Barbadian students earning money from their school projects while building global business empires before they graduate.
This is the revolutionary vision Minister of Educational Transformation Chad Blackman unveiled at the Barbados Manufacturers’ Association’s Trade & Innovation EXPO (TIE), proposing to turn classrooms into launching pads for the next generation of international entrepreneurs.
Blackman emphasised that while Barbados has traditionally been driven by tourism and international business since independence, the time has come for manufacturing to play a more prominent role in the nation’s economic growth strategy.
The Minister’s most striking proposal centres on creating a revolutionary educational ecosystem that would allow students to earn money while still in school through global exports of their creative work.
Drawing inspiration from successful programmes like NIFCA, where students produce world-class art and fashion pieces, Blackman envisions taking this concept to the next level.
“What I propose is that as they do those things in school you help them to find global markets to export their ideas and their goods and you create a national trust where the revenues from their goods and services whilst producing the school can be held for them until the age of 18,” he said.
Access to earnings
Under this system, students would have access to their earnings at age 18, which they could use to further their education, purchase land, or expand their business ventures. This approach, according to
Blackman, would create “a new business class within our young people whilst being at school.”
When asked about concrete plans to integrate entrepreneurship into the educational sector, Blackman confirmed that strategic proposals are already being prepared for cabinet consideration.
“I’ll be taking to cabinet a number of different strategic pieces of the transformation because transformation is really a journey, it’s not a destination,” he said.
The Minister drew comparisons to educational approaches in Asian countries, noting that counterparts in China, Japan, and South Korea are implementing similar business-focused programs at the pre-primary level, with results already visible in global trade sectors.
Recognising Barbados’ size limitations compared to these larger economies, Blackman identified the island’s competitive advantage.
“Our niche has to be high level quality goods and services backed by vision, innovation and excellence.”
He also gave a timeline for this transformation.
“I envision within the next ten, 15 years, you’re going to see a new thrust of vision, excellence, innovation and fashion and music and design productivity that we’ve never seen before,” Blackman said.
(DDS)
