Education Reform Barbados

 

Education Reform Barbados

It is extremely difficult to believe that we are incapable of solving current challenges relating to crime and other acts of social deviancy.

Our culture remains the foundation of our development. It has undergone tremendous change, both for the better and the worst, during the last four decades. However, we remain a society that still demonstrates some virtues of basic decency toward each other but we  have failed to recognize that culture must be maintained, instilled and explained to our citizens. We cannot continue to ignore the depth of cultural penetration , as we sought socio economic development during the post-independence period.

To address this , we must seriously examine our education system . The present raging debate regarding the transformation of the system clearly shows we want change but also expect to cling to the status quo ; this creates a perfect  recipe for confusion.

The current method of transferring children from the primary to secondary school , is built around the Eleven Plus Examination. Abolishing the Eleven Plus is obviously where the confusion exists. However, to announce that the exam will be abolished, without first having one for its replacement was a serious blunder by those who are tasked with the transformation.

Determining how we can radically reform our primary school system should be our first priority . We seriously need to forget how children were in 1954 and seek to thoroughly understand how they are in 2024. It is futile to believe that a 2024 product can be produced on a 1954 production line.

In order to replace the Eleven Plus,  we should ask ourselves if  a progressive approach to curriculum development at the primary level with attainable goals is the answer. There is a need to connect ; education, culture and the environment within the minds of our youngest citizens

Will we be diligent enough to grasp the moment and realize that crime and social deviancy must be addressed before our children reach the teenage period. We cannot live in perpetual nostalgia hoping for a Barbados that does not exist, and quite frankly, one that can no longer exist.

The education system , especially at the primary level , should now be creatively used to reinforce a culture that will produce citizens , who would no longer find crime and social deviancy attractive. Once we reform our primary schools , a new model for transferring to the secondary school would evolve .

 By so doing, true transformation will be achieved.

William Skinner

 

 

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