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
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Submitted by Paula Sealy It looks like a turnstileCould be real usefulIn the admin sectionDown by the river. All the Payne may cause ElsieTo turn in her grave.Education can ‘give’ you a ComplexPeople are now saying. Rudder-less and Price-yThere is also less Joy.Never mind this wasTo be the Best of times. The Shepherd is quietAnd the Redman is silent.The unions
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Submitted by Paula Sealy We last had as many as 4000 students write the 11+ in 2003. Therefore it is possible that there are actually fewer students in the education system today than 10 or 15 years ago. However while some primary and secondary schools are overcrowded others remain below capacity. The 2010 National Advisory Committee on Education (NACE) report
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Submitted by Paula Sealy Ronald Jones could talk because he went on leave after the 30-love. He could talk because he has a fat pension as a former minister in Cabinet. He may not remember but he was the minister who saw teachers’ leave stopped in 2014 in the first place.
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Submitted by Paula Sealy The Barbados Statistical Service (BSS) has launched its new website bearing several new features, including a page designated to provide updates on the National Population and Housing Census, scheduled to begin August 1, 2021.https://gisbarbados.gov.bb/blog/census-updates-among-features-of-new-bss-website Minister of Education, Santia Bradshaw, says her ministry will be constructing a new school to accommodate the staff and students of the
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Submitted by Paula Sealy While work is being done to beautify the Constitution River, there is an urgent need for work to be done in the nearby Elsie Payne complex to repair the wreckage and destruction. Minister Jones and Par. Sec. Harry were gone with the elections on 24 May 2018. Less than two weeks later, PS June Chandler was
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Submitted by Paula Sealy There was notice of the formation of a 20-member National Advisory Committee on Water this month. Whether or not the composition of the Committee was disclosed, at least we know it is not a committee of one. Barring the fact that its Director has been identified, who are the members of the Education Reform Unit? Is
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Submitted by RA in the West As Barbados is about to embark on the latest nine day wonder namely the shooting death of the young policemen and the cries from all and sundry for tougher laws, hangings, getting back to god etc. we are trapped in the circular conversation which will bring no solutions and just the usual bluster from
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Submitted by Paula Sealy We are listening. The silence on this brawl is no less troubling or unsettling than the brawl itself. Two years ago the minister asked the police to do their job should teachers strike students. When students strike students where is the outcry for the police to do their job? What have the teachers’ unions to say?
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Submitted by Pachamama We have become well use to, in politics, elected dictatorships masquerading as democracies in the Caribbean. However, there are other formations within the miseducation system, amongst the top corporations, civil society and elsewhere. Of course, there are interlocking connections between and amongst these. The University of the West Indies has long pretended to be a strict adherent
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Over the past two decades as an Employer, I have given a similar speech to all my employees. I have never written it down before writing this article. The current version goes something like this. Welcome to our company. You are here, because we believe that can become better at this job than we can. Our job is to help
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Lost amid the noise of a struggling economy, navigating a pandemic and more recent ash fall from La Soufrière is the decision by the government to create the Education Reform Unit headed by Dr. Idamay Denny. For many years commentators have been pleading with successive governments the urgent need to transform how we educate our citizens to ensure Barbados ride
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Minister Santia Bradshaw in a matter of fact delivery announced at a press briefing yesterday our school children will be returning to the classroom from the 20 April 2021. The expectation is for teachers to return on the 19 April, Class 3 and 4 at primary schools and fifth and sixth formers of secondary schools on the 20 April. The
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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
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Submitted by P Seale For a long time I have been annoyed by the things I have been hearing about the BUT. Teachers are being badly treated by the ministry and the union has been doing nothing about it. Since being elected the president is silent on the key issues he was pushing to be on the agenda and I
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Some blogs posted to Barbados Underground through the years have highlighted the importance of the private and public sectors working together to ensure we allocate adequate resources to maintain a robust IT infrastructure. It is no secret government websites in Barbados are easy targets from hackers. And in recent weeks a few private companies have been penetrated with ransomware attacks
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On Sunday, October 18, Sir Hilary Beckles, in his capacity as Chairman of the Caribbean Examinations Council, and Dr. Wayne Wesley, Registrar of CXC, held a virtual press conference to release the preliminary findings of the Independent Review Team, empaneled to investigate the examination process, allocated examination results and general performance expectations, inter alia. For the purpose of context, this Review
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The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) is a Caribbean institution. As Caribbean nationals, we should insist that the integrity of Caribbean institutions be protected. If our institutions provide a high-quality product, their integrity is automatically protected. CXC has one main product – its examinations. There are three basic components of that product. Namely, a syllabus of information for students to understand,
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