Kudos to the Nation newspaper for highlighting the human interest story Family lacks electricity for online classes. The story resonated with the blogmaster for many reasons that should be obvious to sensible people. Leaders in education of late, forced to implement Covid 19 measures, have been repeatedly braying the cliche “no child must be left behind‘ – what does that mean? What does the image of children clustered around a mobile device in a less than an ideal arrangement say to fellow citizens?
For too long better educated individuals than this buffoon, illiterate blogmaster have promoted the view we must modify the system of education to make it fit for purpose. The pandemic razing the global economic and social landscape of developed and developing countries has exposed weaknesses in the system successive governments have largely ignored or demonstrated a lack of competence to effectively manage.
We live in a country, a world it seems that consumes and distil ALL issues through a political lens. Factors influencing policymaking require several inputs be considered with the political being ONE.
Now the pandemic has humbled the education system the consequence of which we will not be able to determine for years to come. Are we there yet to do what is required? Are we ready to critically review and implement innovations required to enable our children to successfully compete in the global economy?
The task of not adequately preparing our children for the world has dire consequences for our small, beautiful paradise we love. An island that has accomplished so much considering its limited natural resources. Let us work together to show we love Barbados by continuing constructive engagement; sharing ideas, holding citizens, leaders accountable.
Read the Nation article Family lacks electricity for online classes.
Family lacks electricity for online classes
Six children in one household cannot log on to the virtual classroom because their home lacks electricity.
Grandmother Cora Eastmond told the Weekend Nation that she has to give the devices to a friend who lives in Black Rock, St Michael, to get them charged and, depending on his schedule, she may get them back in a day or two.
The 61-year-old woman, who lives in My Lord’s Hill, St Michael, has been featured in this newspaper in the past and continues to receive assistance in the form of food and clothing for the children. Though unemployed, she is the sole guardian of three of the children, following the death of their mother five years ago.
The grandchildren range in age from five to 12.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and classes being shifted online, Eastmond said she had now reached the stage where there was a desperate need for the utilities.
“The house does not have electricity. I does got to send the phones and tablets to get charged and the tablets does have to go all the way to Black Rock,” she cried. “Sometimes the children don’t get their schoolwork done,” she said, adding that all of them had received devices.
The woman inherited the small two-bedroom wooden house in which the family lives when her mother passed away. Eastmond said she started to get it wired for electricity but did not have the money to complete the process even though she had some of the fittings stored.
She added that the house also had natural gas attached but it was disconnected many years ago.
“We does got to go by the $3 Store and buy batteries and go by an Indian store and buy lights and sometimes the batteries only lasting two or three nights,” she said, as she produced the small lanterns which the family used to illuminate the house at night.
In terms of cooking gas, she said while she buys the 25-pound cylinder bottle, it only lasts about a week because of the cooking which had to be done for the family.
“So I does have to walk down the road to the gasstation and if they don’t have gas I have to gofurther and my knees can’t take it because I have
arthritis.”
Eastmond said she felt helpless when it came to the needs of her family since they were all dependent on her.
“It is six children and three adults that live here. My son is out working and he tries his best but this is too much. I am getting old. I don’t know how much of this I can take. I don’t know how much longer I got on this Earth but I want better for the children,” she said, tears rolling down her face.
Eastmond said someone from the Barbados Light & Power recently visited the house but she did not know why since he only asked questions about the occupants. (MB)
Very powerful.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CLvADGBA6Jc/?igshid=1ranwlmum485i
@David
This case one of many. Covid has ripped the robes off the inequity and inadequacy of the system.
Are we able? Yes we are
Are we ready? Maybe
Are we willing? Most definitely not
Just Observing
Maybe some kind soul will add a couple Solar chargers and lights to the next care package.
In the meantime one has to wonder why the devices have to go to all the way to Black Rock.
No more neighbours in the neighbourhood?
Is this who we really are?
My Lord!
It bothers this blogmaster that a blog of this focus will not provoke good discussion by commenters who profess to have the country at heart.
No Child Must Be Left Behind.
Sounds good today eh?
Where have we heard that one before?
Last week? Last month? Last year? Lost decade?
The current system is working perfectly for those that matter in this society. Those with the wherewithal. The rest will just have to press their noses a little harder against that window pane until it breaks.
Problem is, a thicker glass would be installed the very next day.
@David
“It bothers this blogmaster that a blog of this focus will not provoke good discussion by commenters who profess to have the country at heart.”
The education sector is always seen as the bastard child. Used mainly for political discussion and optics, not important since it can’t be quantified in ROIs or fiscal revenues and only evokes deep discussion and passion emotion when it impacts “my child.”
Therein lies the paradoxical challenge with our national development. If “we” only get educated “for me” or only take interest in schooling and education as a reaction to crises and problems then “we” will always be where “we” are.
Then again, depending on your perspective that may very well be the goal!!
Just observing
@Observing
Agree, a great paradox indeed. Nothing will improve unless we get our education model right.
Did any of you listen to Brasstacks yesterday ?
There was a spirited discussion about the state of education in Barbados.
A very impassioned female educator dominated the program.
I was impressed with her contribution.
The reality is that some Bajans believe that the poor should always be with us.
Others do care about their poor neighbours.
There should be a minister in the ministry of poverty eradication to seek out those who
truly need help. I don’t even mind if he is given a SUV to drive bout.
buh doan mine me. I just happy I was able to listen to brasstacks yesterday.
David
Can you provide the name of reporter and his/her email address?
The sign off is report with initials MB. You should contact the Nation to verify.
copy
https://www.nationnews.com/2021/02/26/interview-footballer-marcus-rashford-winner/
Not going to get into the state of the education system.
Willing to donate a small sum directly to Cora Eastmond or a fund in her name.
Hi John2
You may have the same idea as I do. If so, count me in.
Copy @ TheO
PTL
Need a man on the ground. Can you?
https://www.gov.bb/State-Bodies/poverty-alleviation
https://www.gov.bb/Ministries/social-care
Children and Politics
Introduction
Children’s relation to politics can be understood in a variety of different ways, including the impact of politics on children, the political rights and status of children, children’s understanding of politics, and children’s involvement in political activity. Several academic disciplines have shown an interest in these topics at different times. In the 1960s children and politics tended to be the province of political sociologists and psychologists, using a lens of socialization theory; more recently it has begun to receive some attention from scholars in the new social studies of childhood, with greater attention paid to children’s agency. (This topic area has been given greater force by the impact of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations in 1989.) The impact of political decisions and processes on children has been an abiding area of interest not only for children’s rights advocates but also for economists and political scientists. Lawyers and political philosophers have also addressed questions of children’s status in relation to the political world. However, children are remarkable in mainstream political theory mainly by their absence. The general picture is of a working assumption in the field of political writing that children, except as objects of policy, are not relevant to the discourse. The occasions when this notion is explicitly stated are rare and worth noting for that reason. More often it is unstated and, to all appearance, unthought. Apart from a period early in the last century when child labor was a major issue and a spell in the 1960s and early 1970s when political socialization received a great deal of attention, this lack of attention has been the picture for more than a century, and remains so now.
“There should be a minister in the ministry of poverty eradication to seek out those who
truly need help. I don’t even mind if he is given a SUV to drive bout”
not going to help if he/she devolves into another Minister of Elder Affairs or some such emptytitle…..doing nothing at all to help the elderly…especially when they lose their properties, inheritances or dragged through the corrupt supreme court until they die…of illness, stress or a broken heart in violation of the San Jose Charter on the rights of the Elderly in Latin America and the Caribbean that all lawyers, judges, government ministers etc IGNORE although the island is signatory…
these kids dont stand chance especially when they are already earmarked for politicalyardfowlism or the prison system to fill the pockets of lowlifes.
When the next election campaigning start politicians will be begging the old lady and her adult children for a vote.
At that time the family may get a couple grantleys and some promises.
We cannot leave our vulnerable behind. If by our actions we show that humanity does not exist, why bother.
I think we all know what needs to happen in our educational system.. Even Santia Bradshaw. It is not that hard. If it is not done I will assume they don’t want to do it
Thing is, many Bajans are still caught up in the doctor/lawyer syndrome. They believe in the Common Entrance, Queen’s College and Harrison College, and trying to make their children into something they are not for the purpose of their own prestige.
So…. we will have to bring the population into the acceptance of different intelligences.
I am surprised that the lady has to send all the way to Black Rock to get the tablets charged. Has she asked anybody nearby? Strange!
I’d be willing to donate something as well. Poverty will never be eradicated but it can be alleviated when brought to our attention. There is no need for generational poverty. This cycle should be interrupted by intervention in the short term and by better policy in the long term.
Though unemployed, she is the sole guardian of three of the children, following the death of their mother five years ago.
To provide professional social work services geared towards the resolution of individual and family problems.
Enhancement of personal and social development.
Alleviation of poverty Empowerment and rehabilitation of the disabled, the disadvantaged and those affected by the crisis and natural disaster.
https://www.gov.bb/Departments/welfare
FDA approves
J&J single jab vaccine for emergency use today February 26, 2021
The Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine also has one additional advantage over Pfizer and Moderna’s MRNA vaccines – the adenovirus itself provokes the immune system to activate immune cells that are nearby. This leads to the immune system reacting more strongly to the spike proteins.
There is an advantage to adenovirus-based vaccines – they are much less fragile than mRNA vaccines because they are based on DNA which is more rugged than RNA.
Once the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is injected into the arm, the adenoviruses enter cells and moves to the nucleus, where the cell’s genes (DNA) are located.
The family needs first of all a reliable source of electricity, and then some ongoing help to pay the bill. In there an electrician in the BU house? Since the natural gas has already been disconnected for non-payment and natural gas is the cheapest utility, I expect that they will have difficulty paying an ongoing electricity bill. It seems as though the grandmother is trying her best in very difficult circumstances and deserves a hand up.
@David February 26, 2021 1:17 PM “The sign off is report with initials MB. You should contact the Nation to verify.”
MB=Maria Bradshaw who does many of the Nation’s human interest stories.
Thanks Simple Simon.
mariabradshaw@nationnews.com
@ Donna
“I’d be willing to donate something as well. Poverty will never be eradicated but it can be alleviated when brought to our attention. There is no need for generational poverty. This cycle should be interrupted by intervention in the short term and by better policy in the long term.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
poetic justice
You got my vote.
@ Chancellor February 27, 2022 12:08 AM
Make no mistake about it.
That nursery rhyme guy who met a pieman going to the fair?
Simon was just ahead of his time.
Back when the word “simple” meant “stupid.” Pre internet.
Today, if you compete in a bottomless pool of piemen trying to sell their wares, simple is your savior.
The best brands know this. And they work hard and spend hundreds of thousands to get and keep simple.
Still, for most, simple is threatening. Too naïve. Too easy to work.
But simple doesn’t mean easy. It’s not simplistic.
Simple asks, will you take a deep dive below the surface of what you think you’re selling to see what they actually buy?
It may get a little uncomfortable. Worth it.
Simple’s mighty enough to open a window that’s been shut and stuck tight for a long time.
Then it reveals what’s natural to you. It brings serendipity to your path. It unites you with your brilliance. Your greatest advantage.
Once you see it, you never forget it. It’s disarming. Like a nursery rhyme.
The clearer you get, the simpler you become.
The simpler you become, the more effortless it looks.
The more we see effortless, the more we want to be effortless.
We’re following you.
The simpler you become the more you can create.
A brand promise is simple: “I do.”
A mission is simple: “We aim to.”
Your simple story—as profound and profitable as it gets.
That’s when you show and tell your story and their story at the same time. Golden.
So, before you just say, “keep it simple”, do you know what simple’s worth keeping?
Your unique simple.
The one you worry is too simple to get your whole team behind it?
What if that’s the power that ignites something big for your business?
Consider this: If Simple Simon was really so stupid, we wouldn’t know his name 275 years later.
@ David
This is more about poverty. Stark poverty that we pretend is non existent. About five or so weeks ago, I wrote on BU that the entire online exercise was another feel good experience. What we were told in the press was not connected to the reality. The country simply was not ready for such an undertaking to reach the poor and downtrodden. When these debilitating episodes of poverty are highlighted , they are only a microcosm of the widespread poverty in the island. I seriously dont want to be told that poverty exist everywhere.I think even the unborn know that ! To be preemptive, of such diatribe, let me state that miliions of children go to sleep every night in Amurca hungry as hell. Hungrier than many in Barbados.
It is a known fact that 95 percent or perhaps more of every child in the private primary schools have tablets and the schools themselves have the necessary infrastucture to capitalise on online education. This is not the case in our government primary schools. What this really means, is that hundreds of children, are no where near to being well prepared, for the educational gas chamber we call the Eleven plus. Perhaps this is a good thing because that exam is one of the most decadent purveyors of poverty in our country.
To avoid the pure ignorance that usually results from an offering such as this , let me state forthwith that Mia Mottley is not responsible for the ruthless unmasking of our country because of, or by COVID. We can lie no more or come with willy nilly nonsense to solve what are mounting socio economic problems in the society. As you often to say , one should never waste the opportunities presented by a crisis. The problem we have is that in 2021, we still believe that our people should be running behind trucks and being paraded publicly to receive care packages. The poor is exploited for front page covergae in order to sell mpapers.
To put it mildly, even before the trials and tribulations of COVID, thousands of our children have been left behind. The evidence is there, in the same newspapers, if we only read and study the court reports. All products of of our elitist educational sysytem and a widening poverty enveloping the country. None so blind as those who refuse to see although they ironically have 20/20 vision.
William…we have come to understand that poverty is man-made, deliberate and repugnantly malicious…how the
the small time crooks in Barbados operate is a prime example of how poverty is created..
as i said..Barbados has UNNECESSARY POVERTY….
the wicked and greedy generate the situations that causes pauperization.
Class of 2021
BU is like school days
There is some bullying
but bullies get blanked out by all the children
when they call their friends they are ignored
and have nervous breakdowns and drop out
We are one family
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UrniT6RVAg
One ascension
When i start to play
Gratitude
@ William
Educational gas chamber? Plse develop. I know you are not keen on the 11+, in fact you dislike it. But I cannot remember any alternatives put forward by you. What will you replace it with?
@ WURA
We just don’t want to connect the dots. We tend to believe that those who point out racism, poverty, corruption and the betrayal of the black political class , are idiots or unhappy with their lives.
We are supposed to come here on BU and other blogs preaching about a paradise that honestly stopped being a paradise for the poor almost a half century ago. Some like @ PLT and @ Pacha , will correctly argue it was never a paradise since we came here to cut cane and not play golf, as some impervious minds would suggest.
At some point in time, we must of necessity leave them to wallow in their folly. It’s their choice and there is nothing in any democracy that can automatically cure their pathetic meanderings.
“as i said..Barbados has UNNECESSARY POVERTY….”
This is an idea that I struggled with for a long time. We need a discussion that deemphasize becoming doctors and lawyers, avoiding the land, looking down on fishermen and on being employees instead of becoming self-employed, slavishly following parties that do nothing for the average Barbadian ….
Just changing our mindset would lift many up. What we are seeing is often poverty of ideas and of spirit.
Cuhdear goes to the head of the class.
The link could have been made by googling nation newspaper staff.
Perhaps a local could act as a ‘middle man’…
The very tool (ICT) that was earmarked to level the educational playing field is turning out to be the main instrument in reinforcing an educational apartheid system in Barbados.
The future of teaching and learning, especially at the post-primary levels, lies in cyberspace; and not, ‘primarily’, in some physical classroom setting.
Unless all children are given, from an early stage to train and prepare them for the journey, ready access to the vehicles required to drive on the information highway the future will not be bright for those bumming a lift to the equal opportunity destination. And this is becoming more and more evident in a world of work and business where almost all activities will be conducted on ICT platforms.
A major stumbling block to the dismantling of the current so-called Common Entrance Exam aka the 11-plus hurdles.
If, as the educationalist elite in Barbados like to contend, all public-funded schools at the secondary level are equal why then the need for a strainer of a competition at such a mentally and emotionally, and in some cases, biologically awkward time for most minors?
Why not send the children to the school nearest to their permanent residence with an approriate public-funded bussing arrangement to the next nearest available school to handle any local overflow?
Is it because the class-conscious ‘riddled’ leaders of the pseudo-academic petty Barbados do not want to see besmirched their memories of those halcyon days at their alma maters of the likes of HC and St. Michael’s which would be ‘overrun’ and ‘overran’ by the children of the urban ghetto riff-raff as perceived through their elitist eyes of class snobbery?
Electrician is being organized
Here we go again! Whoever said there is no stark poverty in Barbados?????? WHO does not know that there are people without electricity and natural gas???? Who does not know that there are people who are homeless and hungry????? Who does not know that our educational system has outlived its usefulness.
I have written scripts and directed plays, written poetry and short stories and performed them for over a decade on these very subjects. I proposed programmes to my church to uplift the people in our parish. My idea was that we had twenty-six ready made community centres and plenty of resources and were as such ideally placed to reach every last resident. I was berated and belittled and told they would not work. By the laeity. I did not bother to approach the priests. But eventually they came up with a grand plan, held meetings and then probably continued in their small way but not the coordinated, grand way that the plan called for and that would actually make a significant difference nationwide. Not only the government has implementation deficit.
So… I wrote another bit of poetry for the “pew warmers” who enjoyed the performances and ignored the message.
And I was done entertaining them.
So….. here it is that David is the one who highlighted the story for discussion, PLT is out working to do what the system will not, Pachamama would use the guillotine to reorder the society forthwith.
And here it is that you are the first to come misquoting people, misrepresenting their positions, disparaging people based on these false interpretations and dividing us into those enlightened few who know and the fools who do not.
Then you will accuse us of being the problem.
You have dug this rabbit hole. Instead if dicussing the topic YOU have “MISLED” the blog into NOWHERELAND.
It’s way to early in my weekend for this shit!
To use a computer you have to be able to read.
Primary school is critical to the education system in Barbados.
The goal should be for every child to score a minimum of 70% in the “screaming test”.
@William
“I wrote on BU that the entire online exercise was another feel good experience. What we were told in the press was not connected to the reality. ”
CORRECT!
@Hal
Replacing 11+ will only succeed if we replace the prejudice, social injustice and public mindset as well
@Miller
salient points. I concur.
@john2
Kudos my brother/sister. May others follow your quiet lead to enact change
@Hants
If the systemic “primary” problems aren’t solved, no matter the doctor or test it will develop “secondary” symptoms and eventually have major “tertiary” implications well into adulthood or nationhood. nuff said.
Good morning peeps.
Just Observing
Hal Austin February 27, 2021 6:28 AM
“@ William
Educational gas chamber? Plse develop. I know you are not keen on the 11+, in fact you dislike it. But I cannot remember any alternatives put forward by you. What will you replace it with?”
I have been pushing Continuous Assessment since the early 70s. The major problem with the Eleven plus is that it does not capture the full talents of the children and is lop-sided , favoring those who are academically inclined
There is also the problem with transferring children to the secondary stage with little or no relevant information to bridge the connection , in terms of abilities , when “ graduating to the secondary.
You would note, that at graduation, children with other talents/ interests, who have achieved in areas other than academics are not highlighted.
I also opine that failure to recognize and develop all children leads to unemployment and underemployment.
I hope this gives you an outline on my thinking on this issue.
Finally , we need an educational system that acts in accord with socio economic planning. To suggest that a system that has not been reformed or touched , in real terms since the 60s can produce citizens for the current and next century is madness.
Even you have often talk about learning by rote. That is essentially why we are not producing thinkers that ties into your apparent disillusionment with the absence of critical thinking on national issues.
I have noted how this tote system has produced people who simply do not have the ability to reason outside of their immediate mindset. Products of what you call the rote system.
You simply cannot accuse or suggest that the rote system is suppressive and then defend the Eleven plus which is the gold standard of rote. That’s where you and I part company on this issue.
Credos to Uncle Jeff program on Vob..
As per de Chancellor “spot on”
@ William
I can understand continuous assessments. I will give two examples. In the UK there was a shift in the 1980s/90s to modules and continuous assessment, the result was that girls were outperforming boys to such a level that it became one of concern. Boys were better at exams cramming and the girls at modules.
In the mid-2000s Michael Gove, the then education secretary, re-introduced an emphasis on exams and, to a large extent, it reversed the trend, even if girls still outperformed boys. (in 2010 I gave a speech in Barbados for the Commonwealth Secretariat on women in finance in which I talked about girls/women outperforming men).
I will give another example. Some one I know, of Barbadian heritage, was very keen on art and was highly rated by her white, English art teacher.
The teacher left and was replaced by a woman of Guyanese Indian heritage, who took an immediate dislike to the girl.
For her finals, when the girls handed in her work it suddenly went missing and she was forced out of the art class.
Although I am not an artist, I knew she was competent because she did work experience with me and the people in our art department were singing her praises. They even gave her a going-away present, which was unusual.
The young lady switched to the biomedical sciences, did her degree and went on to do post-graduate work. Afrt became a hobby. She now works for the national health service.
Funnily enough, in 2021, GCSEs will be based on teacher assessments and it is interesting to see how the black and white kids are responding.
While the white kids have confidence in their teachers, the black kids, especially boys who cram for exams, are very concerned, and rightly so.
To return to Barbados, there must be a system of assessment and I cannot see what is wrong with the 11+. What we need are safety nets, reducing the emphasis on academic subjects and a system to catch those who fall through the net. We also need to flush out those parents who game the system.
We must also sort out our secondary schools and the historic, class-ridden system in which the 11+ stamps us and influences our ambitions for the rest of our lives. Do you remember the days of the first and second grade schools?
I went through the system and know how repulsive it can be.
On Thursday night, Miss Mottley spoke for 45 minutes about the “ease” of the the “pause” .
She touched on numerous topics, she literally spoke about coconut vendors cleaning up their coconuts and telling people not to vend on the ABC Highway.
She spend 0 minutes and 0 seconds mentioning when will schools re-open to face to face learning!
It is laughable when I hear the government praising the education system, praising how it cares, praising itself for the great job it does.
The average public school physical plant facility would not pass any of the standards setup in the USA, Canada or the EU. Schools get closed down for odours, mold, crumbling walls along with a litany of other items.
In every country in the world the priority has been to keep schools open. In many countries they never closed such as Sweden and in all of Europe and Russia and China and Canada schools opened to face to face learning in September.
They had been closed for a few weeks at Christmas and January due to covid hysteria/panic, but now other than a few outliers they are open in person (e.g. Canada, Florida, Sweden, Russia, Poland all are open and UK at least has a plan and is opening everything March 8th)
Here there is no plan, no talk and there seems to be the misguided idea that kids are in danger from this sars-cov2 virus when meanwhile after 14 months of evidence we know anyone under 20 years of age has a close to zero percent of risk of anything worse than a runny nose.
This Country and its elites are showing their true colours on lack of planning, acting via panic and sacrificing the education of Barbadian children to preven a 80 year old from catching a virus. Governing is about risk management and choice, to shut down the education system for the perceived and impossible goal of keeping a virus from touching an 80 year old person is criminal.
Kids are more valuable to a society than the old and infirm, this is simple reality. Sacrificing their future is criminal.
Thinking about it, when you have a Prime Minister who went to a private high school in Canada for 4 years with a boarding cost of $45,000 Canadian dollars a year it doesn’t surprise me that worrying about the poor Bajans going to school is not that important to her or the elite. Their kids are probably overseas as we speak in their private schools getting a face to face education.
@ Mia Mottley Prime Minister of Barbados 🇧🇧
We love you because you understand, dear
Every single thing we try to do
You’re always there to lend a helping hand, dear
We love you most of all because you’re you
No matter what the world may say about you
I know your love will always see us through
We love you for the way you never doubt us
But most of all we love you cause you’re you
We love you because our heart is lighter
Every time I’m walking by your side
We love you because the future’s brighter
The door to happiness, you open wide
No matter what the world may say about you
I know your love will always see Us through
We love you for a hundred thousand reasons
But most of all we love you cause you’re you…
🙏
file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Higher%20education.pdf
Ricardo
You talking shite
When school in Barbados were opened to face to face. The school in the USA were doing online only
Barbados had an under 20 / a child died a few weeks ago
Children may not be affected much like an over 80. But when they go school and pick up the virus the will take it home to granny
@John2
as well as pass it on to teachers.
While Ricardo has many misguided points the substantive point remains that not enough focus, planning, policy direction and attention has been placed on education generally, and education during and after a Covid-19 environment.
btw, Has anyone seen or heard Santia lately???
Just Observing
John2 and Theo well done. 2021.
@ Hal
I remember the elitism that was practiced back then, grading schools etc.
We really don’t like these subjects r
because we are afraid to even discuss farless encourage them.
This is how nasty some of these $5 a hr security guards can be to children, disabled, elderly, they don’t care….then they call themselves the most educated people in the Caribbean.
https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/02/27/mother-laments-the-discriminatory-treatment-of-her-disabled-son-at-a-recent-polyclinic-visit/
“A mother is outraged at what she is describing as the “inhumane” treatment meted out to her disabled son when they visited the Randall Phillips Polyclinic in Oistins, Christ Church on February 11.
Lisa Scott, who claims that a security guard at the polyclinic refused access to a chair for her son while he waited outside to be vaccinated at the public polyclinic, told Barbados TODAY that she has made an official complaint to authorities at the facility, “
A promising Santia Bradshaw was last seen spouting about the necessary overhaul of our education system to accommodate the various known intelligences that lead us to places other than law school, medical school or jail. Although in more and more cases it law school AND jail!
Unfortunately, she said the middle schools /specialist schools will cost money and would therefore not materialise overnight. And the Common Entrance too lives on!
Since then she has been spotted with various nothing mouthings that will no doubt be blamed on the pandemic.
Everyting pon pause!
“Therefore, enquiring minds are curious and wonder why none of this vital intelligence was never taught in schools from primary to tertiary level, quickly becoming part of the curricula to both enlighten and advise current and future nuclear families about their vulnerabilities and the expert, sophisticated methods still employed to subdue and dominate them, devoid of any privilege that would respect basic African human rights.” Copyright ⓒ 2021. All Rights Reserved.
they have no shame, still pretending that an education system of indoctrination is helpful to AFRICAN DESCENDED people….just looking at them, we can see how destructive the system that has nothing uplifting to boast about…. turned them into what they are…a disgraceful lot..
Some challenges???
Navigating online technologies for education presents many challenges, besides the obvious concerns about students’ ability to access the necessary tools and technologies. The interaction between teachers and students in the digital space is different from face-to-face engagement and depends on the level of digital literacy possessed by both parties. To carry out “formal” educational processes online requires both competence and confidence. For evidence of this, just ask any of the many members of parliament or local government councillors who have assisted members of the public with submitting online applications for social services
Kids shouldnt even bother going to school now, besides the fact that the teachers of the past have become self indulgent political hacks ,what are they actually teaching. This is no joke, I had my kids and their friends over for cocktails the other night. They were talking about babble and rosetta stone for learning spanish, I asked you know what the rosetta stone is right and nobody knew, I thought they were joking so I went into how it was found when napoleon was in egypt 1799 etc and thats how they were able to decipher hieroglyphics. Not one knew university degrees galore. About 10 years ago I was in the pub and the waitresses were talking about my bald buddy out on the patio. I said when he was younger he was a real good looking guy had a thick head of hair…like stalin…again the girls had all been to university and didnt know who stalin was….save your damned money go to trade school.
“save your damned money go to trade school.”
yep…trade school it is or IT, internet security, programming etc…ya can’t go wrong.
Apathetic ?
The No. 1 reason for the underrepresentation of students in gifted education is the lack of teacher referrals, even when students are highly gifted. I definitely think stereotypes and biases hinder educators from seeing students’ gifts and talents. In most schools on the Island, if you are not referred by an educator, you will not move through the identification pipeline for gifted education programs and services, as well as Advanced Placement. It starts and it stops with teachers.
@ Tony February 27, 2021 11:54 AM
Well done!
Obviously, I am not the only concerned, neutral citizen here who believes the official government news and not the diabolical opposition.
@John get your shite right. Public schools here with zero cases never opened to face to face learning for more than 2 days per week.
Meanwhile all of europe reopened schools April 2020 and stayed open until this Christmas with some countries closing for half to all of January. In Republican states like Florida and Georgia school was open in face to face in September , in Canada every province every school open, in USA politics and the Democrat conspiracy to beat Trump kept the schools closed in those states.
Zero cases in Barbados and school has been closed since March 2020….and to be exact they opened in June for only 11plus study and cxc exam. Then Sept to Christmas 2 day per week in class learning.
This government doesn’t give a shit about education, coconut vending and talking about partying is all that matters.
And guess what kids get sick and can pass it to adults, adults can get sick and pass to kids…that’s how nature works. I hope you realize life is finite, people die. 2100 die every year in Barbados. There is no moral reason that any school university included should be closed even if 80 year olds were dying in droves on the streets. Covid is here to stay, the most important thing is the future which is kids and education,
And even if you disagree which you shouldn’t it doesn’t take away that a PM gave a 48 minute speech about covid response and didn’t spend 1 second talking about schools and education
Pathetic
Ricardo
I am in the republic state of Georgia and I can tell you School were opened and there was a spike in strident and teachers and the schools were closed to face to face
Up to Friday some school are not opened to 100% face to face
Some schools the teachers report to work and teach there students online
Get your fact straight
I can’t speak for fl or any of the other places u mentioned but I know over all in the USA all schools are not opened to face to face bacause if Concern by teachers some of them being high risk etc
Some schools are opened but the parents got the option to send their kids or let them remain at home
Barbados is doing what is best for Barbados
@William Skinner February 27, 2021 11:02 AM “I have been pushing Continuous Assessment since the early 70s. The major problem with the Eleven plus is that it does not capture the full talents of the children and is lop-sided , favoring those who are academically inclined
There is also the problem with transferring children to the secondary stage with little or no relevant information to bridge the connection.”
Agreed.
When my children’s 11+ turn came I was surprised to learn that their elementary school report cards did not go with them to secondary school. Only the 11 grade went with them. This was foolish 29 years ago and it is foolish now. The new school/new teachers should know the child as fully as possible. As is is all they are given is 2 numbers.
I also ask what do we mean when we say “academically inclined”
I noticed that one of my children had extraordinary spatial intelligence when the child was 26 months old and started giving me driving directions. The 11+ does not assess spatial, artistic, athletic, nor musical intelligences. The 11+ cannot help us to discover a Garry Sobers, nor a Rihanna nor many, many more. I am not even sure if our parents and our society values such intelligences. However I don’t believe that this child was hurt by the 11+. Did moderately well in the 11+, did not go to QC, nor HC nor Combermere, but got a good secondary education never the less. A couple of teachers at secondary school noticed what I had silently observed, as did a teacher at BCC, so yes we do have some wonderful perceptive teachers in the system. Youngster is not a doctor, not a lawyer, not an engineer, not an accountant, not an economist, not a banker. Graduated from a university in a field that highly values spatial intelligence. Tells me regularly of the joy that work provides.
All of us, the state, the parents, the teachers must learn to value each child, and do all that we can to help each child discover his or her gifts and do what we can to help each young person to hone his or her gifts. Because as a cousin if mine likes to say “God does not send a bird unless he sends a berry.”
Beautiful de beautiful.
Situated in the Atlantic Ocean, just east of the Caribbean Sea, Barbados is the eastern outlier of the West Indies. Among the Caribbean islands, Barbados breaks from the gently curving Lesser Antilles islands, which include formerly French islands such as St. Lucia, St. Vincent and St. Kitts. These islands trace the edge of the Caribbean tectonic plate as it intersects with the North and South American Places, forming an arc of volcanic islands. Barbados lies on an ocean shelf east of the volcanic arc and does not have its own volcano.
Island Formation
Barbados lies directly over the intersection of the Caribbean plate and the South American plate in a region known as a subduction zone. Beneath the ocean floor, the South American plate slowly slides below the Caribbean plate. The marine sediment — essentially the sand or soil at the base of the ocean floor — is scraped off the top of the South American plate and forms a buildup known as an accretionary prism. In the case of Barbados, coral grew over this pile of sediment, and the coral was pushed closer and closer to the ocean surface as more sediment added to the accretionary prism. Barbados is known as a coral island because its base is made from upwardly-moving coral, not volcanic lava flow.
Eastern Cliffs and Beaches
Eastern Barbados, with treacherous currents and pounding surf, is no place for casual swimmers. The area has become popular with surfers, who take advantage of the heavy Atlantic waves. This side of the island differs so markedly from the smooth eastern beaches because of a combination of the strong Atlantic wave patterns and the underlying rock composition. Closer to the continental plate convergence, the eastern shore of Barbados rose from the water first and is geologically older than the lower, terraced sections to the west. Small white and tan sand beaches dot the limestone and sandstone cliffs on the eastern shore, made respectively from compacted carbonate coral and marine sediment.
Western Beaches
The jutting land masses of the east slope in a defined terrace structure out to the low-lying western beaches. Terracing provides gentle descents on both land and underwater, so swimmers can wade far out into the water as the ocean floor slopes gradually. The terraces formed when Barbados was pushed above the ocean surface by marine sediment accumulation at the site of the accretionary prism and coral grew at each newly exposed surface level. As the coral was pushed further out of the water, it died and dried up. Ocean waves eroded the coral into the fine sand and white or pinkish color that makes up the island’s beaches today.
Good job John2
I live next door to a kindergarten school in NJ. It’s not open.
There is no uniform policy for opening or closing of schools in the USA. Even within a state there is some variation on openings and closings.
Trying hard to sit on the sidelines and read, but have to chirp in every now and then.
I am a modest user of electricity, small family and I use about $70 per month. This much larger family will need about $120 BDS per month for electricity, and about $20 for natural gas, so once the electricity is set up $140 BDS per month for a year or two until more than one of the adults can find work would make a great difference. I wonder if Light and Power would permit some people to pay forward the electric bill and the same with the gas company?
We did not get electricity at our rural home until I was about 11 or 12 and I remember how magical the experience was.
@ Tony February 27, 2021 9:48 PM
If we truly believe in the almighty Goddess Bim, she will grant her prophet Mia the power to defeat the demon Corona and to found the People´s Republic of Barbados.
Checked school openings with a friend in Georgia. In that district the schools started virtually in late August, then went to in person in October, but closed just before Thanksgiving because of covid spikes. Went back after Thanksgiving but closed just before Christmas again because of Covid spikes. Have started back again with special needs kids going in first, 2 weeks later elementary, then 2 more weeks later high and middle school, but only for 4 days per week as the classrooms are given a careful sanitizing mid-week. Masks mandatory for teachers but optional for students. Vaccinations will begin the second week of March.
Published Wednesday, February 3, 2021 5:14AM EST
“In-person learning will resume at schools in most of Ontario next week but students in Toronto, Peel and York regions will have to wait until Feb. 16 for their return to the classroom.
The Ford government has announced that schools will reopen in an additional 13 public health units as of Monday, including Durham and Halton regions.
But it says that schools will remain remote-only in Toronto, Peel and York for another week and will instead reopen after the Family Day long weekend on Feb. 16.”
P.S. Toronto, Peel and York are the most heavily populated areas of the Province of Ontario.
Source: https://www.cp24.com/news/schools-in-toronto-peel-and-york-can-reopen-feb-16-all-other-schools-set-to-reopen-monday-1.5293504
@Ricardo February 27, 2021 11:45 AM “The average public school physical plant facility would not pass any of the standards setup in the USA, Canada or the EU. Schools get closed down for odours, mold…”
How about ventilation?
Our schools will reopen once the teachers have been immunized.
Why are you people getting your knickers in a knot.
The truth is it does not matter whether a child starts elementary school at 4 or 5 or 6
It does not matter whether the 11+ is done at 10, or 11, or 12
It does not matter whether a child writes CXC exams at 15, or 16, or 17
It does not matter if a young person writes their A’Levels at 16 or 17 or 18 or 19
It does not matter whether a young person begins university at 18 or 19 or 20
It does not matter whether we we join the work force at 16 or at anytime up to 26 or 30.
The traditional ages all came into use when the life expectancy was about 60. They bear no relevance to today.
To tell the truth for most people does it really matter if they do paid work for 40 years or 45 or 50?
Human beings are not mathematical symbols. The human child’s brain is flexible, it is mallable. We worry too much. Our children will be fine. Most of them will do better than their parents or grandparents.
Ric
TheO and cuddear put my shite straight enuff for you?
Now let me tell you why the school in Barbados are not going to open any time soon until the covid situation is cleared up.
The TEACHERS/UNIONS WILL PUT THEIR HEALTH FIRST AND WILL NOT TURN UP. you should know the barbados teachers/unions by now. so if you got kids that need face to face teaching then you can sent them to school and then go and teach them yourself.
No cases in school —- school closed…….school closed!!!!
school age child died in feb when school are normally opened.
How many school age kids are quarantine or isolation?
How many of the are obese or suffer from asthma?
Can you tell me how many months/year the education of the child that died has been set back because of the closing of face to face schooling? Or how much further if would be today if face to face was allowed?
” I live next door to a kindergarten school and its not open “…….Theo is that even legal .?…dont you have to register or something whether its open or not.?
Good morning to all.
Lawson, thanks for the laugh. It reminded me of some weak bowling that I gave to John and he smashed it.
You guys have excellent brains, if only you find ways to use them productively.
Thats what life is all about having fun and a laugh, your right I will think about how I can increase productivity when I am at the bar this afternoon having a few vodka sodas.
Cuhdear Bajan at 9.47 p.m. Feb 27.
Precisely. This doctor/ lawyer nonsense has got to stop! All children have intelligence. We need to identify, develop, value and use those intelligences. It really is not that hard. It costs us more NOT to do so than it would to get it done.
That is why I had to make noise at my son’s graduation, where the skit was all about valuing success in Maths and English only and where the principal called the names of the eight who gained entry to the older secondary schools and labelled the others as “the rest”.
Left me with my two hands up and ready to clap at my son’s name. He was entering Deighton Griffith and was next on the list.
I got up and scrapped my chair on the floor and walked off. Then there was the skit Another walk out for me.
“I got to pass for Harrison College!”
I was sure to tell the teachers to pass on the message to the principal. I did not trust myself to do so.
@ Lawson February 28, 2021 7:46 AM #: “” I live next door to a kindergarten school and its not open “…….Theo is that even legal .?…dont you have to register or something whether its open or not.?”
https://media.tenor.com/images/b056d7d835ff43ee381a6efbbf1f14db/tenor.gif
That was brilliant…….. the best joke for the year so far (NOT because it was directed at TheO). A good one for a sitcom.
You and Tron break the ‘monotonous regularity’ of negativity on BU.
By the way, let’s congratulate some teachers who are making sure that students about to enter the real world…know that our history did not begin nor end with the slave trade and they make sure these fortunate kids are exposed to the reality that’s their birthright….must give these FORWARD THINKERS their props…
yes, these teachers are in Barbados.
Source: Nation
Source: Nation
TheO & Donna
There are other chapters. / complications. The usually “bajan” stuff
@ David.
Can you pass on to the above two?