Contrary to popular belief Bahamianization is not the way to go to improve life in The Bahamas. The second worse was when we went with the unions, which gave birth to Bahamianization.
Both mother and child are the cause of today’s problems. Take education for instance. The lack of education is responsible for all crime and bad decisions made by our leaders.
The group of foreign teachers along with a handful of good Bahamian teachers who taught our children in the 1960s and 1970s would have produced the best students in the history of the education system in the public schools. What did we do? We sent them back so that we can hire unqualified, undisciplined Bahamian teachers. Turned out to be a recipe for disaster thanks to Bahamianization.
Believe it or not, it has been tried and proven that our children learn from a foreign teacher quicker because they are already idolized and imitated, and they trust them from watching television. Even our black TV idols are trying to look and sound like them. It therefore stands to reason that our children will benefit more from the trained foreign qualified teacher than one who they do not respect.
Bahamianization and unions could be a good thing for employer and employee if they work together for the betterment and improvement of our country. However, when one side decides to threaten the other side without a dialogue, reasons run out. Simple solution, find a way for employee to improve employer financially. The union should then present this to the employer before demanding a raise.
In our main industry, tourism, we are at the bottom of the service chart, where once we used to be on top. The D-minus, something-for-nothing attitude that is constantly promoted by our government is responsible for this. Your best solution is get the foreign teachers back in the classrooms. It’s not a hard decision. It’s the best decision.
By: Bob Nevil
