This report out of the Virgin Islands identifies Barbados, Bermuda and The Bahamas in the top 5 most expensive countries to live in the WORLD. Allow the blogmaster to ask a silly question, is this reality reversible?
Barbados One of the Most Expensive Countries to Live in the Region
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215 responses to “Barbados One of the Most Expensive Countries to Live in the Region”
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@Bush Tea August 24, 2022 7:34 AM “BUT that does not mean that we ALL must have YOUR low standards.”
Can you explain to ALL of us what is LOW about eating an organic sweet potato, which was grown, harvested cooked and eaten ]lol!!!] independent of the global supply chain? And looka, I alive and well this morning. Just went in the garden and made up a bunch of seasoning which will “sweeten” the family’s dishes this week. Already one of the grans likes it in scrambled eggs…yard fowl eggs of course. Actually those yard fowl eggs with some sugar, flour [yes, I sometimes eat the northern substanse] butter and a few lemons makes a cake good enough, or significantly better that that at any 5 star hotel, and yes I sometimes “take tea” at one or two of the 5 star places. Because like you I Grew Up Stupid Under the Union Jack.
I gine check back wid ya tonite becausin’ I gotta go work in de ground now. I already an hour “late.”
Enjoy your Black Sea caviar.
And lef’ out my ZR men please. Some of the most honest hardest working men and women in Barbados. Unlike you they know how to make their living without sucking on the tax payers bubbies.
I too have always made my living without sucking on the tax payers bubbies.
Did I tell you the grans off to Harrison College in a week or two, as did their parents? Not me though. I duncy…lol!!! But I in paradise. Happy and healthy at nearly 70.
Bye sweetnest.
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@Bush Tea “When the bushman looks in the mirror”
I would bet anything that when Bushie looks in the mirror what he sees is a big guts, bald head, impotent , miserable old man.
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@Hants August 24, 2022 7:47 AM “Potato skins on the menu”
How much Hants?
Although they say if you have to ask the price it means that you cannot afford it.
But the ZR woman ALWAYS asks the price first
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@ Hants
Potato skins are on the REGULAR menu for normal brass bowls.
…no need for special orders..
LOL@ Cuhdear
Do you REALLY think that Usain Bolt would be able to explain the intricacies of sprinting to someone who is proudly bragging that they can manage to walk on their own with a cane?The world is MUCH more complex than you can imagine….
You know nothing about Bushie’s mirror image, and perhaps you should consider the wisdom of promoting YOURS as somehow ‘utopian’.Your original pseudonym was revealing, but this one has lowered the ‘poor me Bajan’ bar to a frightening level of brassbowlery acceptance… IF ONLY YOU KNEW WHAT THE ACTUAL POSSIBILITIES ARE…
You suggest..
“….when Bushie looks in the mirror what he sees is a big guts, bald head, impotent , miserable old man.”
You are about as right with this, as you are about everything else…. 🙂Try to understand that our world is MUCH more complex than your limited facilities are able to assimilate, …and you will be amazed at what you can learn.
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“@David August 23, 2022 11:57 AM “to deflate the online egos of some of you?”
“Good luck with that Davis.
Lol!”
should really rephrase that, BU is one tiny blog in cyberspace with no influence whatever in the vast universe of cyberspace where there are literally tens of MILLIONS of blogs and other platforms………, so any “deflating of online egos” is isolated only to this tiny corner…..
translation: cyberspace is SO HUGE there will be no online impact whatsoever..
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@Hants
They say if you have to ask the price then you cannot afford it.
But I like to know the upfront so that I do not go beyond my limit.
Some restaurants owners think that charging a ridiculous price and not the food that makes theirs a fine dining institution. -
@ TheOGazerts,
I have never been rich enough to afford to dine finely.
However I have worked for companies who paid for dinner in high falutin restaurants in the USA and Canada.
Now if Glennis Grace or a female who looks like her wanted to go to dinner with me……lol
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I applaud and understand government offices being computerized, but I do not understand the delays in providing documents. I am surprised at the number of technical difficulties that Barbados encounters when going to computerized system.
Perhaps, we may need to take a closer look at the geeks being employed to introduce these services or to sit down and properly define the problem, break it into chunks and then find the simplest solution.
Computerize, but also keep the horse and buggy.
As an example… People can submit their information online. The information goes to a central location and the relevant documents are printed and sorted by Post Office location. I am assuming that the licensing office has a name of every village and the Post office that serves it.
Every morning, a van (or two) picks the documents up and drop them off at the various post-offices before noon. This is a one-day turn around. Use our small size to our advantage.
Perhaps. I have just reinvented the wheel, but it makes no sense having a wheel and you don’t know how to use it.
All comments are welcome. I have addressed a problem based on what i read.
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Theo…don’t hold your breath…they used to have zip codes online for most areas, now ya can’t find zip codes for CERTAIN AREAS…it’s as if they removed them….
so anything goes, the only constant, and more often than not…it’s always a PHUCK UP…
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@ Theo
Logic and common sense continue to be buried under a very powerful denial syndrome.
We are denying that we were more than tardy in incooperating technology into doing business in the public sector. Technology changes almost every hour but we have a culture of believing that because something worked well in the 70s and 80s, it will work today.
We seem stuck in a mindset that believes the world would have waited on us to use basic technology. Well, we were left behind.
For twenty years we have been hearing that doing ping business in Bim takes too long but we are yet to sort out that. Yet, we talk about embracing the Hong Kong model.
So yes, even in moving forward we want to take along the old tools and methods as a back up. Most of them will be useless because of the way information is stored in these times.
We are making baby steps here and there and we declare some services as functioning properly even before they are ready.
You see it all around you.
Unless we get very serious and very quickly, we would continue to reinvent wheels that would carry us no where.
We simply can’t build a 2022 model on a 1970 production line.
We need to really ask ourselves : what kind of Barbados we envisage or want for the next fifty years. That’s just two generations.
While jokers talk nonsense about a lost decade , we are on the verge of losing generations.
Peace -
Rising inflation, amongst other things, means a DEVALUATION of the Barbados dollar.
This devaluation is papered over within the minds of the people, as if ordained by religious writ, by the fallacy that the exchange rate is still two to one. Bajan dollar viz a viz USD.
No failing countries do statistical devaluation anymore. Helped by financialization and supply driven inflation, they simply open up their societies to the ravages of unbridled capitalism.
David, this is the devilish work which your Mia Mottley and her IMF curators are doing in Barbados.
Where is this fake sovereignty you like to pretend exist?
Return the constitution from Washington as Barrow demanded.
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BTW, for years your psuedo economics made the world believe that inflation was primarily a function of demand driven forces. And this phenomenon is possible.
But however, we’ve long come to know that inflation is centrally is supply driven.
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@Pacha
Internal or external devaluation, what is the difference? Especially an open economy like Barbados that is a price taker?
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@ Pacha
Boss, the only difference between supply and demand is perspective.And BTW, inflation is the result of rampant materialism, greed and selfishness….
These are the pillars of the albino-centric, capitalist, philosophy that we have adopted.In a COMMUNITY-centric society, there would be no place for inflation because material things would have value only to the extent that they meet community needs ….
The only shiite that would suffer ‘inflation’ would be things like ‘love’ and respect for others…
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MIA MOTTLEY/MARK MALONEY ANYONE?
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Malaysian ex-PM Najib goes to jail for graft after losing final appeal
KUALA LUMPUR, (Reuters) – Malaysia’s top court ordered former prime minister Najib Razak to begin a 12-year prison sentence yesterday after upholding a guilty conviction on charges related to a multi-billion dollar graft scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The Federal Court ruling caps the stunning downfall of Najib, who until four years ago governed Malaysia with an iron grip and suppressed local investigations of the 1MDB scandal that has implicated financial institutions and high-ranking officials worldwide.
Investigators have said some $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB – co-founded by Najib during his first year as prime minister in 2009 – and that over $1 billion went to accounts linked to Najib.
Najib, wearing a dark suit and tie, sat in the dock as the verdict was read out. His wife, Rosmah Mansor, who is also facing corruption charges, and three children were seated behind him.
Security officials then gathered around the bespectacled former premier and he was later seen leaving court in a black car with police escort.
A court official and sources close to Najib said he was taken to Kajang Prison, about 40 km away from capital Kuala Lumpur.
“This is unprecedented. Najib will be remembered for his many firsts, the first prime minister to lose a general election, the first to be convicted,” said Adib Zalkapli, Director at political risk consultancy BowerGroupAsia.
The British-educated son of Malay nobility held the premiership from 2009 to 2018, when public anger over the graft scandal brought election defeat, and dozens of corruption charges were lodged in following months.
Najib, 69, was found guilty by a lower court in July 2020 of criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering for illegally receiving about $10 million from SRC International, a former unit of 1MDB. He had been out on bail pending appeals.
The former premier, who had pleaded not guilty, was sentenced to 12 years’ jail and a 210 million ringgit ($46.84 million) fine.
The wide-ranging 1MDB scandal prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to open what became its biggest kleptocracy investigation.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said the verdict proved the power of the people.
“The people made the decision in 2018 to ensure an independent judiciary and that the country is clean of bribery. That decision allowed proceedings to be brought professionally,” he said.
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Pacha
Why You blaming the imf when under sickkler and without the imf the sande devaluation was going on
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Before the BRA introduced TAMIS, a consultant was hired to implement a tax system, which was subsequently abandoned.
Every year since its implementation, people have been experiencing numerous problems trying to file tax returns using TAMIS.The NI Department also introduced a new system, while discarding the old one. They experienced problems in processing and printing cheques…… and had to temporarily resort to using the old system.
Based on my experience, I’ve found that, especially at SOEs, someone, usually the Minister or a Board member, would hire a ‘friend’ who either has a business or ‘knows a little something about computers,’ to design and implement a computerised system.
Those persons usually charge exorbitant fees and would proceed to hurriedly set up the system, without ADHERING to the BASIC PRINCIPLES of system analysis and design.I remember working at a statutory corporation that hired a firm to design and implement a computerized payroll system.
The programme was written using dBASE IV, and crashed frequently. The firm charged $200 per hour to rectify the problem, which only required them to download and delete certain files that are created during processing.I also know of another situation where the Acting Director of a SOE ‘took it upon himself’ to purchase $33,000 in a useless IBM computer network system, without even bothering to consult someone knowledgeable in information technology.
The main computer used DOS, in an era when computers had already graduated to using Microsoft Windows.That’s among the reasons why, according to Mr. Skinner:
“We are making baby steps here and there and we declare some services as functioning properly even before they are ready.” -
I also know of another situation where the Acting Director of a SOE ‘took it upon himself’ to purchase $33,000 in a useless IBM computer network system, without even bothering to consult someone knowledgeable in information technology.
The main computer used DOS, in an era when computers had already graduated to using Microsoft Windows.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
THIS HAD TO BE MORE THAN 25 YEARS AGO
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“While jokers talk nonsense about a lost decade , we are on the verge of losing generations.”
and they have a HAND in that loss of himan life and existence, but their supporters and promoters would PRETEND NOT…and try to cast the blame elsewhere…..thankfully they have NO INFLUENCE or credibility, their own doing…..so no one is buying any of it..
this is not the whole quote but what am posting APPLIES to the conversation….
bullshit colonial sovereignty is a myth and does not exist…there is only ONE SOVEREIGNTY……weeeeeee …….our MINDS are sovereign…those of us who are not cursed with mental slavehood.
“We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind. Mind is your only ruler, sovereign.” – Marcus Garvey
Pacha…now we know why they robbed Garvey, demonized his work and barred him from the slave societies.
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“Every morning, a van (or two) picks the documents up and drop them off at the various post-offices before noon. This is a one-day turn around. Use our small size to our advantage.”
~~~~~~~~~~‘Sounds like a good idea’ from the ‘T Guy,’ especially since we don’t generally experience delays in the delivery of mail and any other postal services.
Barbados DOES NOT use ‘zip codes’ as I’ve read someone seems to be implying.
The Postal Service introduced ‘POSTAL CODES’ several years ago, which are still being USED, and could be FOUND online, since they are listed by several sources…… according to every district in each parish.For example: https://www.getpostalcodes.com/barbados/
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” Helped by financialization and supply driven inflation, they simply open up their societies to the ravages of unbridled capitalism.”
third world countries wages cannot compete with first world countries prices
only solution is third world people must move to first world countries to send home first world wages
Poor v Rich countries
I would say the difference is a factor of 12 to 52
i.e. one months poor salary equals one days rich salary (x12)
up to one years poor salary equals one weeks rich salary (x52)
that’s the poor mans style
on the plus side it is still cheap to have sex or pay for it for the poor man stylerich preach God they don’t believe in
poor pray to God for help to survive -
John2
Our animus with the imf transcends both Mottley and Sinckler.
Certainly. that their agents are now within the MoF represents an imperial departure from norms, no?
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Sorry
I would say the difference is a factor of 20-30 to 52
i.e. one months poor salary equals one days rich salary (x20-30 depending on weekend work)War On Unnu
I take it you didn’t listen to the recording of Marcus’ speeches to medi-tate on
listen and close your eyes
imagine you are in the hall with him and the harlem crowd
download the recording and mix it up with any music of your choiceGarvey’s Look for Me in the Whirlwind
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@ Artax
And that is the precise problem. Hiring friends and people who are not fully qualified to do extremely serious program work.
In reality many had only a basic knowledge of computer skills.
We have swept so many things under the carpet that we are nothing more now than a ball of confusion.
60% of the problems with services has more to do with tools than personnel. You just can’t take some body from a typewriter or manual ledger and expect them to be proficient with programs without proper training and you can’t effectively train by people who themselves are not proficient.
All kinds of square pegs in round holes. The most unproductive employee in any business is one who is unleashed on customers ( public) without proper training.
That’s why I am not involving myself in comparisons with other countries especially with people who have no idea of what they are talking about.
There are some very strange people who believe the world has to wait on us. I leave such people alone.
I recall back in the 70s when Japan wanted to retrain people , they recruited experts from outside of the country. They did that while reforming their educational system in concord with training , especially in the auto industry.
One of the chief persons who assisted in turning around Japan was actually a retired American business professor.
I think we do a serious injustice to people when we don’t prepare them for the tasks they are supposed to do.
I know of businesses in Barbados that put real emphasis on training and I don’t hear complaints about them on Brasstacks.
There are about four businesses in Bim that I know that are extremely serious about their training staffs.
Peace -
@Artax
This is true, you may recall Denis Lower hiring Richard Byer to vet that Caves agreement for an exorbitant fee.
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David
Why this this serious issue havev to take a partisan slant?
Is there any universe where this level of characterization impossible?
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@ David
I ALSO RECALL the RIDICULOUS SITUATION where former Speaker of the House, Michael Carrington, charged BIDC $706,450 for providing legal services relative to “the $32M sale of a BIDC at Lot A1 Newton Business Park, Christ Church to Gildan Activewear Properties (BVI) Inc.
Carrington wrote a letter to the BIDC in 2011 in which he indicated that…… at the time the transaction completed…. he was NOT REGISTERED for VAT, and REQUESTED the BIDC (to be precise, Barbadian taxpayers) to PAY the VAT Division on HIS BEHALF ……..the VAT of $92,146 his legal fees incurred.
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It is impossible. Both sides give it to us and we love it.
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Has BRA audited Leroy Parris to collect on that 3.333 million yet?
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@ Pacha
This is what happens when there is a high level of skullduggery. What we don’t understand is that this culture permeates the entire system and nothing can be achieved or solved.
I guess it’s where we are at the moment. And it also seems as the Mighty Sparrow sings: “ We like it so”.
There are ten year olds that could have probably designed programs for the entire public service. While we yap, men have started multi billion dollar tech driven businesses in their garages.
Peace. -
William Skinner August 24, 2022 12:54 PM #: “You just can’t take some body from a typewriter or manual ledger and expect them to be proficient with programs without proper training and you can’t effectively train by people who themselves are not proficient.”
@ Mr. Skinner
I agree with you.
Based on my experience, before the SOE where I worked decided to computerise, I had already completed the one (1) year ‘Certificate in Information Technology’ course at BCC.
The Secretary and Clerk/Typists, for example, were expected to transition from using ‘Sharp’ electronic typewriters…… to using the then popular computerised word processing software, ‘WordPerfect,’ without the required training.The onus was then on employees to educate themselves in not only ‘WordPerfect,’ but other programmes such as ‘dBASE III/IV’ and ‘Lotus 123.’
And, management expected them to use their newly acquired skills to benefit the organization, without even suggesting to reimburse them at least 40% of tuition fees.Obviously, some persons decided against completing courses and would’ve struggled during and after the transition process.
Hence, according to you:
“The most unproductive employee in any business is one who is unleashed on customers ( public) without proper training.”The computerization process should be a collaborative effort between management, employees and those persons charged with implementing the computerized systems.
This is one of the basic principles of system analysis and design.In 2022, too many government departments and statutory corporations, are experience too many difficulties with their computer systems.
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David
Both issues raised by you are dlp malfeance circumstances going back to their last regime.
Is your historical memory that short?
And what about the current crimes of the Mottley regime, many of which might not even have been revealed yet?
When will you consider that this system can never fix itself?
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People are seeing clearly and OPT TO ACT..
..talk only is no good, never was, but now it has become a burden and only good at ACHIEVING NOTHING…as talk shops do..
the line is drawn in the sand..
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@ Artax
“The computerization process should be a collaborative effort between management, employees and those persons charged with implementing the computerized systems.
This is one of the basic principles of system analysis and design.
In 2022, too many government departments and statutory corporations, are experience too many difficulties with their computer systems.”This is exactly what I have been told and have observed. We don’t want to admit it but we were just bluffing all the time. Then there was the disaster of Edutech .
If we can only be honest and stop the crap excuses the country will go forward.
Just take a hard look at how quickly our DJs and others have adjusted to technology in their sector.
It’s obvious our public servants have been given a raw deal when it comes to training them to make the transition.
Your point that you personally went ahead and availed yourself of the necessary training is very profound.
Companies that invest in employee training benefit everybody.
I seriously believe unless we do something very quickly, we would not attract very skilled public servants in the future.
If public servants were offered , as you said, to be reimbursed for some of the courses available , they would have jumped at the opportunity.
“ the truth wol out”
Peace. -
William from my experience in the CORPORATE WORLD….as i posted on here more than once, NEVER had a job that i was not INTENSELY TRAINED FOR….without that critical training, you can NEVER perform adequately, competently or INTELLIGENTLY..
and that training was FREE at the company’s expense and UPGRADED every 6 months dependent on need..
.as far as i know, city, state and federal employees….GOVERNMENT…send their employees for training as often as needed..
but when small timers want to TIEF….they will never invest in adequate and efficient training.
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@Pacha
You are joking right? Or are you criticizing for the sake of it.
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Protest in South Africa against cost of living.
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@ WARU
As I have said: I will not immerse myself in conversations with people about comparing our country with others, when it comes to certain things.
They simply do not know what they are talking about.I have decided that it is best to leave them alone.
Training never ends , especially in this highly technocratic work place. Literacy is a very broad subject We can boast about a 97% literacy but in the real world , if one is completely computer illiterate , it could be determined as illiteracy.
You note during COVID that there was a scramble to even get basic hand held computers and many young parents had no idea of how to access the school work. That’s because they had not been exposed to basic computer skills.
That was no different from fifty years or more ago when some of our parents could not assist us with our home work because they did not have the skills.
So , you see , when all the BS is over we may very well be traveling backwards.
Sometimes it is amazing that people will
gladly eat shit just to convince themselves it is cake.
Peace. -
“Training never ends , especially in this highly technocratic work place. ”
that’s the gospel…training never ends…not if companies and departments are focused on achieving EXCELLENCE….
AND THAT WAS BEFORE…everything went stratospherically HIGH TECH…
“if one is completely computer illiterate , it could be determined as illiteracy.”
and if you don’t have INDEPTH knowledge….with all the availability of information at ya fingertips…that too is definitely ILLITERACY…
“That was no different from fifty years or more ago when some of our parents could not assist us with our home work because they did not have the skills.
So , you see , when all the BS is over we may very well be traveling backwards.”all by DESIGN..
The Enemies Within – Marcus Garvey…
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Hiring friends and people who are not fully qualified to do extremely serious program work.
In reality many had only a basic knowledge of computer skills.
We have swept so many things under the carpet that we are nothing more now than a ball of confusion.
60% of the problems with services has more to do with tools than personnel. You just can’t take some body from a typewriter or manual ledger and expect them to be proficient with programs without proper training and you can’t effectively train by people who themselves are not proficient.
XxxxxxxxW SKINNER
READING ABOVE BROUGHT BACK MEMORIES.
WHEN I FIRST SETUP A REGIONAL COMPANY ON THE 2X3 ISLAND ONE OF MY FIRST EMPLOYEES WAS A RECENT UWI GRADUATE WITH A DEGREE IN COMPUTER SCIENCE.
DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF EMPLOYMENT HE PROCEEDED TO TELL ME HOW TO RUN THE BUSINESS I FIRED HIM AFTER THE FIRST WEEK BECAUSE AS I TOLD HIM HIS SUGGESTIONS WERE BASED ON THEORY EVEN THOUGH WE WERE A TECHNOLOGY COMPANY AND IF I IMPLEMENTED HIS IDEAS THERE WOULD NO LONGER BE ANY BUSINESS WHICH WAS IN ITS STARTUP INFANCY.
I RECOMMENDED FOR HIM TO WORK FOR GOVERNMENT HE TOOK MY ADVICE WHERE HE STILL IS TODAY.
MY FORMER COMPANY TRAINED MANY GOVERNMENT WORKERS IN MICROSOFT OFFICE, QUICKBOOKS, MICROSOFT CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL (MCP) AND MICROSOF CERTIFIED SYSTEM ENGINEER (MCSE).
THEY ARE SOME COMPETENT GOVERNMENT WORKERS HOWEVER SOME USED THE SYSTEM TO BENEFIT THEMSELVES IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE.
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Mr. Skinner
Government introduced a policy, whereby payments to businesses and individuals proving the state with goods and services, pensions, tax refunds etc, are deposited into their bank or credit union accounts.
I have heard complaints from persons, especially pensioners, about this new arrangement.
Seems as though ‘people from the ‘old school,’ have developed a fear of computer technology.
Even during the initial stages of implementing computer systems and networks in the workplace, some employees expressed their concerns and fears about being eventually replaced by technology and there was a general ‘resistance to change.’Austin suggested the schools could be used to teach mathematics and English.
I would go a bit further to ‘say,’ rather than being used to fulfill the interests of politicians and their political parties, the Constituency Councils could’ve also been utilized in providing tuition classes, where basic computer skills, English language and mathematics would be taught to children who left school without any certificates and unemployed adults in every community.
Lectures and demonstrations for senior citizens on how to use ABMs, could also be provided.But, as you opined, we seem to be ‘going backwards.’ In an era when motor vehicles and equipment are fully computerised, computer programmes to draw building and house plans and estimating building materials to be used, with technology is changing rapidly, for example…… despite its name change, the Polytechnic has not been able to rid itself of the stigma of being an institution for school drop-outs’ and persons who are not ‘academically inclined’……
…… while lawyers graduate from UWI every year to complete in a saturated market.
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with technology is changing rapidly, for example…… despite its name change, the Polytechnic has not been able to rid itself of the stigma of being an institution for school drop-outs’ and persons who are not ‘academically inclined’……
Xxxxxxxxx
I CAN’T AGREE WITH THIS STIGMA AS SOME OF MY FORMER TECHNICAL EMPLOYEES WERE POLYTECHNIC GRADUATES WHO ATTENDED HC, FOUNDATION. SCHOOL LODGE ETC AND COULD COMPETE ANYWHERE
IN MY TIME THERE TVET WAS DOING A DECENT JOB WITH NVQs LATER CVQs TRAINING.
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@ Artax
We could have approached this through several channels and as you said the constituency councils but again politics would have got in the way.
As for polytechnics, by now we should have had about five or six strategically situated but we prefer to have one.
@ Baje
It is true that when technology started to influence the job market , many academic students switched to the polytechnic and once more the less academically inclined, found difficulty in getting places. -
@ Mr. Skinner
During the 1980s when I attending secondary school, the Polytechnic was located in Belmont Road, on the site where the Barbados Public Workers’ Co-op Credit Union Ltd., is currently located.
And, it had a reputation for being an institution that catered to ‘school drop-outs,’ students who left school without any ‘O’ Level or CXC certificates or were not academically inclined…… where they would attend to ‘learn a trade.’
Some parents used to tell their male children, “I gine tek you outta school and send you to the Polytechnic.”Taking into consideration some of the comments that are presently made about the institution, it is clear that mindset remains with some people.
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@ Artax
Quite frankly, we pay so much attention to the Eleven Plus , that we tend not to follow what’s going on in education too closely. So you’re correct.
The same thing happened to the Community College. It went through a transformation that has nothing to do with its original purpose.
But then again education is supposed to be dynamic. The problem is we often seem to be just ad hoc in our approach.
It’s obvious you’ve kept your eye on the ball and @Baje has his fingers on the pulse as well.
I really think that the primary and comprehensive schools should be really at the Centre of any meaningful educational reform .
We can’t seriously be talking about making all schools” equal “ without integrating the comprehensive schools.
However, I’m waiting to see where they are going. -
@ Baje
It is true that when technology started to influence the job market , many academic students switched to the polytechnic and once more the less academically inclined, found difficulty in getting places.XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
CORRECT 100 PERCENT.
HOWEVER NOTE THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE 80’s AND 2000’s.
I WAS IMPRESSED WITH THE POLYTECHNIC GRADUATES I EMPLOYED FROM DAY 1 THAT THEY MADE THE UWI GRADUATE I FIRED LOOKED LOST FILLED WITH THEORY FROM TEXT BOOKS AND WERE EASILY MORE PRODUCTIVE AND HANDS-ON.
SO MUCH SO I WORKED WITH THE PRINCIPAL AT THE TIME TO TAKE ON THEIR TECHNICAL GRADUATES AS I WAS ALSO IMPRESSED BY THEIR KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND APTITUDE.
THE 2 X 3 ISLAND STILL IN 2022 HAS MANY NEGATIVE STIGMAS SUCH AS WHERE PEOPLE LIVE, WHAT SECONDARY SCHOOL THEY WENT TO, WHETHER POLYTECHNIC, BCC ETC IT IS A SIGN OF BACKWARD THINKING TO TAR EVERYONE WITH THE SAME BRUSH BECAUSE OF DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES.
THE REAL CRAB IN THE BARREL MENTALITY.
SAD FOR BLACK PEOPLE.
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@Mr. Skinner
Yes, we’ll all AGREE there is indeed “a big difference between the 80s and 2000s.”
But, I’ll REPEAT……
“TAKING into CONSIDERATION some of the COMMENTS that are PRESENTLY made about the institution, it is clear that MINDSET REMAINS with some people.”
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@ David
I’m sure you remember a few weeks ago when, during his radio show, “Browne and Browne” on Point FM99.1, Antigua’s PM Gaston Browne said he did not support a proposal for Nigerian carrier ‘Air Peace,’ to purchase 75% of the shares in LIAT.
I read an article in the August 22, 2022 edition of the Antiguan ‘Observer,’ entitled, “Preparations to launch Antigua Airways by October gather pace,” in which it was mentioned, “Plans to have the first plane of Antigua Airways – a new West African-operated airline – in the air by October are gathering momentum.”
That’s according to Prime Minister Gaston Browne who told Observer that planes will be leased within a few weeks.
“This is a step in the right direction, Browne said, and further solidifies the mid-October timeline that was previously announced for the airline’s first flight.”
The carrier – set to link the twin island nation directly to West Africa – is being financed by African investors. A formal agreement was signed between the government and Nigerian publishing and printing firm Marvelous Mike Press Limited earlier this month.
“This is a private sector investment that we are duty bound to support and to wish for its success because if they are able to establish reliable air links between Africa and the Caribbean, more specifically between Nigeria and Antigua and Barbuda, I think it will be a great initiative to help strengthen the bonds of friendship between the Caribbean people and those in Africa,” PM Browne said.
“We will have more movement of people, more investments between the Caribbean and that is something that all the heads within the region are desirous of achieving.”
He went on to commend the investors for what he admitted is a risky venture.
“It’s not many investors who would want to dump a few million dollars into leasing a couple of planes to move people between Africa and the Caribbean and from that standpoint I think that they ought to be commended,” Browne added.
He rubbished suggestions made by United Progressive Party officials that an investor should have industry experience to make such an undertaking.
“You have many consultancy firms who are familiar with the airline business, they can advise them of the assets that they need and the type of systems that they need to put in place and they have actually employed the services of one such firm,” the PM said.
“We would have met those individuals a few months ago and they have the resources to at least lease the planes, and the lease will come with lots of pilots and support staff.
“So, it is not a case that they have to go and train pilots and so on. Hopefully, we will get LIAT 2020 going as well and they will able to provide connectivity between Antigua and other Caribbean countries for those persons who want to go beyond [our] shores,” Browne stated.
Antigua Airways will be the country’s first airline linking the twin island nation directly to West Africa.
The news was first revealed in Cabinet notes last month which reported that the carrier would be financed by wealthy Africans wishing to open a new route between the African continent and the Eastern Caribbean.
The Nigerian investors will finance the airline’s operations while the government of Antigua and Barbuda will receive 20 percent of the profits.
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