Amidst the tragic devastation of hurricanes Frances and Jeanne, the schools in the Bahamas in one way or the other are attempting to re-open. This upcoming academic year undoubtedly will be a very challenging one for the Bahamian school system as many members of the education team will be operating under some handicap and adverse conditions. Damaged school infrastructure, no electricity, damaged books, etc all adds up to a rough start. Against such a background, the Bahamian public will be concern about how this environment will affect the student’s performance.
In the past, the Bahamian school system has been the subject of much criticism and justifiably so when one looks at the national exam results such as the BGCSE. Despite consistently taking the largest share of the national budget, almost a whopping one hundred and fifty million dollars, exam results have seen little improvement. In addition, far too many students are graduating without the basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Several years ago, the mandatory school leaving age was increased from 14 to 16 years. This new legislation still didn’t impact the students to the extent that dramatic changes were observed in exam results. Why is it that today’s students are performing so poorly? Clearly, the Bahamian taxpayer is not getting a return on their investment in Bahamian education.
This past June, the Tribune newspaper featured an editorial that commented on the state of affairs at the Harbour Island All Aged School. Out of twenty-two students in the senior class, only three (3) qualified to graduate. This is nothing short of a complete disgrace. With atrocious results such as these, the emergency alarm bell should have gone off. Parents along with concerned members of the community should have immediately marched on the Ministry of Education to demand that whatever corrective measures needed to be implemented to remedy this disastrous situation be carried out forthwith. Regrettably, on graduation night, parents of the failed students were quick to blame the teachers for their child’s poor performance.
Another excuse for the unacceptably poor performance was raised by one parent. The Vic-Hum Club, a historical local entertainment establishment that has been in the Harbour Island community for over fifty years was blamed. If the Vic-Hum Club is such a bad influence, then why only at this time is it presenting a problem to the education of the youth? Wasn’t the Vic-hum Club around at the time when I was a student at Harbour Island? I certainly do not think of myself of having gone astray! Clearly, there are some other factors affecting academic performance at Harbour Island.
According to Mrs. Karen Catalyn (my sister), a twenty-three year veteran of the teaching profession, feels that she has some explanation for the poor performance in some schools today. She had taught at schools in New Providence, Abaco, Harbour Island and Spanish Wells. Based on her experience, Mrs. Catalyn feels that despite being the government’s greatest expense, the Bahamas as a country does not give education the focus and priority that it once did. In the old days, education was the vehicle to escape poverty. Parents sacrificed everything in order for their child to get an education. Hopefully a good job ﾠwill provide opportunities and a better life, rather than the hardships many of our forefathers faced. In fact, many prominent Bahamians have publicly testified that they had come from humble beginnings and how their mothers had to scrub floors or how their fathers had to weed yard to scrape up some money to send them to school.
Today, there are other options to obtain wealth. The scourge of the illegal drug trade has destroyed the Bahamian work ethics. Far too many Bahamians have opted for the easy way out. Why should one go to school for all of those years and then still have difficulty meeting bank payments or even obtaining a loan to open a business? On the other hand, the one who can barely read and write is living in the big fancy house and drives a flashy car, oftentimes with a very liquid fixed deposit at the bank.
Ms Mary Nabb, that God sent teacher on Grand Bahama on numerous occasions indicated another undesirable avenue too many of our young people especially the girls travel for economic success. She often voiced concerned about young school girls being picked up from school in fancy cars. No one appeared to be even shocked when she revealed that prostitution rings on Grand Bahama with girls as young as 12 or 13 were participating in. Oftentimes, this activity was under the blind approval of parents who benefited as well. This matter was voiced in the Senate by Obie Wilchombe, ﾠbut nothing came out of it.
Mrs. Catalyn, also feels that some parents are to share the blame as well for these state of affairs. Parents cannot find money to buy books for their child, but the child is wearing the latest designer clothing, shoes and sneakers while sporting the latest cell phone. These parents are the same ones who will not hesitate to accuse teachers of “picking on their child” or that the teacher doesn’t like their child. For some parents, their child can do no wrong. They fail to understand that school is not a babysitting service and that they must play a role in their child’s education. But how can this happen if both the parents and child are hanging out at the same nightspots partying? Mrs. Catalyn also revealed that students in nearby Spanish Wells performed much better than their Harbour Island counterpart due to committed parents participation in Spanish Wells. Disappointedly, education is becoming such a low valued commodity that Mrs. Catalyn suggested that maybe it’s time that Bahamians pay for it to add value.
Regrettably, what may have been lost in the modern day classroom are some of those dedicated no nonsense teachers who played just as much a role in the development of the child as the parents, if not more. In his September 20th 2004 column in the Punch, Father Sebastian Campbell reviewed an article that I wrote a few years ago on the life of Mrs. Vera Hanna (my grandmother), the first recipient of the Order of Merit Award for education in 1996. Mrs. Hanna laboured under such adverse conditions that are unheard of today. Her commitment to education extended far beyond the classroom and without any job description. She never gave up on any child, even when society had condemned him as “wutless” or “good for nothing”. Certainly, in Mrs. Hanna’s category were teachers such as Mary Nabb in Grand Bahama, Amy Roberts in Abaco and Elodie Ling in Harbour Island. The Bahamas owes a debt of gratitude to teachers such as these who were truly genuine and were not in it for the paycheck.
One just has to examine the life of the current Minister of ﾠEducation, the Honorable Alfred Sears to understand the power of education. Born to humble and troubled beginnings, he was able to rise like a Phoenix from the ashes of the fires of despair and hopelessness. He uses his life experiences to inspire the youth as a role model and the doors that education will open for you. Long before he became a politician, he had accomplished what many said would never happen. ﾠThis is living proof that with education, anything is possible.
Dr.Leatendore Percentie
October 5th, 2004
