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Pedro Shepherd Santia Bradshaw
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EACH ONE MATTERS

Submitted by Paula Sealy Are there still only two social workers and one senior psychologist working in the education ministry for all the secondary and primary schools? In 2018 the Prime Minister announced that a special scheme would be implemented which would see the introduction of school safety officers, social workers and guidance counsellors. No wonder the…

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Submitted by Paula Sealy

Are there still only two social workers and one senior psychologist working in the education ministry for all the secondary and primary schools? In 2018 the Prime Minister announced that a special scheme would be implemented which would see the introduction of school safety officers, social workers and guidance counsellors. No wonder the guidance counsellors were under pressure back then (https://barbadostoday.bb/2019/03/26/too-few-school-counsellors/).

An ad for guidance counsellors was placed in the Gazette two years ago (Volume 154, No 69, p 970, Aug 26, 2019).
Since then the Minister of Education said that her ministry had placed ads for school safety officers and guidance counsellors for the start of the school term (Barbados Advocate, Safety officers to be hired, 5 Sep 2019, p3).
Two months later, schoolboy Temario Holder was killed at Frederick Smith Secondary School but that has not been enough to get one safety officer posted in one school in Barbados. We got a non-violence march led by the minister shortly after that and COVID monitors since then.
Last week there was some news on the extra guidance counsellors (https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/08/13/additional-counsellors-in-schools-from-next-term/). 

The ads for social workers were in the Gazette two years ago (Volume 154, No 71, p 1014, Sep 2, 2019).
Students graduate every year from Cave Hill with degrees in Social Work. Many of them find it hard to get jobs where they can use their degrees and training. They are qualified and there is a need for them. Are they capable of working in our schools today? 

The social workers have already spoken (https://www.barbadosadvocate.com/news/put-social-workers-schools). 
Where are the school safety officers and social workers today?

SCHOOL SAFETY IS A JOKE Wilkie Cumberbatch Primary in Lascelles Terrace has been condemned. And the principal from there died last year. Now the management and the staff are scrambling like Winston Hall in the St. Joseph gullies hiding from the police (https://fb.watch/7uXoi2snD3/).

Santia Bradshaw was the MP for the area since 2013 and the Minister of Education since the last elections. BUT president Pedro Shepherd was at Wilkie for more than 30 years now and a union man for a long time. 

If not for bad representation there would be no representation at all with Wilkie Cumberbatch. Teachers are getting a raw deal all around, parents and children are getting a raw deal from the minister. And not only at Wilkie because another school might be condemned by next month. 

Wesley Hall should know. 

61 responses to “EACH ONE MATTERS”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    @Artax

    No major recognition to recall. Along with the private school which catered to many children of immigrant parents, he ran a music bookstore for many years. He was a part time organist with the Anglican Church.

    May he Rest In Peace.

  2. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    As memory serves here is a partial list of Private schools that existed, there must be more someone can fill in the blanks
    1) Modern
    2) Federal
    3) St.Anthonys
    4) Ch.Ch High
    5) Unique
    6) Washington
    7) Wakefield
    8) Lynch’s Secondary
    9) Cooperative
    10) Doc ( Durant) from St. Patrick’s area
    11) Metropolitan
    12) Barbados Academy
    13) Presentation College
    14) Codrington

  3. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    The derelict Wakefield High School buildings are an eyesore on Belmont Road, with buses and trees growing inside them and around the compound.
    I think the school was owned by a man named Crawford.

    Several Modern High School students attended Wakefield after the Modern closed sometime during 1978.

    I remember seeing Co-operative High School on fire, when it was located at the junction of Halls Road.

    The Metropolitan High School’s building is still in Roebuck Street.

    Community High School was located in Barbarees Hill.

  4. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    *******BUSHES and trees………….

  5. Martin Bentham Avatar
    Martin Bentham

    Indeed six (6) School Safety Officers were hired and deployed in several schools back in November 2020. Several social workers have also been hired and will be engaged at primary schools in the upcoming school term.
    The issue of school violence is a complex problem, and the presence of the School Safety Officers who are all trained social workers is an important initiative in targeting those students who present with anti social behaviors and are prone to act out.
    Opportunities for these Safety Officers to work with the families and communities and form strategic partnerships will allow interventions in getting to the core of the presenting disruptive behavior.

    The issues regarding the upkeep and state of the school plant is perennial.
    Obviously primary school conditions are not subject to the oversight of a board of management, therefore invariably the situation of instances of some falling into a state of disrepair is rather unfortunate.
    That the primary school in the question will finally undergo significant remediation is a welcomed outcome.
    We applaud the efforts of the current minister who has been quietly going about bringing significant change to the education landscape, and we look forward to further changes which will be proposed by Dr Denny and her team charged with overseeing and implementing curricula and other much needed systemic reform.
    Much has been happening in Education, despite all the long talk.

  6. David Avatar
    David

    Metropolitan High School founder Cox passes on
    Founder and principal of the defunct Metropolitan High School, Olivier Cox, has died.
    The veteran educator passed away Wednesday at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital after a brief stay. He was 88.
    Before entering the teaching profession, Cox attended the Seventh-Day Adventist School and later earned a diploma in theology at Codrington College.
    His goal was to be a doctor but said his parents could not afford the cost, so they encouraged him to be an apprentice druggist at Noel Roach’s pharmacy in Speightstown, St Peter.
    His foray into education began with a temporary teaching stint at the Adventist School, where he was asked to deputise for a full-time teacher who was on leave.
    In the twilight years of his teaching career, he said of this experience: “I didn’t know I could teach but I did such a good job that the headteacher at that time gave me a good recommendation so that was when I knew I could (teach).”
    He acquired further academic qualifications at the Evening Institute and went on to teach at the now defunct Modern High School on Roebuck Street, The City, owned by another outstanding Barbadian educator, Louis Lynch.
    By age 23, he had moved on to Federal High School, under the leadership of headmaster DaCosta “Joy” Edwards, and during this time also conducted evening lessons at his Peterkin Road, Bank Hall, St Michael home.
    Cox later opened his own evening school at Barbarees Hill, St Michael, and within a short time, he opened two more schools, one of them the Metropolitan High School on Roebuck Street.
    That school, which had been in operation for more than 60 years, carried a student roll as high as 800 in its heyday, but fell to below 30 at the time of its closure in 2018.
    Among those mourning the late educator’s passing are his wife Valda, children Joyce, Mona, Carol, Valwayne, Lisa, Karen and Tessa, grandchildren and great-grands, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law and a host of grateful students.
    He was predeceased by two of his children, George and Grace. (GC)


    Source: Nation

  7. David Avatar
    David

    @Martin Bentham

    Whatever work is being done by the ministry the public is left to judge the results based on the current state of affairs. However you slice it there seems to be a deterioration in behaviour on and off school compounds with rising lawlessness. Many schools have a problem with safety/security which is contributed to due to lack of financial resources and or allocations. Look at the Auditor General reports!

  8. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    I feel I must say something on behalf of my school girl mother.

    It may have been over sixty years ago but I think she would like to say,

    “#metoo!”

    Good thing she was a warrior without a weapon at the time!

    Or else the obit would have been written long ago.

  9. David Avatar
    David

    11-Plus results to be known by month end or early September says Bradshaw

    Sat, 08/28/2021 – 6:47am

    The results of this year’s Barbados Secondary Schools Entrance Examination (BSSEE) could be made public at the end of this month or in early September.

    This was disclosed by Education Minister, Santia Bradshaw while speaking to the media on Friday. She was at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus, one of the vaccination centres where persons aged 12 to 18 received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

    “Those results, I am hoping for the end of this month, if not early September. I am mindful that as we get into the September start of the term people get a little anxious because they want to start to prepare for uniforms and the school shoes and everything.”

    She continued, “We are mindful of that, but I think people also have to remember that we extended the term into the summer vacation by three weeks and that impacted on the ability obviously to get the results out in the timeframe that we would normally wish to do so. So we are working hard behind the scenes to try to get those results out and I am hoping that at the latest early September we should be in a position to make the announcements as far as that is concerned.”

    This year’s Common Entrance Examination was taken by most students on July 28th. Class 4s from the Reynold Weekes Primary School would have written the exam on August 11th. Other Class 4s who were in quarantine or students who would have tested positive for COVID-19 would have delayed taking the July 28th exam. They would have written it at an alternative time within August.

    During a press briefing on July 28th, the then Acting Chief Education Officer, Joy Adamson said 3401 students were registered to take the BSSEE.

    Source: BarbadosAdvocate

  10. David Avatar
    David

    Welcoming the new education chief

    THE PUBLIC’S comments on the appointment of Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw as the new Chief Education Officer indicate quite clearly that the post is one of those high-profile Government jobs that are considered critical in the development of the country.
    Barbadians are always very keenly interested in education as they see it as the pathway to upward social mobility. Anyone securing the position of chief education officer will get more than a passing look. What has brought so much attention to the post on this occasion is that it is on a contractual basis.
    Formerly, chief education officers were appointed from among deputy chief education officers, who looked forward with high anticipation to the day when they, too, would occupy that position, hopefully, until retirement. However, that pattern of appointment has gradually been changing.
    Reassigned
    First, former chief education officer Ralph Boyce was reassigned to the Ministry of Agriculture as permanent secretary, a move which attracted a higher salary. He was replaced by Dr Wendy Griffith-Watson, who was appointed as his deputy not long before. This occurred under a Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration.
    Laurie King succeeded Griffith-Watson and subsequently retired prematurely and was replaced by Dr Karen Best, who was previously appointed deputy chief education officer under a Democratic Labour Party administration. A new BLP administration reassigned Best as permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Partnership Relations. Nearly three years later, Archer-Bradshaw now assumes office.
    However, not only is she on a three-year contract, but unlike her previous colleagues, she is coming from outside of the central administration without any actual experience as an officer.
    This I thought was a remarkable “act of faith” on the young chief’s part. Notwithstanding that she brings to the job an impressive array of academic excellence which cannot be overlooked, her resume may be compromised by a lack of real administrative experience, except for a short stint as acting principal of Erdiston Teachers’ Training College.
    The political climate for some time seems to suggest that if a person is appointed to a highprofile job within a term of a political party, then that individual is inevitably labelled a supporter of that party. One does not have to be a rocket scientist to rationalise that at the end of the three-year contract if another party is in power that that person’s contract may not be renewed.
    It is a truism that educational change can take years, if not decades, to be accomplished. Therefore, there is the possibility that a three-year contract may not be enough to guarantee meaningful educational change.
    To the two appointed deputies, the contract may have caused serious heart-wrenching personal deliberation. However, Archer-Bradshaw, because of her age, can anticipate countless opportunities beyond the job of chief education officer.
    It is to be noted that the new chief will be sitting around the board room at the Dame Elsie Payne Complex surrounded by two deputies, eight seniors and just as many education officers whose experience and qualifications are significant.
    Challenges
    The post has an oversight of a system of pre-primary, primary and secondary institutions constituting some 40 000 students and 2 800 teachers. In addition, there is the post-secondary and tertiary institutions.
    The new chief will also have to meet the challenges of teachers’ unions which have been rather agitated within recent years. Perhaps a new approach to teacher concerns would see a less contentious and more conciliatory atmosphere.
    Mary Redman, of the Barbados Secondary Schools’ Union, and Pedro Shepherd, of the Barbados Union of Teachers, would be pleased with Archer-Bradshaw’s statement that she intends to keep communication with the unions as transparent as possible to ensure greater clarity in the way forward.
    It was reassuring to hear that the new chief, in order to accomplish her mission, is prepared to do so “through consultation with and seeking buy-in from her entire staff, whom she acknowledges is a critical plank in any future plan devised for education”.
    She fully understands that being an officer for the first time and occupying the premier position of chief that she has to benefit from the collective experience of her colleagues. Gaining their confidence will be of utmost importance.
    Her stellar credentials will be of no use if she does not attempt to learn the craft of the business quickly. Her intention of getting an understanding of where the Ministry of Education, Technology and Vocational Training is with regard to education and the issues facing the ministry indicates she is prepared to hit the ground running.
    And since the chief in her first interview alluded to the topic of education reform, she must, at the earliest opportunity give the public a wider framework within which the reform will take place. There is a need to spell out the historical weaknesses in the system, the philosophy behind the proposed change, and some of the key areas of special interest.
    The public is also unaware of the core members of the reform committee and the role that the established reform unit will play in the educational process. Perhaps this should come from Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw.
    I am certain Archer-Bradshaw will be able to quickly absorb the dynamics of central school administration, and be an outstanding chief education officer. I wish her every success in her new endeavour.
    Dr Dan C. Carter is an educational historian and author.

    Source: Nation

  11. David Avatar
    David

    BUT head’s call

    Shepherd believes students should repeat a year
    by COLVILLE MOUNSEY colvillemounsey@nationnews.com

    WITH THE Ministry of Education abandoning plans for a return to face-to-face classes this month due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases, the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) wants Government to consider a repeat year.
    BUT president Pedro Shepherd told the MIDWEEK NATION that while he was in full agreement with the decision announced yesterday by Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw, one had to face the reality of what it really meant.
    He added that with the online system already proven to be less than effective last year, its forced return, during the term when students are supposed to be catching up for the significant loss of time, might just be too much to address by doing remedial work concurrently with a new syllabus.
    “Our children have lost a year and if we can’t do the pickup work that we were planning, then we may very well have to consider a repeat year. This is something which the Ministry of Education never entertained before, it never came to the table, but I believe that when we start to see the repercussions and we look back, we are going to realise that it is something that should be done.”
    No indictment
    The BUT head said his comments were not an indictment on Government, but highlighted the tough choice it faced. He added he saw nothing to suggest that the myriad challenges to online learning faced last academic year would be ironed out this time around.
    Shepherd also called for a shortened school term, stressing that teachers’ homes were not ideal to be virtual classrooms and they could not be expected to continue to remain in front of a computer screen for several hours continuously per day.
    “The challenges with online learning will remain and this is combined with the fact that teachers’ homes are not equipped to be classrooms. There are still going to be
    issues with the attention and participation of the students and parents. We are still going to have the issues of students refusing to come online and issues with devices not working properly. These are things that we going to have to get a handle on somehow.
    “However, this is not something that we can point the finger of blame at the Government because they had no choice in this case but to go online. I can tell you that the majority of our teachers would prefer to return to face-to-face but too many of our minors are becoming ill because of this variant,” he said.
    Bradshaw made the announcement yesterday, four days after Government began administering the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to children 12 to 18 years old. The minister said about 2 100 children out of 21 000 received the vaccines, while about 100 students were in isolation with COVID-19.
    Bradshaw said the ministry was aware of the concerns raised on previous occasions when the online format was used, particularly the challenges it posed to teachers, parents and students.
    As a result, information technology coordinators at each school will be made available to work with parents to have devices checked. She also urged those who graduated to secondary school to return devices so others could benefit.
    With Barbados battling a COVID-19 surge as the Delta variant spreads in communities, the minister said more schools might have to be used by the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

    Source: Nation

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