Rename Alma Parris (to help remove stigma) and promote it as a technical/ skills institute with English, Math & Spanish as part of the curriculum. promote innovation from early and certify the skill subjects.

by Sandra

Should be and instituted summer school remedial programme for the primary and secondary level for a period of no less than three weeks to assist students who have not grasped the some concepts during the normal school year. Not at to try to teach the full syllabus in this period but rather move children with similar difficulties to  separate locations  and use of modern technology to achieve this. 

Economics and law should be included at every level of studies starting from primary school.  As for law, Tort should be what is taught. This would instil in each child from early responsible living towards each other well being. Each child would know that there are consequences for deliberately causing harm to another. If you drag a chair from beneath a child, bullying, stealing, you name it,  there will be consequences.  It is to foster the mindset of honorable regard for your fellow man from an early age. I'm sure there are plenty of qualified persons in Barbados who could perform these tutorials.

Esomor

Wealth management, saving and investing should be major part of curriculum.  Also, school environment need to be more inclusive of all children, embracing movement, creativity and initiative rather than focusing on test scores, regurgitation of knowledge and class achievers. Looking at learning vocational and academic topics will result in a more well rounded individuals within society.  A part of learning should also include science, innovation and technology, with grants being provided to those students who participate in specific projects.

There is also a need to include meditation in physical education to help students manage their mental health. Also, teachers participating in therapy with their students will significantly reduce the psychological problems found among the youth.

Submitted by Krystal Bowen

In relation to the reinstatement of the full payment of UWI fees, I so not think the measures outlined will be effective i.e. making them work back the time - this has been tried with the Student Revolving Loan and other binding arrangements which have not worked and will cause tax payers lots of money and we will not see the returns in our land.  To my mind, this will revert us to students liming, and wasting money, taking 6 years to complete a 3-yr degree ...

I suggest that capping be done in the following/similar way:

1.  The payment of the fees is contingent on students passing all their exams for the particular course of study.  

2.  If a student fails, this should be dealt with by a tribunal, where they interview the student and look at all intervening situations e.g. certified sickness by a licensed medical practitioner or any other certified acceptable challenge.  If deemed that the failure was attributed to just cause, the student should be allowed to repeat at the expense of the Crown for an extra year only.

3.  For students who have unsuccessfully repeated a year or a subject without just cause, they should be made to pay in full or a sizeable portion of their costs. 

UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES

Since the government of Barbados will recommence paying fees for Barbadian students I suggest that they introduce Examination Fees to students in all faculties

Suggested Fees for each faculty are as follows:

Social Sciences

Science & Technology

Humanities & Education

$300.00 per academic year

LAW

$500.00 per academic year

MEDICAL SCIENCES

$700.00 per academic year

These fees should net in approximately $1.5 million yearly to the University with a student roll of approximately three thousand students

 Since the Barbados Government is paying tuition fees if a student fails a course then to retake the course impose the course fee of $753.00.  Also enforce the stipulated time for completion and if the student does not finish within the required time then they should pay the tuition fees

 SAMUEL JACKMAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Train persons in this institution with skills that can be fully utilized by the Government of Barbados

Example Auto mechanics division

In the Auto mechanics Division students’ training should include how to fix buses and repair diesel pumps.  This should reduce the amount of money spent w hen person from abroad have to be employed to do such.  In addition it would provide employment for the many students who leave this institution on a yearly basis.

Masonry and Carpentry

Similarly these students can be utilized when government undertake low income housing projects.

 In general find areas where the skills of every student in these faculties could be utilized.

BCC

Introduce degrees in Mechanical, Civil and Electrical Engineering this could be achieved by partnering with Universities in Canada, USA, England  or Cuba to develop curriculum for such programs.  This means we are retaining our talent in Barbados.  In addition students from  the Eastern Caribbean could also use Barbados as a  preferred choice for studying. This would minimize the number of students who are declined entry into St. Augustine.

by 

Natasha Edmund

Common Entrance:

Already the Minister of Education has taken the helm and started taking an active approach in determining the cause of the frustration of young adults especially those who attended the newer secondary schools. There is nothing per say wrong with the Common Entrance but the manner in which some things are handled with regard to it need serious adjustments. Exams are a part of life so nothing is wrong with the examination. However, continuous assessment should be a part of the exam. The Criterion Reference Tests  done in Infants B and in Class 2 should count towards a percentage of the exam as well as projects or assignments done from Class 1 through Class 4. A one time exam with as much focused that is placed on the Common Entrance should not be conducted in such a robust form for such a young age.

In addition, persons do not view all secondary or primary schools the same. This makes for added stress for students after the Common Entrance and unfortunately I have had the unpleasant experience of seeing those effects first hand as I work at one of the newer secondary schools. Students believe the image that society tells them about their school. We have to do better as adults. We must first come to our own realization of our prejudices and bias that we may have towards the exam and first make a mental change. Students who understand a concept readily will always flourish but those who feel alienated, abandoned and rejected go on to feel that way as adults. Students who may have made other achievements that may be deemed less celebratory should be congratulated none the less. For example, if a student struggled with reading all throughout primary school but did fair in the exam could still be commended for improving. This not only empowers the student but the teachers who would have worked with him during his primary years. The child goes on to his new school feeling better about himself.

Teaching Service:

For the past ten years the public servants of Barbados have particularly felt frustrated and let down but none so more than the teaching fraternity who generally give of their best under very trying circumstances. For education to work effectively all stake holders, that is: teachers, the Ministry, parents, ancillary staff and the wider society at large must all play their part. If teachers feel disenfranchised or they are made to feel as though they are someone's punching bag even when they dare to bring to reality the issues that they face on a daily basis oftentimes to the risk of life or limb then they will obviously not be as productive as they can be. Who would be in such environments? There needs to be other incentives to get genuine caring teachers to enter and consequently remain in the teaching service. There also needs to be more accountability for delinquent parents some of who fail to discipline their children as well as set proper examples for them to follow. Possibly a written contract that binds parents to their responsibility for the period of the time the child is at school over his/her 11 years of education. 

In addition, it should be mandatory that all parents attend parenting classes. Teaching them the strategies of how to cope with parenting and discipline. We need to get back as close as possible to have each person being each other's keeper. The idea of a village raising a child has somehow gone through the eddoes. We must get back responsible, model citizens to get on board to help parents along with their children.

We also have to break this "good school" "bad school" image. It literally makes those students who already have a poor self image whether inculcated from the home environment etc  feel worse about themselves. Everyone has a right to feel good about whichever school they went to. A school does not make a person but when some feel that it does it can affect those who do not attain what society says is the best negatively for life. Also adopt the services of retired teachers who can give of a few days a week to help a child to read, to be a role model, counsel. Of course these would be persons who would have been thoroughly checked out ensuring that they help and not a hinder a child's progress.

Education:

We laud the achievements of students when they do well such as our scholarship winners and exhibitionists but often times at the dispense of those who do not. Scholarship winners, exhibitionists and other achievers should genuinely want to give back to their country whether or not they plan to return. Although a format of this is currently instituted in the form of the Student Revolving Loan Fund, there is not much accountability and oftentimes some who genuinely needed the assistance also too get selfish and ignore repayment of the loan. There are a few exceptions where students do run into difficulty repaying the loan but these can be easily identified through frequent contact with local family members as well as by the students themselves. Therefore scholarship winners etc can be asked to pay a one time or fee over a period of time of a percentage of what the area of study had cost. For example, $3,000, $5,000 etc possibly after the first set of salaries within the first year. This would be strictly for those who have no interest in returning home. Those who return home would be giving back by working in the country at least for some time frame should they choose to return overseas. In addition, incorporating a volunteer attitude of all students from an early age would help countrymen and women at least fester some self respect and respect for each other. Visiting children's and old person's homes and working on building long lasting relationships.

by Celina Roach 

It is with a heavy heart that I write this email re education and I hope some consideration can be given to the ideas.  I have been in education for over 30 years and it hurts my heart to see what our education system has become. 

Firstly, I would like to see the Min of Education manage education and not the trade unions. I have been told numerous times that the Min of Education does not micromanage education. I believe there should be some micromanagement if such a great part of the national budget is allocated to education.  This is far too heavy an investment for the ministry not to care and leave management wholly and solely to the principals. I must admit some principals are very competent and others, well may the Lord help this country in years to come! Schools and their operations need to be monitored even closer and principals held ACCOUNTABLE.

Secondly, I am very concerned about the money spent in education.  As a struggling country we can save money in education.  We have 4 school rolls under 100 students. These schools employ teachers, principals, ancillary staff, utilities have to be paid for these schools and other resources are allocated to these schools. To my mind this is a waste of economic resources. Teacher-pupil ratios are ridiculously low and results are even more ridiculous.  Barbados is a very small territory and one land mass. We are not spread out like the Bahamas to say we have to cater to insignificant numbers of students as a basic right. I strongly believe these schools can be amalgamated. By so doing, our schools would operate at international standards in terms of teacher-pupil ratio.  A cost-analysis needs to be carried out. I am sure if we engage in this we can save money in hiring teachers.  I believe our primary education system is overstaffed when these ratios are considered. Your economist can do the math re the savings that could be gained from amalgamation and maximizing the teacher-pupil ratio.

Thirdly, and I know this would be a sore point for teachers and unions alike but if anyone cares about the financial state of this country they would consider this idea. I'm referring to term's leave for first timers and pre-retirement term's leave. Many years ago when teachers came from Britain and other countries they were granted time to return to their families and then back to work. This is how the term's leave concept originated. Currently, for the most part, we have local teachers and principals. They enjoy approximately 13 weeks vacation per academic year while the other public servants get a a small fraction of this time for vacation. Not only that but their (teachers) work hours are shorter than the public servant.  I strongly believe this term's leave need to stop. 13 weeks vacation is more than generous for them. When you hire a person to substitute it is a cost to do so and the person on term's leave still is paid.  Many persons enjoy this privilege today and in light of our economic position this luxury should be frozen for a 5 year period or dismissed totally.  Nurses work with people just like teachers but they don't get this kind of time off and they need it.  

I am not satisfied with the output in education. It seems that the more we give teachers the less we get in return.  When I first came into the teaching profession, my headteacher, as they were called back then, allowed me to know that public servants' time was 8.30 am to 4.30 pm. He encouraged me to engage in extra-curricula activities  or correct books or engage in planning up to 4.30 pm. That has always been a practice of mine.  Some teachers come to school at 8.45 am and leave promptly at 3.00 pm.  I have had some reports of teachers arriving at school early and remain in their vehicles until they hear the first bell ring then they saunter to the office then to their classrooms. essentially, they are not their to supervise their classes. This puts undue pressure on others and creates stress in the workplace environment. The teachers have been warned but to no avail.  Some of them proceed to call the Chief and the rest is history....All I will say it makes us look 'foolish' and it belittles us in the eyes of the public.

Nowadays some teachers resist professional development. Every summer they write letters for permission to travel for vacation overseas. If I had my way professional development workshops would be held in the first three weeks of July. I would deny travel in July for all education personnel. They can go from the last week in July and all of August. We need to 'up de ting' in terms of professional development. There are too many basic lessons that teachers are not familiar with and I believe this is the time to engage and try to sharpen pedagogical skills.  

Re the summer vacation issue teachers literally run away from their civic responsibility in the event of a national disaster. Clearly they are not aware of their responsibilities. This is an area that needs to be addressed nationally. 

In the rushed BEd degree at UWI there should have been a compulsory course "The Teacher and the Law". Too many teachers are breaking the law and the ministry of education is sweeping these matters aside and ray that they vanish. If half of the parents knew their rights and/or they were in a good financial position to sue the crown, do you know how many cases would be before the courts?????  This course needs to be compulsory and every teacher and principal should have a certificate as part of their professional qualifications. 

I have a problem with the revised Qualifications Order 2016.  All the qualifications in the world do not translate to competence. I shudder at the thought of what this order promotes. The whole notion of competence needs to have an almost equal consideration for the awarding of posts. My heart hurts when I see the selected persons who are awarded these posts. I can almost concluded we reward incompetence then complain afterwards. 

The whole saga with Education Officers was made worse by the revision of this order. In addition to the qualifications the minimum experience you  should have is 5 years.  Seriously???? One so young in the teaching profession have not seen a star pitch in education as yet so how could they advise or even guide anyone as to their professional practices.  The current education officers have been grossly insulted by this revision.  This saga needs to be addressed. Either restore us to a position of integrity and respect and this can yield this nation so many positive results in terms of productivity at the administrative level and in the field. No one really respects us in the field, not even our own Chief! If better cannot be done phase us out and bring in clerk typists who would have worked in the school setting and familiar with the operations of a school to do our work as it is mainly administrative in nature. We hardly get to engage in pedagogical practices as we should.

On the topic of administrative work, something needs to be done about clerical work in the ministry.  Some officers do work and work efficiently I must commend them. However, there is the registry staff that I have a concern about. There is no sense of professionalism or urgency and work is delayed as a result of their tardiness. This has been drawn to their attention and they were informed of how they should operate but to no avail. How can a government department be efficient if we have persons not pulling their weight or care about efficiency. I am aware that persons out there depend on us to complete their paperwork in a timely manner so that can get their salaries, etc. Teachers and other workers have mortgages, car payments, children to support, etc and these people just do not care about get the files and delivering them in a timely manner. The registry is like the heartbeat of a ministry as all information is stored and retrieved from there.  I do not know what happens at other ministries but our registry is a disaster. It was not always like this. It got progressively inefficient in the recent past. I feel embarrassed as a government worker when this inefficient service affects our operations and we have to face the public. Very often we have to make false promises to people to comfort them and give them a sense of efficiency, when actually there is none, that their concerns are being addressed. 

This is the last point in this email. They are so many more things I want to state to promote efficiency in government but they are far too many to mention in one email.  A teacher is supposed to be a cut above the rest: well qualified, knowledgeable, be a great researcher, love children, etc. I was totally devastated at the mass appointments that took place in the last couple of years. All and sundry were appointed and entitled 'teacher'. They comprise persons who passed professional examinations, those who failed, those who don't plan for their classes on a daily, weekly nor termly basis, those who are always absent, those who dislike children and blatantly declare it....what have we become in education???? Can we effectively save our country through these individuals????  I do not know if it is too late to revisit some of these persons who were 'appointed' but someone further than the ministry needs to engage in research as to the quality of persons who were permanently appointed. My heart bleeds for our educational system.  Those in authority who made these decisions will be long gone through retirement and would not be in the system to experience the demise of our educational system due to these horrible choices for permanent appointment.  Is it possible to revisit these appointments please????

All is not doom and gloom. I'm extremely impress with the CVQs introduced at secondary level. I have always believed in a practical and diversified curriculum for academically underachieving students.  Actually, it would save this government some foreign exchange and other costs if our secondary schools with these programs produce some of the wooden furniture for our schools as a part of their CVQ grades.  Repairs could be a part of the program as well. The Vocational aspect of education could move this country forward by leaps and bounds. The under-rolled primary schools I mentioned earlier, should these schools be amalgamated with other schools, these buildings could be used in CVQ programs. From my research, Finland has huge workshops for their students where their furniture etc is produced and this saves the country foreign exchange.  We are not huge like Finland but we can adapt their model to promote self-efficiency for students. All these activities contribute to national development. We can't lose if we consider and modify some models to our unique context of space and experience here in Barbados.

More to come but these were burning issues on my heart for a long time. The persons in authority who I thought would have listened, doesn't, so it made no sense uttering these ideas before. I am glad for this forum. This country is OURS...not just a select few. 

Keep up the good work this far.

Cheers,

Concerned Veteran Educator and Taxpayer

Good day

Here are just a few ideas or concerns about the educational system. I hope they are helpful

Educational System

1 Is it possible to reduce the age of eligibility for persons who are interested in studying nursing? Many young persons are leaving school with adequate qualifications to pursue this career path but are being hindered by the age requirement. Wouldn't it be best to catch them while they are interested as opposed to waiting until something or someone distracts them from the profession. A lot can happen in two years.

2 How difficult is it to organize an apprenticeship program for certain professions for example in the teaching service. I applaud the efforts being made by Erdiston Teacher's Training College and government by extension to ensure that new teachers are trained and possess foundation knowledge for the profession. However, I know first hand from experience that which is taught in the classroom cannot always be applied exactly as taught when in the real situation. An apprenticeship would ensure that students get the best of both worlds. Book knowledge as well as on the job experience. And I am not referring to the school visits that are included as a requirement in some courses of study already being offered there at the college

3 All the mention of TVET Council and skills certificates, I am yet to see real change being effected by these qualifications. How many jobs when seeking new employees list as a requirement a skills certificate? So why then are we encouraging students to pursue these classes and acquire these skills but yet they are not readily accepted or dare I say no provision has been made to allow holders of these certificates to be considered suitably qualified for some advertised posts?

4 All persons studying at UWI, SJPIT and ETTC should be mandated to give back to society by working in their particular field of study. This will assist persons in the field  whether it is entry level assistance only, the society will benefit because of the increase hands to help in that particular area, Government's money will not go to waste paying for studies for students who may end up working outside of the country and the student will gain an understanding of the profession they chose. The way I see it, there will be benefits for everyone.

5 The curriculum at certain schools should be more diversified from first form. It is common knowledge that the playing field is not level from very early simply because there are many children who either have undiagnosed or misdiagnosed learning issues, their social environment is not conducive to bearing educational fruit, they develop and learn late and the list goes on. I believe that from as early as eleven years of age these students should be exposed to these alternative subjects as opposed to waiting to third or fourth form as is the case at some schools. As the world changes we must equip our greatest resource with the necessary tools to function in the society, and as we all know it is better to train them while they are young. 

6 To assist with the previous point, we must investigate what happened or is happening with the skills programmes which are part of some schools curriculum. Is it that the program is failing to function or simply failing. Do the programs need fresh policies and mandates? Are the programs successful? if so how is this success measured? Is there proof of the success? Were students who passed through such programmes able to obtain employment in their chosen field? or Did they become entrepreneurs? It would be very interesting to see some statistics and data from and about these programs

7 Greater communication with parents and students  about the programmes that are offered by secondary schools. As many parents that are aware there are those that aren't. For example some parents do  not understand what is happening at Daryll Jordan Secondary School with their fifth form program and are calling it sixth form. This is something that can be explained to the general public so as to inform their decision making about the options their son/daughter has in terms of bettering their education. Identify and explain the differences between the two types of programs with great emphasis being placed on the benefits for the students who are desirous of pursuing either option. Too many students are being lost in the system because either their parents generally did not know about the programs available or were simply not interested or unsure of who to ask.

8    This communication also needs to exist at the entry level as well and I am referring to the Government Nursery Schools. The word nursery suggests day care and as a result parents are trying to trick the system and have their child enrolled without the necessary basic coping skills. Not only is this not fair to the staff at these institutions but it surely isn't fair to the children either. How possible is it for GIS to prepare a report to inform parents of the purpose and benefits of this Early Childhood Program that we in Barbados are so proud of? 

Failing that can the name be changed from nursery to pre-primary? 

Let's say from St. Giles Nursery School to St Giles Pre-Primary School or Preschool or something that in Barbadian terms does not suggest changing diapers, engaging in potty training and doing nothing all day long

Submitted by Rose Evelyn

Full of vibrant backgrounds and fascinating characters, Maplestory M is an online adventure game centered on Maple World that allows players to fight monsters and develop character skills and abilities in a massive platform-inspired, enduring world. It is a free game, but you can also spend money to improve yourself. You can purchase more Maplestory M Mesos from the website to exchange the necessary items in the game to make it easier to play. If you accumulate MapleStory M Mesos by planting monsters or doing tasks, it's even hard to get enough potions for battle.

MMOAH is one of the best stores offering Cheap MapleStory M Mesos. Their website guarantees that every order payment for Maple Story Mesos will be 100% secure. More importantly, MS M Mesos will see in a short period, take a little time! It is why I have been buying on their website. They often have discounts on their websites, and every purchase is very satisfying!

Histórico

Criada oficialmente em 1966, a FUNDACENTRO teve os primeiros passos de sua história dados no início da década, quando a preocupação com os altos índices de acidentes e doenças do trabalho crescia no Governo e entre a sociedade. Já em 1960, o Governo brasileiro iniciou gestões com a Organização Internacional do Trabalho (OIT), com a finalidade de promover estudos e avaliações do problema e apontar soluções que pudessem alterar esse quadro. Fundacentro – Manuais, Guias e Normas Técnicas em PDF

A ideia de criar uma instituição voltada para o estudo e pesquisa das condições dos ambientes de trabalho, com a participação de todos os agentes sociais envolvidos na questão, começou a ganhar corpo. Proposta nesse sentido foi apresentada em março de 1964, durante o Congresso Americano de Medicina do Trabalho, realizado em São Paulo.