Haitian children out-perform Bahamians in The Bahamas' public school system

Haitians outperform Bahamians
By NOELLE NICOLLS
Tribune Staff Reporter
nnicolls@tribunemedia.net:



HAITIAN children are out-performing Bahamians in the public school system, senior government officials have revealed.

And they are excelling because Haitian parents "recognise the importance of education" as a "vehicle for progress".

An official told The Tribune: "I can assure you in many of the public schools, children of Haitian parentage are indeed excelling."

No statistics were available to show the number of children of Haitian parentage in the public school system. However, one senior official said in some inner city schools the number is "large".

At a workshop for public school administrators and board members yesterday, concern was raised over Haitian children receiving all of the "benefits" of the Bahamian education system.

Samuel Johnson, member of the Centreville Primary school board, said he was worried that all of the "benefits, awards and certificates" go to Haitian children, while Bahamian children walk away empty-handed.

He suggested the government may need to look at a system where "non-bona fide" Bahamians have to make a contribution to the cost of their education.

Desmond Bannister, Minister of Education, said there should be no discrimination of Haitian children in public schools.

"We have a responsibility to educate every child in this country. We are not going to do anything less. That is the civilised thing to do. We cannot have any kind of discrimination against any children. For a civilized country that subscribes to the United Nations convention, it is our obligation to ensure children are educated. Any country that discriminates against children labels itself as a barbaric society," said Mr Bannister, speaking at the workshop.

Mr Bannister said when Bahamian children walk to school they have no books in their hands, their pants are in their socks and they hang down, while Haitian children have their bags and books in tow. He said Haitian parents walk their children to school and pick them up.

Mr Bannister said he went to several graduations, and he saw few Bahamians, men in particular, showing interest in their children. He said the Haitian children were flanked by their entire families.

"Take an interest in your children. Our children are not dumb. They have potential," said Mr Bannister, but too many of them "are raising themselves."

He recounted the story of a boy he met, who was in junior high school and had to work nights to raise $600 per month to pay rent for himself and his brother because of "parental neglect."

Bahamians do not have sufficient "motivation for academic excellence" because people do not see an intrinsic value in education, and "the need for educational excellence in order to achieve a good job does not exist," according to one educator.

"Our people live at a very high standard with a low level of education. They have access to the quantity of material things without having to have a very good standard of education. We have to understand that quantity of living does not necessarily equate to quality of life. What quality is about is a certain level of civility, of compassion, of respect for the environment, respect for the rule of law and the democratic processes," she said.

Mr Bannister said when he came out of high school a lot of his peers went to work in the hotel industry; they got "well paying jobs", were able to buy "wonderful cars", build apartments, and live comfortably.

"I understand that we have a whole part of our society that doesn't value education. There is much more to education than (material wealth). Education is important for you to be able to live and exist in society competently; to interact on a daily basis and make a difference in your country. Many of us are losing the ability to reason at a level that allows society to go on," said Mr Bannister.

The lack of education in Bahamian society is evident in the level of public discourse, the level of reasoning, the inability of people "to settle disputes in a rational manner," he said.

Mr Bannister said the important thing was for Bahamians to have the same kind of commitment to education that the generation of his parents and grandparents had.

July 17, 2010

tribune242

Bahamas Blog International

Dr Bernard Nottage: ... "far too many Bahamians" leave school without the necessary skills either to join the workforce or go on to further education

School leavers 'in skills crisis'
By ALISON LOWE
Tribune Staff Reporter
alowe@tribunemedia.net:



SOCIETY is in crisis as "far too many Bahamians" leave school without the necessary skills either to join the workforce or go on to further education, MP for Bain and Grants Town Dr Bernard Nottage said.

Speaking in parliament yesterday, the MP suggested the Bahamian population is "not as literate as we claim to be" and an "urgent review" of the education system is in order.

He went on to claim that the education system must be "placed in the hands of visionaries and social reformers" if it is to play the socially transformative role that is necessary to help The Bahamas escape the "disastrous" situation it finds itself in.

Dr Nottage made his comments in the context of the debate in the House of Assembly on the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute Bill, which seeks to deliver independence to the technical training school by incorporating it and placing it under the governance of a Board made up of public and private sector-based individuals.

The Government introduced the Bill as one which will enhance the reputation of the institution and cause it to create graduates who are more relevant to today's economy.

Dr Nottage "congratulated" the Government on the Bill, welcoming the fact that it removes political interference from the administration of the institution after 61 years of its existence, but said it must be looked at in the context of the Bahamian educational system as a whole.

The PLP MP said that despite successive governments investing an "extremely large" proportion of the country's national income on education and expanding enrollment over the years, the country's "national patrimony and wealth" is being "squandered as more and more Bahamians pass through a system which does not effectively prepare them for the mastery of their environment in our Bahamas."

He lamented that "quantitative" rather than "qualitative" improvements have been made to the system.

"Having once been the railroad to social mobility and liberation" education in The Bahamas is in need of "urgent review" and a "broad range of innovations," said the MP.

Illustrating his point, Dr Nottage suggested the Bahamas is "fooling itself" when it comes to its levels of educational literacy as many people lack basic knowledge when they leave school.

"We need to look carefully at general and basic literacy. We know the truth tells us we are not as literate as we claim to be, particular at mathematics and elementary understanding of science, which is absolutely necessary for success in today's economy," he said.

Referring to the "poor or unsatisfactory BGCSE results" which have hovered at a D or D- average for some time, he said these "are nothing less than the festering tip of an even greater problem."

"Far too many Bahamians leave school prepared for neither further education or for the workplace. And I say now as I said a decade ago disaster looms - in fact disaster is here...because of our failure to take decisive action."

"It is my deep-seated belief that Bahamian society is in crisis," he continued.

He linked this situation to a "too long" existing tendency to study problems but not act, mentioning in particular the failure to implement the recommendations of a 1992 report on the post secondary education system which he suggested could have helped the country avoid ending up in the position he claims it now finds itself in.

"As we go forward education can play one of two roles. On the one hand it can reflect and enforce and reproduce the existing social order with all of its injustices and failures and its tendency towards chaos or we can place the educational system in the hands of visionaries and social reformers and it can be used as a major weapon for social transformation.

"I'm sure all of us would choose the latter but it does requires us to give up some of the reigns and some of the control, allow those who are best suited to doing so to run these systems."

He said that it is with this need for politicians to step back from the decision-making process as it relates to education that he supported the BTVI Bill, which increases the independence of that institutions as it relates to its curriculum, hiring, student admissions and awards, among other things.

April 22, 2010

tribune242

Bahamas Blog International

Without Reforms, The Bahamas’ Current Education “Crisis” Would Have a Detrimental Impact on The National Economy by The Year 2020

The Bahamas Ministry of Education reported a national average of D this year among students who took The Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) exams

Education “In Crisis”

By Candia Dames

Nassau, The Bahamas

candiadames@hotmail.com

16 December 2005

A coalition of private-sector organizations on Thursday warned that the country’s present education “crisis” would have a serious and detrimental impact on the national economy by the year 2020 if immediate steps are not taken to put in place reforms.

"A general low level of academic achievement has individual, national and international consequences," the group says in a new report titled, "Bahamian Youth: The Untapped Resource."

Frank Comito, executive vice president of the Bahamas Hotel Association (BHA), said the consequences of not addressing the present crisis would be dire.

"Twenty years down the line we could find ourselves in a very uncompetitive situation where our cost of living would be incredibly high and our productivity would be incredibly low and the amount of dollars circulating through the economy because of that would be minimized and it could have severe consequences not only on every individual in The Bahamas, but certainly on government revenues and support services and everything else," Mr. Comito said.

The report says that while the Education Department has a good testing system, the test scores suggest significant deficiencies.

The Ministry of Education reported a national average of D this year among students who took The Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) exams.

In 2004, 5,741 students wrote the exams, but only 718 or 12.5 percent earned a minimum C grade average in five subjects, the report notes.

It says there is a "serious" lack of graduates prepared to enter college.

The coalition says its analysis suggests that the education crisis in The Bahamas has deep roots.

"Education reform will be successful only with a sustained commitment of every element of society, every stakeholder and every political party," the report says.  "Education reform must stand high on the national list of priorities over the long haul."

The release of the coalition’s report came days after the Ministry of Education said in a press statement that it was preparing to announce certain initiatives to address systematic deficiencies.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, President of The Bahamas Hotel Employers Association J. Barrie Farrington said local businesspeople are becoming increasingly concerned about the education level of job candidates, many of whom are barely literate.

"In the first quarter of this year, a group of like-minded Bahamians discussed their common problems and agreed that the state of education in The Bahamas was unacceptable," Mr. Farrington said.

"It was obvious to them that the Bahamian education system was not producing the graduates able to engage in business.  This awareness is grounded in daily experience."

One Bahamian executive reportedly found that job candidates could not write a simple paragraph with clear sentences.  Another reported that applicants were doing poorly on aptitude tests.

The report points to the implementation of policies under Majority Rule that had "adverse" side effects.

One such policy was the end of academic elitism, which the report says is most often associated with the history of the "old" Government High School (GHS), which was founded in 1925 and closed in 1976.

The report notes that the school’s enrollment was limited by its capacity and candidates were selected in part on the basis of entrance exams.  The school sought the best and brightest students and tried to provide a superior academic education, the report says.

It adds that the elimination of this kind of system within the public school system caused education to suffer.

The second policy, the report says, called for a preference for Bahamian teachers in the school system.

But the report says the Bahamianization policy had the effect of precipitously reducing the qualifications of teachers.

"This meant that less than 10 percent of the teachers hired had the minimum high school grade level to enter college," the report says.

"One must note that another unintended consequence of Bahamianization was the social promotion of students…students could now advance in grade without passing the grade."

The report also says, "Perhaps the most disabling factor affecting academic achievement in The Bahamas today is out-of-wedlock children and the single parent, female-headed family."

Mr. Farrington called the comprehensive document a "good news, bad news" report, noting that it points to certain strategies that can help to address the education crisis.

"The responsibilities of teachers, parents and students must be clear; and non-compliance must have real consequences," the report says.  "Penalties for parents similar to those associated with the compulsory school attendance would be an appropriate place to start."

It says a second barrier to improving the education system is governance.

The report notes that the Education Act requires an annual report to parliament on the state of education and for the last decade the government has not used this formal requirement as an opportunity to focus parliamentary and public attention on this critical national issue."

The coalition recommends that the Grade Level Assessment test be redesigned so The Bahamas would be able to measure its progress against other countries.

It also recommends that education authority be decentralized so that principals would have more authority; longer school hours; summer school and an end to social promotion.

But the report says, "Neither social promotion nor holding back without help is a successful strategy."

Additionally, the coalition recommends parent seminars; teacher evaluation and compensation; and an all male laboratory school.

The coalition includes: the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce; the Bahamas Employers Confederation; the National Congress of Trade Unions; the Bahamas Hotel Association; the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union; the Bahamas Hotel Employers Association; and the Nassau Tourism and Development Board.