The Nassau Institute: Commentary: Bahamas Government and Opposition agree public education is a failure. What now?

Commentary: Bahamas Government and Opposition agree public education is a failure. What now?

8 May 2010

The Nassau Institute

Recently The Tribune quotes Dr. Bernard Nottage’s, speech when he informed parliament that "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." Dr. Nottage is the PLP representative for Bain & Grant’s Town.

As Minister of Education for the PLP he must have known the education system was not up to standard. Now as a member of the opposition he confirms what he must have known then, but failed to fix.

Perhaps Dr. Nottage suffers from a form of narcolepsy, clinically described as Excessive Daytime Sleepiness and "Sleep Attacks". It appears he may have awakened to the reality that he has been asleep for too long and something must be done. What will be done? That will be is anybody’s guess.

Parliamentarians have access to information not available to the general public. The recent exception is the privately funded report “The Learning Crises” by Ralph Massey and circulated by The Nassau Institute. To our knowledge it is the first and only comprehensive overview of the Bahamian education system made widely available.

Years ago when addressing the poor standards of education in the US Milton Friedman wrote: “a stable democratic society is impossible without a minimum degree of literacy and knowledge on the part of most citizens” [Capitalism and Freedom, p. 86]. He proposed a voucher system as a means to transition from the state controlled education to a totally private one “to give parents a wider choice as to the form in which their children get the schooling that the community has obligated itself to provide”.

Dr. Friedman regarded vouchers only as a partial solution as it relieves no one of the burden of taxation to pay for schooling. It would simply give parents a wider choice.

Any government education “plan” for the Bahamas would have to take into account the current system of taxation. It is a job for the “experts” to sort that out. If and when the tax system is changed, and the Bahamian people still want the government to educate their children (not the best choice) that will be the time to get serious about the proper role of the government in a free society.

Prime Minister Ingraham acknowledged that “education has been one of the largest recipients of government funding in every budget cycle since before independence... When, in the first half of the 20th century, most children completing primary school could read and write, today too many students leave our secondary schools only semi-literate and semi-numerate”.

Both parliamentarians have effectively admitted that government is not the solution, government is the problem.

What now?

Comments

Bonadventure - 4 November 2010 09:59

Education System Works

I believe that the major problem with the educational system is that people believe that it isn't working.

During the "old days" students were ruthlessly filtered out of the educational system, so that those remaining were the ones best suited for the system. I would guess that that amount was about 20% of those attending school. This wasn't a problem back then because employers didn't use academic certifications as filters for employment and promotion the way they do these days. So, those who didn't make the cut in school could still go into the work force and excel.

The educational system does not need to be fixed it needs to be changed. The system that we have adopted is designed for very large populations. If the system only works for 20% of a population of 1,000,000 then you still have 200,000 people who the system worked for. Unfortunately, our population is smaller so if we have 50,000 students in school we only produce 10,000 educated people. We need a more efficient system.

I believe that it is time that we started innovating new systems designed with our needs in mind. It is really sad that we as Bahamians are so afraid of doing our own research and inventing our own system.

O. A. Curry - 11 May 2010 19:40

Education

Let us deal with the facts.

The old Government High School was only intended for those who went there in the early days. No effort was made to duplicate it. The College of the Bahamas did not replace it either; because as you know the ages of COB students starts at age sixteen. Whereas, the starting age for students at the old Government High school was fourteen.

I can recall the horror at primary school where I felt as if though I was suffocating. With the continued repetition, when my young mind conceived the information at first glance. Learning my 10,11,12, times tables in the fifth grade, when my parent completed theirs by grade three.

My generation had more in terms of educational materials and trained teachers, so what is the problem.

In the final analysis most educators saw teaching as a means of advancement; so they were more concern about social advancement. Therefore, the children that were taught got the remnants; so that at the end of the day, children will leave school as functional illiterates. While on the other hand their children and friends get quality education at private and boarding schools.

Therefore, we have created a forced social class so we will have persons who are well aware of their God given ability. Hence, they become resentful and angry. This then breath a level of crime in a nation that based on land mass is under developed.

We now have to recruit foreign nurses, doctor, teacher, and skilled labours to help build this country. They in term only spend little of the money earned here; while the rest of it goes out of the country.

It is better the foreigner instead of our own.

I love my country and care what will become of it.

G.Wirth - 8 May 2010 11:04

Education

The Bahamas is far from being unique unfortunately it is extremely severe here and it might be too late to correct the fundamentals for the immediate future.

I would be apt to suggest a drastic step of taking Education totally out of the hands of Government into an Education Authority, run by professionals foreign and locals .

We have to stream students but take effective care of those who are non-academics by a compulsory Skills programme which will bring them out of school with a Crafts Degree having already spent 2-years in an Apprentice programme.

We don't understand that the investment cost to create 4-5,000 new jobs not replacement ones is in the high $1.6-2bn area..... every year 4,000 students leave school mostly unskilled. Over the coming 10-years we will have to create 40,000 new jobs which will cost something over $10bn. We all realise that is impossible even in the best of developed countrys.

Repatriation of illegal immigrants has to be an issue of the highest priority..... I smiled when one of the UN Specialists here to oversee the Census indicated that there is no question in the Census form which counts those here legally or illegally ! I would have thought that is the most important statistic Government needs to know ?

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