AS?MANY?BARBADIANS?are quick to say, taking your time to arrive at a decision is not a bad thing, especially when it is an important issue and you want to be certain you are making the right choice. But how long is too long when we fail to deal with critical matters? A case at hand is the non-appointment of a Chief Education Officer in the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development.
That this country has been without a permanent lead technocrat in a ministry which over the decades has been critical to its development may not be a front-burner issue, given the scale and scheme of things which have been happening.
After Dr Wendy Griffith-Watson retired in late 2009, it was Minister of Education and Human Resource Development?Ronald Jones who, in January 2010, introduced the then interim lead team of technocrats in his ministry. At the time Bruce Alleyne was named as Acting Permanent Secretary, Laurie King as Acting Chief Education?Officer, while Joy Gittens and Erwin Greaves were named as acting deputies.
The position of Permanent Secretary has since been filled by Cecile Humphrey, albeit only late this year. However, King, who was previously Deputy Chief Education Officer; Gittens, a former Senior Education Officer; and Greaves, a former principal of the Alleyne School, are still in their acting roles.
We recognize that the issue of the appointment of a Chief Education Officer or indeed any other senior career officer is not within the purview of Minister of Education and Human Resource Development Ronald Jones. Even though an experienced educator and trade unionist himself and clearly possessing an understanding of the best possible candidates for consideration, he has to stay on the sidelines.
There is a tried and tested process. However, something seems to have gone very wrong with the process or it has been operating at snail’s pace. There is a Public Services Commission which would have done the required interviews and made a recommendation, and there must be a sign-off at the political level.
What is causing the hold-up?
Fortunately, the issues which have arisen in education have been effectively dealt with by King and his two deputies.
As educator Matthew Farley wrote in October 2010, the Acting Chief Education?Officer, who has been around “for a while . . . , must be commended for the ease with which he has been able to step up to the plate to facilitate a virtually seamless transition”.
Even if there was a consideration of another candidate for the job, it now seems pointless to do other than appoint King and his two deputies, about whom we have heard no complaints.
There needs to be a metric for the filling of executive positions in the public sector. The process of appointing people to such vacancies cannot be allowed to be a drawn-out one.?Yes, we do not want to compromise on the quality of a candidate, and we believe the selection and recruitment process must be fair and open. However, there must be no inertia or dithering when it comes to filling such important posts. This type of tardiness needs to be brought to an end.