Bahama Pundit

A D+ NATION? CHANGING THE SCHOOLS WILL CHANGE THE GRADE

The past few years have seen a rising chorus of concern over our failing educational system. Both private and public sector leaders say we are facing a national "crisis" with the potential to destroy our prosperity and our childrens' future. Several articles on this site have outlined the scope of the problem and discussed some of the solutions. Here we present the views of Neil Sealey, a Bahamian who has spent 25 years in higher education, serving as a professional examiner for GCE O and A levels, as well as the BGCSE exams, and instructing trainee teachers at the College of the Bahamas and in-service through field courses and workshops. He received an MA in Geography from the University of Oxford and was awarded a fellowship at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has written several text books that are currently used in Bahamian schools, and continues to be active in research and writing.

The problem
Following reports and debates on the state of education earlier this year we now have the annual results from the high schools on our students’ achievements – another D+. While every country tends to bemoan its educational system, and many will say standards are falling universally. There is no reason to feel that improvements are out of our reach. In fact many countries do better than us and it is quite possible to quickly and effectively overhaul and improve our educational system.

Although a number of social factors are contributing to the present situation, such as the increase in single-parent families, the impact of drugs and gangs, and lack of parental guidance, this should not disguise the fact that the educational system itself is inadequate, or that the government cannot do anything without everyone else doing something as well. This would be burying our heads in the sand. This is not a problem that is going to go away, and it is not going to solve itself. It is a problem with a solution that needs action now. As has been said elsewhere ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing’.

Bahamian Education Reform

by Larry Smith

Education is one of today’s celebrity issues. The question of how to fix our failing schools appeared on the radar earlier this year and has become even more controversial lately.

Government held a “secret” national education conference last summer (the 18th so far) and a coalition of private sector employers and trade unions finally released a disturbing report on educational failings after spending months unsuccessfully trying to present it directly to Education Minister Alfred Sears.

We drew attention to some of their conclusions last August. The coalition report (titled the Untapped Resource) was one of several research papers included in the Ministry of Education’s conference journal, which has never been publicly circulated.

Not surprisingly, there has been no word from the government on the results of last July’s expensive conference. But the general idea was to come up with a strategic plan for education in the 21st century, recognising that “knowledge is the most important factor in economic development” today.

The Bahamas Must Improve its Workforce

by Andrew Allen

As anyone who has ever had broad dealings with both private and public sector employees in The Bahamas well knows, the challenges of producing a better workforce within the modern Bahamian cultural and educational setting defy the kind of talk politicians typically bring to the debate.

In short, we have a country following an economic model that relies almost exclusively upon human resource-based advantages, while in fact the weakness of those human resources is a standing joke even among ourselves.

In this, we offer a stark contrast with places like Singapore, Malaysia and even India, all of which have found niches in sectors that are not traditional in the developing world. They have all, to some extent, sought to leapfrog the industrial stage of development and dive straight into high-tech service industries, largely on the strength of their excellent education systems and high quality workforces.

A Primer on Bahamian Education

by Larry Smith

This past summer scores of experts from around the country sat down in a hotel ballroom at great expense to figure out how to “transform” our failed education system. It was the first major re-evaluation of Bahamian schools since a national task force was set up in January, 1993.

What happened at this four-day meeting has implications for the 50,000-plus students in our public schools as well as our entire future as a modern society. But we have yet to receive any kind of report. To help put this critical issue into perspective, here is a primer on Bahamian education.

On the Boxing of Life

by Nicolette Bethel

It seems to me that in this society, we're very good at boxing. And no, I'm not talking about the Elisha Obed/Boston Blackie/Ray Minus kind of boxing here; I'm talking about the kind of boxing that creates neat little categories to fit things into and then proceeds to sort the messiness of life into those categories. We've got boxes for political affiliation, boxes for religious belief, boxes for skin colour, boxes for hair texture, boxes for work, boxes for home, boxes for school.

We're very good at separating stuff. We're not so good at putting stuff together.

Now it's not unusual that human beings categorize things. As human beings, we like to put things and people into groups. How we define our groups is what makes cultures different; what we consider to be fixed, immutable groups in The Bahamas, for instance, may be very different from what people in China or Zimbabwe or Jamaica consider to be fixed, immutable groups. Researchers have written very interesting papers on this habit, in fact; ask me about the bear and the barber sometime.

Fixing Failed Bahamian Schools

by Larry Smith

Recently, a gaggle of experts met in Nassau to talk about fixing our failing education system.

The four-day conference last summer was a prelude to the draw-down of some $20 million from the Inter American Development Bank - to pay for more pre-schools and better technical education.

As the IADB says in its lending plan for the Bahamas: “The co-existence of acute skills shortages, notably in trades, and unemployment rates consistently above 7 per cent raise questions about the relevance of education, particularly for males.