The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I would be grateful for you to allow me the opportunity to express my view on the Bahamas’ Educational System.

Again, in this year’s annual budget for the Bahamas, we observe that “Education Department” has again been allocated the one of the largest portions of the budget.

This has been a consistent position of successive governments since the Progressive Liberal Party took over the governing of the Bahamas, and presented their first budget after taking power in 1967.  

After 48 years of being the recipient of the greater portion of the budget, that commitment has ensured that our children which passed through this educational system is able to maintain a “D” average.

This average may have been lower had the private schools not been involved to ensure that our children receive a proper education.

This is not to pass aspersions on our teachers, whom we understand are handicapped by inadequate supplies for the students in the government schools, while working under some very trying conditions. I am certain that they are doing their best with what is provided.

Let me throw out the idea that contributing to this dummying down of our children is the concept of our one dimensional thought process of “Junkanoo” as our culture.

“Junkanoo” is promoted at all cost and our children are especially the focus of that attention. I assume that it is more to create other activities for them to be involved with; therefore Junkanoo is the easiest target to occupy their interest.

I say that because our youth are very focused on joining the various Junkanoo groups, and the government encourages this participation without concern for the consequences or the impact on our youth. The fact that it may be taking time away from their studies appears to be the least of their worries.

This Junkanoo participation encourages our youth to justify staying out late at nights in the shack, and interferes significantly with them being focused on their school work. One can also assume that it may encourage other activities, such as sexuality and criminal activity.

Both parades, junior and senior, takes place at the time of the year when our children, should be focused on the preparation of their final examinations for the first semester, but instead, they become totally distracted, and  bogged down with their preparations for junkanoo parades. I would daresay that they become so entrenched in this junior junkanoo that it would not be surprising if a considerable number of our students would have lost the whole first semester as a result of their commitment to ensuring that they are very competitive in the “Junior Junkanoo parade” that is sponsored by the various schools/government.

Our leaders were not satisfied with only this distraction for the dummying down of our children with the concept of “Junkanoo”, they have now decided that they will go further and introduce our children to the concept of “Carnivale Junkanoo” during the month of May.

I find it difficult to fathom that our leaders would not consider the fact, that during the month of May each year, our children sit, or are preparing to sit, the examination for their BGCSE as well as the final examinations for their various classes, so that they may be promoted to the next grade.

Oops!!! I forgot that moving to another grade is just a process, and has nothing to do with one’s accomplishments in the classrooms.

We are just processing children through our school system.  It is amazing how many of our youth are stuck having to go through life without the ability to read and write in a system that occupies a minimum of 13 years, and demands the largest portion of the country’s budget.

Yet our leaders have the temerity to say to the public that the Bahamas do not have competent persons to perform menial jobs that may become available. We then have to import (in the case of Baha Mar “Chinese”) foreigners to do labour intensive, and junior staff to fill vacancies.

When we add to the fact that our children only attend school for 180 days out of a possible 365 there is little wonder that the Grade average is “D”.  These 180 days do not factor in that each school has additional days off like sports participation and teaches days and other activity when our children are not learning.

Is there any concern by our leaders as for the plight of our children, and what should be done to improve that grade average?

GEOFFREY STUART

Nassau,

June 22, 2015.