IF YOU THINK we have a problem managing our water or sanitation systems, talk to some teachers and get an idea of how we are doing in education.
Actually, we are doing pretty well, all things considered. Like our Water Authority infrastructure, our educational system has been corroding for a long time. It is a wonder it has held up this well for this long.
Underperforming students are as well hidden as underground pipes. Through the efforts of dedicated parents, teachers who go beyond the call of duty and programmes that take in at-risk students when they leave school, we’ve managed to push many young people through the educational pipeline and into productive streams. There also used to be the opportunity of free tertiary education which allowed late-blooming students some time to catch themselves.
Bad situations, long unattended to, eventually become critical.We are worse at harnessing human resources than we are at capturing rainwater. There was a time when communities and families were deep wells from which an individual could draw education, even if they lacked adequate formal schooling. Those were simpler times with less polluted waters. Since we will also no longer be freely funnelling students into university for an extra opportunity to develop, it may be safe to say that the situation could get critical fast.
As we engage in our annual ritual of rain dances around the trickle of the Common Entrance top ten and Barbados scholarship and exhibition winners, the reservoirs of our schools run low. Children leak out of the system at alarming rates. But children don’t stop running like water or pile up like garbage. It could take a lot to force us to see this problem.
When you make these kinds of statements you can easily be accused of being negative and alarmist. This opinion is usually based on personal study and experience, observation and anecdotes. It would be good, though sad, to have statistics that suggest you are correct.
We had some bittersweet news this past week. A senior official of the Inter-American Development Bank expressed her opinion, in the media, that Barbados’ education system was below par. She presented statistics to support her argument. This is not a good thing. But Hallelujah! Come out, tings!
As long as Barbadians keep believing in the myth of the superiority of the educational system we will not fix it. We will continue to get what you would expect to get from the customary position of bottom up and head in the sand.
Anytime something happens that causes us to peep through the sand so that we see the world around us as it is, we should be glad. Even if what we see is not pleasant. At least we see it. Those of us who have for years been trying to convince our fellow citizens of the self-deceit in our self-praise when it comes to education smile at the revelation, even if we don’t revel in the reality of the situation.
Barbados has an education problem.
All of our problems can be seen as education problems because we are not educated to solve problems. Our educational system is designed to create people who get jobs and follow rules. It’s not even doing that very well. It’s not that our education system has stopped working. It’s working how it has always worked. It’s the times we live in that work differently.
We inherited this system from colonial masters who had no interest in seeing us truly educated. There have been centuries of a programme of mis-education. Even if you went to one of the so-called top schools, you will probably need some de-education and some re-education. This is a hard pill to swallow for a Bajan who is proud of his or her level of education. We’ve adjust it to suit us like how we made pigtail a delicacy, but it will still raise your cholesterol.
If you excelled in our educational system you probably got a good job. If you stubbornly maintained some critical thinking skills and entrepreneurial spirit despite Barbadian education’s attempts to stamp them out, you may even have created good jobs for others. You’ve made progress and you may not understand why others can’t as well.
A man was sent to trim the branches of a very tall tree. Not tall like a Mammy apple tree. I mean tall like a Royal Palm or Wax Palm tree. The man started climbing and when he got close to the top, the boss man yelled from way below. “That’s the wrong tree, skipper!” The tree climber replied: “Doan mind dat. I almost to de top.” As far as he was concerned, he was making progress.
We’ve been educated to see progress as an individual pass mark, others be damned. The unofficial national anthem could be Lil Rick’s Ah Get Tru. You may have come through the system okay. Some of those who didn’t may be coming through your window. Crime is also an education issue.
A priest was driving one day and he came across Satan lying, bleeding in the middle of the road. He had been hit by a car. When the priest got out of the car and saw that it was the devil he began to rejoice. Satan reminded him in a feeble voice: “If I die, you are out of a job.” The priest thought about that for a moment. He then picked the devil up, put him in his car and took him to the rectory to tend to his wounds.
Those in charge of our educational system are some of those who have best mastered it. They know how to work if, for themselves even if not for the nation. They may choose to nurse the devil.
To overhaul the system of education may call for great innovation, cooperation and work without great remuneration as well as the recognition that in many ways, we were poorly educated too.
Adrian Green is a creative communications specialist. Email: [email protected]
