The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune News Editor

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

MORE than 100 Bahamian teachers have been recruited ahead of today’s reopening of public schools, but Education Minister Chester Cooper acknowledged last night that the longstanding teacher shortage has not been eliminated and additional candidates are still being vetted.

In his first national back-to-school address as education minister, Mr Cooper said the ministry entered the summer facing a significant shortage and had concentrated on filling vacancies before more than 40,000 students returned to classrooms across the country. “We began the summer with a real teacher shortage,” Mr Cooper said, “and I will not pretend tonight that every gap has been closed. It has not.”

He said the recruitment drive had nevertheless resulted in public schools opening with more Bahamian teachers than were employed in June, while other candidates continue through the vetting process.

Mr Cooper used the address to outline several initiatives planned for the new school year, including an expansion of the National School Breakfast Programme, a technology pilot in selected schools and additional special education services.

The breakfast programme, which the ministry said has now provided more than two million meals, will be extended on a pilot basis to the junior high school level. CH Reeves Junior High, LW Young Junior High and Sir Jack Hayward Junior High are among the schools included.

Mr Cooper also announced that selected schools will begin a pilot programme in September, placing laptops or tablets directly in the hands of students and teachers.

He described the initiative as the first step towards eventually providing students in smaller Family Island communities with access to the same educational technology available in New Providence and Grand Bahama.

The ministry is also expanding special education services.

Mr Cooper said there are now 67 special education units and programmes across The Bahamas, including 22 in the Family Islands. New units are expected to open this term at Bartlett Hill Primary and Holmes Rock Junior High in Grand Bahama, while assessments are planned for schools throughout the country.

He said the Davis administration is investing more than $400m directly in education this year.

The minister also signalled changes to the structure of secondary education, saying the ministry is working towards new diploma pathways beginning in 2027.

Those would include separate academic, vocational and special education pathways as the ministry seeks to broaden the routes available for students to complete their secondary education.

Mr Cooper said technical and vocational education, entrepreneurship, technology, digital literacy and financial literacy would also receive greater emphasis as the ministry seeks to prepare students not only for employment but for business ownership.

He called on the private sector to adopt schools, provide mentorship, create apprenticeship and internship opportunities and expose students to careers in tourism, technology, healthcare, financial services, maritime industries, agriculture, the creative economy and skilled trades.

Mr Cooper also addressed the country’s latest national examination results, although he placed his focus on what the ministry intends to do in response.

He acknowledged that only about one in three students who sat BGCSE Mathematics passed the subject and said a ministry review had already identified issues including mathematics anxiety among students and teachers and the need for stronger support for mathematics educators.

A fuller report on the review and the interventions that will follow is expected by the end of September.

The minister said 59 percent of students graduated with the National High School Diploma last year, which he described as the highest rate since the diploma was introduced.

He said the figure remained inadequate.

And he said the ministry wants to increase the graduation rate to 85 percent by 2030.

Mr Cooper also appealed directly to parents to spend at least 15 minutes each night engaged with their children’s education, whether by reading with younger children, checking school bags and assignments or talking to older students about their school day.

He told educators that his door remained open to them and the unions representing them.

More than 40,000 students are expected to return to public schools today, with school bells ringing at more than 160 schools across 24 islands and cays.