TWO BAJANS WHO have studied, worked and otherwise lived most of their adult lives in the northeastern region of the United States may not have met, but they share a common goal.
That is, boosting the integration of science into classroom activities of schools attended by young people in Barbados, the Caribbean, and ultimately into the workplace.
Dr Cardinal Warde, a professor of electrical engineering at the world-famous Massachusetts institute of Technology and the interim executive director of The Caribbean Science Foundation based at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies, and Ian Watson, a key executive of a major international bank in New York and the long-serving president of the Combermere School Alumni Association in New York, have said science education should be seen as a game-changer for Barbados’ future.
“Science has a very important role to play in the economic development of Barbados and its Caribbean neighbours, and the place to begin is in our schools especially our secondary schools and universities,” said Professor Warde who is considered one of the world’s leading experts on materials, devices and systems for optical processing.
Watson said: “It is vital that more students go into science in our schools and we have a responsibility to ensure that they have the tools in the classrooms and in the science and related laboratories.”
Little wonder that Watson, Anthony Walters, a New York pharmacist, Harold Jones, a retired engineer, Anthony Seale, president of the Council of Barbadian Organisations in New York, (CBONY), and a host of former students of Combermere who have made the US their home-away-from-home are directing the second year of a fund-raising drive whose proceeds would go to provide their alma mater with scientific equipment designed to boost the teaching of science.
“We consider it crucial that the students at Combermere have the tools needed in the laboratories so they can grasp the concepts of the science subjects being taught there,” explained Jones. The instruments are needed because they enable the students to conduct experiments which broaden their knowledge and encourage them to conduct experiments that raise the level of their performance.”
“Science is fundamental to the current and the next generations of young people in Barbados,” Jones added. “We were able to send US$15 000 worth of equipment to the school last year and we want to provide more equipment this year. This is phase two of our drive and we are appealing to graduates to step forward and make a contribution to the effort. We would like to see more students go into science because it’s a rewarding way of life and it covers a broad range of professional endeavours.”
Walters, a consulting pharmacist, can write chapter and verse about science and the part it plays in the quality of people’s lives and in prolonging life. he was quick to insist that those who have benefitted from the classrooms and labs at Barbados’ schools, in general, and Combermere, in particular, should consider it a responsibility to give back to the country which has provided them with the education that has opened up a wide range of professional opportunities to them.
“We believe in the concept and reality of “learning, earning and returning when it comes to the school and the country,” asserted Walters. “We have seen how American and Canadian schools benefit from their former students and so should Barbadians and their schools.”
Interestingly, contributions to the US drive have come from Canada, the United Kingdom, Barbados and various parts of the US.
“We have attracted financial support from several sources and that’s how it should be,” said Watson. “There is a need for an endowment fund and for a robotics programme. We must help the current crop of students who are interested in careers in science. It’s important that more students turn to the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies and shouldn’t be deterred from doing so because their parents can’t afford the tuition now that young Barbadians must contribute the 20 per cent tuition costs which were formerly paid by the government.
“The teachers in Barbados are working hard to train the students and those of us in the US and elsewhere must see it as a responsibility to give,” added Watson. “More people should see their contributions as an investment in the young people and in the country.”
Tony Best is the NATION’s North American Correspondent. Email: Bestra@aol.com