IT SEEMS a significant number of Barbadians no longer value education as the major vehicle to secure their economic future, and as a means to achieve social mobility.
This is the only conclusion we can come to with the revelation this week that a high level of student absenteeism is causing major headaches for school administrators.
Our perspective is also informed by the ‘freenesses’ children have today as against the sacrifices parents had to make to ensure they were educated years ago.
That is, unlike yesteryear when parents had to pay to ensure their children got a quality education, today most children get their textbooks free; they can travel free on Transport Board buses; if their parents cannot afford uniforms there are grants available to assist them, plus most schools have programmes in place which provide quality used uniforms freely to the most needy.
Besides this, there are breakfast and lunch programmes at most schools to feed those whose family don’t have the means to properly provide for their own.
In addition to all of these things, the Ministry of Education has school attendance officers in place to monitor the attendance of children at school.
Put another way, we now need public officers to roam the streets looking for stray children in almost the same way the dog pound staff looks for stray dogs. Yet the problem persists.
But for us the statement from Stephen Jackman, the principal of the Daryll Jordan Secondary School, solidifies our viewpoint.
It was Jackman who raised the issue by revealing that truancy at his school was 21 per cent of his student population annually. He stated too that “[absenteeism] has been discussed at the level of BAPPSS [Barbados Association of Principal of Public Secondary Schools]. There are some schools that are suffering from severe absenteeism. That is why we have come up with things . . . to improve it”.
He dismissed the current economic climate as being responsible for the tardiness by pointing out that everything has been put in place to ensure children can get to school efficiently, get the nourishment they need, and have the books to study with.
As such, Jackman opined the real reason for the high truancy rate was that students see people who do not have what can be considered a good education succeeding in their endeavours. And he said this was why schools have drastically diversified the curriculum to show that education is more than just about books.
The principal’s pointed statement further convinces us that education is not as valued as before.
The question is what can be done to reverse this.
For us this problem starts within households, and that is what has given rise to this attitude. Countering this debilitating trend is at the heart of the issue.
We suggest the ministry, along with the Social Partnership, examine this worrying trend as a matter of urgency as it has the potential to undermine the very fabric of our society which generations sacrificed to build.
