Primary Comes Before Secondary ~ Educational System Failing Our Infants

The educational system of Barbados was placed under the microscope by erudite BU family member Bush tea, when he submitted a thought provoking analysis rebutting the call by Peter Wickham et al to abolish the 11 plus examination on May 15, 2008. We are sure that the elevated discussion which ensued would have benefited readers and commenters alike. Although we had to tolerate the chest thumping behaviour by the HC, Lodge and Combermere graduates, we remind BU family members that whether in the United kingdom or United States most countries have developed educational systems which identify and stream children which demonstrate superior abilities. Attempts to dumb down our current educational system to appease the misuse of egalitarian ideals espoused by Peter Wickham et al should be viewed with suspicion.

Whenever Barbadians are driven to discuss reform in our educational system the focus can be predicted to fall on the secondary school system. In the BU household it is our opinion that our primary school system requires equal scrutiny. For some of us who have operated within the educational system, there is the common knowledge that the primary schools which extract the best 11-plus results rely on the strategies of teachers on site. Most Barbadians can list the public primary schools which are known to promote high standards and more importantly a high level of sweat equity from the teachers.

It comes as no surprise to us that former Prime Minister Owen Arthur’s family had a huge comfort level sending his daughter to West Terrace primary school.

The teaching staff at West Terrace has developed a reputation for developing a scheme which is responsive to the needs of ALL their children. Their willingness to go the extra mile which is provoked by their passion to make that environment receptive to learning is fast developing a national reputation.

Another island worth looking at is Barbados, which shows that the type of achievements made in Cuba are not restricted by communism, but by visionary leaders with the right strategies and passion. I guess the key word here, which you rightly mentioned, is ‘passion’. I’ve often wondered what our prospects could’ve been, if even half of the billions being sent down the drains annually to keep Air Jamaica flying were invested instead in education and even health care.

Source: Jamaican Gleaner

The quote above should cause Barbadians to feel good about what we have accomplished in education as a small island in our post independence period. However the reality is that we live in a dynamic environment, as a people we have to rely on relevant strategies within the education arena to equip our youth at every level to be productive citizens of the world. Against this requirement we must continue to critique our current educational system to determine relevance.

Since the Bush tea article we have received several notes which have highlighted anomalies in our primary education system. We have been able to verify some of those anomalies and we hope that the BU family would comment on what are some serious characterizations:

• Many primary school children who have been identified as ’special needs’ within the primary school sometimes have to wait for more than a school year to gain the required transfer to other institutions to match their requirements. There is one case where the evaluating results of a primary school student was available only after the child had been placed into the secondary school system
• There is the case where some primary school children have been able to reach Class 1 and II who cannot read or write their names
• The most gut wrenching story received is that of two students who got zero marks in the 11 plus examination. The travesty is not that the children would have participated in the primary system and yielded such a disappointing result, but the lack of an immediate response from our educational system
• One of the notes received was highly critical of the ‘Criterion Test’ which is presided over by the Ministry of Education. As we understand it, it is a test given to all primary students at the Infants B through to the Class 2 standard irrespective of what levels of understanding the students have attained. As if this is not bad enough the results to the Criterion Tests are often returned months and years later after completion. The obvious problem with this scenario is that the lag caused by the late availability of the results of the test negates a solution oriented approach
• Last but not least is the over sized classrooms within our primary school set-up, sometime 30+ which means that those children who require remedial care are doomed even before they start the journey of fulfilling their right to be correctly educated. The future of Barbados and the world depends on the readiness of the generation in waiting to build on foundations laid.

It is not our intention to be negative. It is our intention to provide simple analysis of our primary education system which needs to be improved.