Rick Lowe
This post... got me to thinking a little more in depth about our public educational system. I know that's dangerous, but here goes.
The subject of education is an easy target regarding government failure, particularly if one wants to be cynical about it. The entire country knows there's a serious problem with public education, yet why can't the Government, no matter the party, publicly admit it and list the problems that exist so potential solutions can be found? The current Minister of Education seemed to start out with a flurry, but maybe his to do list is now overwhelming?
"I'm sure we can count on more words from the hallowed halls of parliament. But will we see results?"
Few of us expect the myriad of issues in the country to be solved over night, but mere mortals, once elected or appointed as a Minister, seem to become omniscient overnight. Most of them do not respond to efforts to provide them with ideas that just might help or they simply dismiss one out of hand. In fact, they become protective of the problems, hiding relevant data from the cold light of day, that they perceive might show a chink in their armour.
Of course parents deserve some of the blame, as teachers and education officials are wont to suggest, but we must not forget that they are a product of the very system that is failing our kids. And as long as government decides they are in charge of education, it is their responsibility to fix it. One suggestion is to have failing children stay in school until 5:00pm to do extra lessons or homework. That way, they are not dependent on those parents that simply cannot help them.
I would also like to see an attempt at a voucher system as suggested by Dr. Milton Friedman over 50 years ago. Once implemented, parents will have no choice but to become responsible over time. They will be able to decide if they want to sacrifice a little, use some of their hard earned money, combined with the public funds made available, and move their children to private school or even home school them. Eventually the entire educational system will once again be a private initiative, rather than a government failure.
Political differences will always exist, so as Parliament will never agree on a bipartisan approach on what needs to be done to resolve the failure of our public educational system, the government of the day needs to do the right thing for the benefit of future generations, political consequences of today be damned.
If the teachers are proven to be the problem, force the bad apples out. Import teachers getting good results in other countries until we have Bahamians that can get the results being sought. Surely the teachers that care cannot be proud of the results of the system they work in?
If the education administration is blocking improvement, get the best administrators from around the world and replace them. Surely the administrators that care cannot be proud of the results of the system they work in?
Of course the private sector fails sometimes as well, but if our failure rates compared to those in education, Parliament would be passing a law for us to fix the problem immediately or face the consequences of fines or even jail time!
The PLP had control of the educational system for 30 years, and the FNM has had almost 15 years in charge and what are the results? Almost abject failure. I'm not hopeful we will see any improvement in public education for our children's sake as long as government is responsible for it.
I'm sure we can count on more words from the hallowed halls of parliament. But will we see results?
