The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows. – Sydney J. Harris
The 2011-2012 academic year will resume on Wednesday.
Thousands of students ranging from age three to 18 years will return to the teaching-learning setting in their respective educational institutions.
In fact, even before a lesson is taught several students are scheduled to take examinations under the aegis of the Caribbean Examinations Council. By now, the candidates should have their timetables and should have finalized their preparations for the January exams.
I wish to remind them that if they fail to prepare then they must be prepared to fail. Failure therefore should not be on their agenda and, as such, we wish them every success.
The second term for primary and secondary students will see much emphasis on athletics and sports. This does not mean that academics should be set aside. Very often parents complain that their child or ward does not get a lot of work and many speak of athletics as if it is a distraction within the school’s curriculum. It has been said that athletics is treated like a stepchild within our curriculum of which physical education (PE) is a compulsory component.
While all students must do PE, it is not expected that every child will emerge as a top athlete. However, given the concern with obesity among school age children in Barbados, there needs to be a better understanding of the role of physical education within the education of our children.
For those students who will pursue careers as athletes, this term is particularly important. Of course, many of them are attached to athletic clubs whose preparation and training are ongoing. Unfortunately, there are many others who will wait to start serious training in January for the upcoming athletics meets both at the primary and secondary levels.
We look forward to the rivalry and the competition and hope the latent potential of our athletes will be further developed so that Barbados can take its rightful place on the regional and global athletic podium.
So, as our students return to the classroom, they must leave the festive mood and attitude of revelry behind. It has been observed that on the resumption of classes after a break, many students find themselves in breach of many of the rules of the school.
For example, after the summer recess, many students, both male and female, return with inappropriate hairstyles. Some boys who would have had designs and colour in their hair, enter the school with deviations and have to be sent back home. Several female students also tend to have weaves and extra braids and add-ons which are not allowed.
Then, of course, there are those students who arrive on the first day clearly unprepared for classes. In fact, several students can’t make it to the first day or the first week because they can’t find the uniform or sometimes they are still in the wash.
So, as we get back to the classroom at the beginning of a new calendar year, I take this opportunity to wish all educational stakeholders a productive year. But I want to use this column to say a few things about education and schooling in Barbados.
In spite of its flaws, the Barbadian educational system is still sound and successive Governments have committed themselves to sustained funding from the public purse. Human resource development has been a central pillar of their political philosophy. While the current economic crisis has raised questions about sustainability, the status quo remains.
But whatever model we adopt to finance education, there is need for a whole new attitude toward schools and education in general. Too many parents and guardians are not involved meaningfully in their child’s education. It is for this reason that many students see school as a place to socialize and to have fun.
Too many parents drop off their child or ward at age five and 11 at the primary and secondary school. They pick them up at graduation and often celebrate success in which they played no part whatsoever.
Can you imagine that many parents are yet to receive or collect a report of their child’s progress for the term just ended? In some instances, the reports are at home but not yet seen by the parent or guardian. It is practices like these that send the wrong signals and suggest that education is not important.
In such circumstances, many students saunter through the system and never reach their full potential. They leave school inadequately prepared for the real world and often blame everyone but themselves.
In conclusion, as the school bells rings to beckon our school cohort back to the classroom, I wish all those involved in the enterprise of education and schooling a prosperous and productive term and a blessed new year.
George Santayana reminds us that “a child educated only at school is an uneducated child”.
