I recognize that my earlier remarks about ‘developmental challenges’ might have been misleading but there should be no misunderstanding.
I did catch some of the discourse and I hope that those of Ms Jordan the former Alma Parris principal were properly absorbed.
No need for me to revisit the entire discussion but suffice to say that coming from a history that has long supported children who were deaf, blind and otherwise challenged and who were given opportunity at schools like Parkinsons which as far as I know was setup to handle a SIMILIAR (academic deficiency) child cohort of Alma Parris then we have marked time and WASTED resources to be here today.
We should be way beyond this.
Did you hear the remarks that many teachers are now trained re special needs but YET the ministry overall has NOT embraced ongoing training across the system.
Did you hear about the kids who are not even scoring 30% in common entrance as we discussed above…and did you hear that these kids are in fact across the system at several schools…NOT ONLY PARRIS.
No more prolix…the problem is long in the tooth, our educational masters KNOW the issues but for whatever reason it is being side stepped.
If I may paraphrase David to say: Houston you know the problem, why in heaven’s name are you waiting for the freaking explosion…oops, for another explosion.
Oh gee, excuse that self like….navigating fingers on these tactile devices can be fraught with error!
Someone on this or the other Alma Parris blog mentioned that with progress in medical science we will see fewer children with special needs. In fact medical advances mean that we will see more children with special needs. In the bad old days children who who were born before 24 weeks gestation often died. Nowadays because of medical advances a good number of these children live, but they are more likely that a full term child to have various kinds of disabilities.
“Progress” is often a two edged sword. One side helpful. One side painful.
So we will NEVER overcome the need for special needs education.
dpD
The long and short of it,however which way you want to pars it.
…..Special needs children are not the same as slow learners and should be dealt with differently.
……The failure of succesive govts in this area does not negate the above simple fact.
Correct, Vincent of that there is no disagreement…
The question is asked: are Alma Parris students ‘special needs’? And if so how are those needs different from some of the students who attend St. George secondary or St. Lucy sec.?
The President of the Senate with her ‘special need’ as a visually challenged woman was given the opportunity to navigate your Alma mater. And before her they tell me that a WHEEL-CHAIR challenged young man attended that no elevator three story building for several years also.
Let’s definitely not conflate kids who score poorly on standardized tests because of various life challenges caused primarily by bad parenting decisions, and poor societal practices with those who may be autistic, blind, deaf or otherwise mentally/physically challenged.
As a nation we have a long way to go on the latter issues but have done some awesome work nonetheless thus far (way beyond those simple examples)…we however are failing the otherwise so called developmentally challenged slow learners very, very badly.
dpd
Aspergers,Autism,Disabled,Slow learners….these can all be broken down further.
My understanding is that the school was created to deal with dysfunctional children which can be found on the spectrum of the aspergers and autistic…..if that was no longer its function that was unfortunate.
Today being blind,deaf or wheelchair bound with a fully functioning mind does not prevent one from attending regular schools once one qualifies by virtue of the 11+ exam.
We are neither of us fully learned with respect to the various types of teaching applications for children’s development in their formative years……I shall leave it there.
Did Chris Sinckler go to Alma Parris?
Again Vincent, we thread into disagreement. Not aware that Alma Parris was specifically designed to deal with “dysfunctional children … on the spectrum of the aspergers and autistic”.
That could not be a rational perspective based on (1) the mouthings of the Min of Ed re School equality and (2) the closure of said institution and placing the children back into the other schools previously named.
This is NOT about being professionally grounded in the teaching applications for children’s development.
Biologically, development is essentially the same across the globe…we cannot expect children to score a paltry 30% or less on a standardized test and then perceive that they will magically transform into wise and savvy academicians in a few short years.
There is and has been for generations cohorts of those 30% range kids …we need to address that aggressively and honestly…as noted above they are some vocational centers on island but the overall dynamic is still dated and discriminatory.
That is the thrust of MY Alma Parris debate.
This is NOT about autism and related biologically sourced developmental issues and certainly not about physical challenges.
@Hal, and WHAT if he did?
But he is too old to have attended that school… started a short two decades ago.
Not being rude but your query plays into the stereotype that if you start slowly – which he ostensibly did – then you will forever be reminded of that as others attempt to piss-parade on you.
Lots of leaders schooled at Brumley secondary or ShedRoof Uni can run rings around some Oxford or Cawmere grads…alas not him tho, but just saying!
De dribbler,
You are reading too much in to my question. The tradition is that if you are not clear you ask the questioner to clarify or elaborate, not assume what is in her/his mind.
dpD
Some statements that you are unaware of:
The school was started under the then Min of Educ. MAM,present leader of the opposition,who called into brasstacks yesterday and give the original thinking behind it.
MP for St.Thomas,then a jnr Min.of Educ. when started stated on Brasstacks last week that the present Min.of Educ. who was then president of the BUT,objected to it and said it served no usefull purpose.
The first Principal of the school stated on Brasstacks yesterday what was the original intent of the school and the training that the teachers were exposed to inorder to deal with the specific needs of the children.
My discussion is informed by the above individuals.
Your sources appear to be the present Min of Educ. which is not a credible source based on his previous objections.
@Hal, LOL. So why did you not clarify your statement then. There is a regularly used tactic to ‘ask a question’ and that one oh wise fellow is to present an interpretation of what was said.
The burden is then yours to debunk my interpretation as wrong and clarify. Very simple.
@Vincent, oh me miserum, what sayeth thou! I am very much aware of how the school was germinated and the views of current Min of Ed’s back then.
Worry not about my sourcing. It is as solid as the proverbial rock.
So if per your 10:29 you are saying that MAM suggested in her call-in that the Alma Parris was started to that end then I will have to upbraid my source (LOL)…
I was late and certainly did not hear her comments yesterday.
Ms Jordan’s remarks – the former principal whom I heard in part – coincided with what I was previously advised… at no time did I get the sense from her that the institution was geared very aggressively to the cohort you noted.
No doubt children of that disposition would have ended up there but in the main she clearly noted that ten years ago she also took to St. George secondary many of the tactics, testing methodologies and operational standards which she had instituted at Alma Parris.
Was that to say that St. George’s also had children in that ‘autistic’ cohort range too (maybe).
But also (and moreso) they surely had kids in the more ‘standard developmental slower’ areas as Alma Parris did.
Children at St. George, Parkinson, St. Lucy secondary and others ALSO score in that 30% and below range.
Why take a principal trained in that supposedly very specialized area and transfer her to another type school unless (just maybe) you need to bring those skills and training to other places where they are needed just as BADLY.
Just stating the facts as I see them, bro!
And do always read between the lines of your informants…a skill they surely taught you at Waterford. LOLL!
de pedantic,
No strategy. Just curiosity.
DPD
Sigh…..we are reading the same tea leaves and our interpretation is different…… To each their own…..note our educational system is dysfunctional starting with the 11+.
Hal Austin July 10, 2017 at 10:56 AM
No.
Prodigal Son did.
@Hal Austin July 10, 2017 at 10:56 AM “Did Chris Sinckler go to Alma Parris?”
No he did not.
Did you?
A better question to ask the Minister is whether the present principal pleaded, and pleaded for specialized training for his teachers, and what was the Minister’s response.
Pick sense outta dat.
Simple Simon,
No. I did not go to school.
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