The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I begin by quoting Isabel Wilkerson, Pulitzer Prize winning Black journalist and Princeton University professor: “Our country is like a really old house. I love old houses. I’ve always lived in old houses. But old houses need a lot of work. And the work is never done. And just when you think you’ve finished one renovation, it’s time to do something else. Something else has gone wrong.”

And that’s what our country is like. And you may not want to go into that basement, but if you really don’t go into that basement, it’s at your own peril. And I think that whatever you are ignoring is not going to go away. Whatever you’re ignoring is only going to get worse. Whatever you’re ignoring will be there to be reckoned with until you reckon with it. And I think that that’s what we’re called upon to do where we are right now.

While Wilkerson is speaking of the United States, her observation applies to The Bahamas: to how the majority of Bahamians feel about our country and, for this piece, to the state of our educational system.

Nothing I am about to say is new, surprising, or revolutionary and, though I’m not privy to conversations that may be happening among educators both in and outside the Ministry of Education and the University of The Bahamas, a constructive dialogue has to be occurring about the abysmal state of education in The Bahamas. The current system is a failure. The only reason some modicum of success occurs (read Bs and As in essential subjects such as English, Science, and Math) is that disciplined students and teachers can game the system and succeed, not because of it, but despite it.

Failure leaves two options: Disaster or opportunity. Our system of institutions is inherited, and nowhere is this more obvious than the antiquated and ineffective exam-based education system. For the vast majority of Bahamian students, school is not about learning. It is drudgery. It is oppressive. It is about seeing relatively few of one’s peers put on a pedestal and celebrated and being made to feel and, in some unfortunate cases, told that they are “dumb.” It is about constantly asking why? why? why? Why do I have to suffer through this? Day after day, month after month, year after year. How can any reasonable person not expect this in a system where some syllabi read, “This Bahamas General Certificate of Education is an examination being developed in consultation with the Cambridge University Local Examinations Syndicate.” Note the language: “being developed.” What has evolved since the early 1970s. The world, certainly. The Bahamas’ system of education?

So, yes, as Mr Lloyd noted when speaking of BJC and BGCSE exam results, “It’s been a challenging and difficult year (because of the pandemic, Dorian, etc).” Nevertheless, as a whole, exam results are not significantly different than in past years. Lloyd also noted that students are “desperate.” While he refers to their returning to school, they are desperate for an educational system that makes their needs and the country’s needs a priority. Briefly, those needs include:

1. Learning how to become functionally literate in the three Rs. Here, ALL students must be equipped to, say, read the equivalent of a well-crafted newspaper article and, if they so choose, write a letter to the editor or an opinion piece. They must be able to understand and complete a job application — or an application to an institution of higher learning. They must understand basic financial statements, especially loan and credit card documents that could cripple them with debt. A household budget? The power of compound interest?

2. Graduating from high school with skills that allow constructive options: further education or the skilled job market or both.

3. Learning how to think. To understand the importance of why, how, and so what and not simply who, what, when and where.

4. Above all, hope.

Ideally, our citizens — even the non-scientific ones — must be equipped to make observations, ask questions and identify problems, conduct research, come up with a preliminary explanation (hypothesize), experiment, test hypothesis, draw conclusions, share results. For example:

A. Observation: The educational system is failing the vast majority of Bahamian students and this is bad for them individually and for society as a whole.

B. Ask questions and identify problems: Big picture question: Why is this happening?

C. Conduct research: Interview students, parents, educators, business people, the community at large and examine data. Examine successful educational systems (eg, Finland).

D. Hypothesize: Perhaps we could improve student learning by…

E. Experiment and test the hypothesis: Fund a pilot school (or two or three), a group of interested, dedicated educators, a broad cross-section of students, parents, and community members and help students become learners and thinkers while providing them with enough content to allow them to succeed at the BJC and BGCSE — and, better yet, the internationally recognised IGCSE.

F. At the same time, help them learn life skills, from basic finance, to computer programing and robotics, to carpentry, to hospitality, and so on. Traditional academics for part of the day; “votech” for part of the day. The goal: Students equipped for both higher education and the job market. Provide them with genuine life choices.

G. Draw conclusions. Look at the evidence. Is what was done in the pilot school(s) better than what exists? In what ways? How could it be made even better? How can the country ensure that education is iterative instead of static and equipped to meaningfully meet society’s evolving needs?

H. Share evidence and move forward, always keeping in mind the need to maintain what is good and be open to innovation.

The most significant barrier to any reform is that those currently holding the power to change see no need for reform. Despite the odds and despite the system, they have succeeded economically, socially and, like Mr Lloyd, politically. Their children will, too. This is a lesson learned from the pioneers of change in The Bahamas (Pindling et al generation). Nevertheless, while Bahamians benefited from the so-called “Quiet Revolution” (Doris Johnson) of the 1960s and early 1970s, many are increasingly being left behind, largely because, while the faces of the people in charge have changed, the system that elevated them and that maintains their privilege remains much the same as during colonial times.

As elsewhere, COVID-19 (and, for The Bahamas, Dorian) exposed a number of Bahamian society’s festering structural weaknesses. Barring future catastrophes such as back-to-back high-intensity hurricanes, The Bahamas will recover. However, it would be a mistake to think that going back to “normal” will sustain the country into the future, and Bahamians must recognise that “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house” (Audre Lorde). Meaningful educational reform would be an ideal place to equip citizens with the tools necessary to build a more sustainable, just, equitable society. Among others, Randol Fawkes and Clifford Darling understood the shortcomings and unfairness of the status quo as they audaciously led the fight for social, economic, and political change during the 1950s. Who will succeed them?

CHRIS MINNS

Nassau,

December 27, 2020.

(Chris Minns has been an educator in The Bahamas and the United States since 1980).