By BRANVILLE McCARTNEY
Leader, Democratic National Alliance
THE school year has officially begun and I am sure all right thinking persons wish only the very best for our students who are here and abroad.
Education is key to the positive progress of our society. Education must move with the times. If, as a society, the Bahamas is to compete on the world stage, we MUST be an educated society.
My concern is that many of our young people and parents do not take education seriously and they are just satisfied with the bare minimum. They fail to acknowledge and accept that they can produce excellence in their own right.
This is surely a recipe for disaster and is detrimental to our society. So our first step is to instil in our children the importance, or should I say, the need for a proper education.
This, indeed, is the responsibility of the parents and guardians who, in my view must be held responsible for the proper education of their children.
As parents, they must ensure that their children go to school and be held liable if they fail to carry out this duty.
The parents must get to know their children’s teachers and the administration of the school. There ought to be constant contact with the teacher.
Remember that the teacher is with your children for the better part of the day. It only makes sense to know who has the care and conduct of your child during those hours.
As parents, they must ensure that they get to know the parents of the other students. Attending Parent Teacher Association meetings ought to be a must.
Getting to know the other students in your child’s class is also very important. You would want to know what the other students are thinking and doing.
It is essential that parents spend time with their children doing homework and projects. Attending extra curricular activity programmes is also a must.
You see, a parent’s job is being there for their children and helping to guide them in the right direction.
The teachers ought to ensure that they treat every child in their classroom as if they were their own children. Special attention ought to be given where necessary.
Constant contact and personal meetings with the parents ought to be a requirement and continuous encouragement for those students who may have difficulty “keeping up”.
Teachers ought to instil in their students that there is no such thing as a “stupid question”. In my view teachers play such a fundamental role in our society. In many instances, the role of the teacher can determine the type of society we have.
Unfortunately today in our beloved Bahamas, we have a society that has missed the boat. We have not embraced education the way we should have and as a result we are not where we ought to be almost 40 years after independence.
As a matter of fact, we are now losing our middle class, which is a dangerous position for any society to be in.
We are now becoming a country of haves and have-nots!
It is very difficult to say that we as a society is better off today than we were 20 years ago. But we need to look at the positive and deal with the situation at hand.
This new administration has a great opportunity now to make the necessary changes that are warranted to ensure that our children and their children have a good future.
They have an opportunity now to ensure that the Bahamas can compete on the world stage and be the forerunners.
They have an opportunity to ensure that although the Bahamas may be a small country, we can be most powerful.
They have an opportunity to invest in our future so that we do have better and brighter days ahead!
This would certainly entail some bold initiatives such as the government committing to ongoing and transformative professional development opportunities for principals, teachers and all other education stakeholders; introducing a new curriculum commencing at primary school level that will incorporate the necessary social, personal and health programmes; reducing class sizes by building modern school facilities and enhancing existing school facilities; supporting the creation of the highest quality teacher training programme possible (there must be a focus on increasing the number of trained special education professionals and literacy and numeracy coaches; undertaking a holistic curriculum review to ensure that the National Curriculum is consistent with National Development Goals of the Bahamas and aligned to ensure competence in the 21st century; giving professional attention and providing targeted interventions for all students on the special needs spectrum; focusing on increasing the number of trained special education professionals to meet the needs of students with learning differences; creating an open access program to enable all Bahamians to achieve a high school equivalency diploma; ensuring that students are promoted based on achievement and not based on age; ensuring that the University of the Bahamas becomes a reality; transforming BTVI into an autonomous, high tech, premier technical and vocational institute (and improve BTVI’s programme offerings to create a productive and innovative workforce to drive business and industry); and creating a consortium of magnet schools or schools of excellence to meet and engage a variety of student interests.
The government, I submit, must ensure that there is annual monitoring, reviewing, and evaluating of strategies that must be put in place.
They must publicly report successes and challenges and make the necessary amendments to improve the educational system.
People, we cannot continue with the same ole, same ole!! The Bahamas cannot take much more.
We must be innovative, think outside the box and strive for excellence with no child being left behind!
A ‘D’ average ought to be no longer accepted in this great Commonwealth.
Is this government willing to implement these initiatives for the well-being of our future? I truly hope so.
Comments
amyhamilton 10 years, 7 months ago
It's good to improve the quality of the education by grading. http://www.essayyard.co.uk">UK Essay Writers Services works to increase the grades of the students.
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2014…
amyhamilton 10 years, 7 months ago
Grading motivates the students to increase their academic performance. Students hire http://www.donedissertation.co.uk">dissertation writing help for their academic performance..
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2014…
ColinAddison 10 years, 6 months ago
It is true what he said that
As it is only education which can tell what is right and what is wrong. http://www.mightydissertations.co.uk/">Buy Dissertation Online
stewartlouis 10 years, 4 months ago
The citizens who work in our schools at the instant have, I believe, made history. http://www.dissertationglobe.co.uk/">UK Dissertation Writing
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2014…
davidcarson 10 years, 2 months ago
Thank the author for this marvelous efforts. I appreciate your efforts in preparing this post. https://www.facebook.com/EssayWritingPa…">Essay Writing Services Pakistan
billingconsultancy 10 years, 1 month ago
This is a very userful web. For Medical billing services visit [Medical Billing][1].
[1]: http://www.billingconsultancy.com/medic…">Medical Billing Services
Essay24 10 years ago
It is parents who should encourage children to study and pay enough attention to different subjects at school. From the very childhood a man should be conscious of the necessity of education. Sometimes when there is a lot of home task students recourse to http://essay-24.com/">online essay writing service. But they should remember that it's very impotant to try to do all of the home tasks themselves.
duppyVAT 10 years ago
Bran .................... get with the real Bahamas ............ not your wife's school or your own private school background ................... public schools are 75% of the school system and the graduation rate is about 50% and falling .............. call Fitzgerald and tell him explain the new high school diploma that is designed to raise the "D" average !!!!!!!!! ................. LMAO
timprogosh 9 years, 9 months ago
I appreciate your efforts in preparing this post. It's good to improve the quality of the education by grading. http://www.essay-profy.com/">Order essays online in EssayProfy
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2015…
denjackson0306 9 years, 8 months ago
Education - the engine of progress. Country level is usually dependent on the amount of educated people in this country. The state should think about more funding for education, because it will bear fruit in the future. Join http://www.paper-help.biz/">paper help
chriswhite1407 9 years, 8 months ago
Students should always be a motivation for learning, such as scholarships or grants, and most importantly build a successful career! Our service http://essay-shark.biz/">essay shark will help you in it!
abuhail 9 years, 7 months ago
Getting higher education is essential for the students/professionals as now days the competition is intense and a good education qualification means a lot.Now online universities are offering http://www.gulfuniversityonline.com/uae…">Online Bachelor Degree Programs so that professionals who are working full time can take classes at any time they are free.which is a great initiative
nickparker06061981 9 years, 7 months ago
Motivation should be in all and not just at work, but also in education. Teachers and deans must motivirovta their students to achieve the best results. If you are looking for http://essayforme.com/assignments">assignments help try essayforme!
mick 7 years, 11 months ago
sdwr324r3244
Sign in to comment
OpenID