Unity Bar Lunchtime Lecture

The next lecture in the series will be delivered on Friday, July 16, 2010, by the Hon. Ronald Jones MP, Minister of Education and Human Resource Development, at the "Errol Barrow Gallery", DLP Headquarters, 'Kennington', George Street, Belleville, St. Michael; his topic will be "Challenges to Formal Education in the Era of Technology - Dilemma and Survival". As usual lunch will be served from 12.30 pm and the lecture will start at 1.00 pm.

Unity Bar Lunchtime Lecture: Mr. Alwin Adams--"Whither the Quality of Education? A Critique of the Common Entrance and Co-Education"

The next lecture in the series will be delivered on Friday, May 28, 2010, by Mr. Alwin Adams, former Principal of Colreidge and Parry, at the "Errol Barrow Gallery", DLP Headquarters, 'Kennington', George Street, Belleville, St. Michael; his topic will be "Whither the Quality of Education? A Critique of the Common Entrance and Co-Education". As usual lunch will be served from 12.30 pm and the lecture will start at 1.00 pm.

Barbados Business Monday Commentaries: Uneven Economic Conditions And Getting More Out Of Education

The Advocate's business journalist, Jewel Brathwaite, asked me for some comments on a range of economic issues last week, while I was attending a lunchtime lecture on fiscal deficit issues. His basic question was whether Barbados could be insulated from the impact of the global recession. My basic answer was no it could not, but it could do some things to make its impact less and prepare to benefit better from the recovery. My other point was that people seemed to have a tendency to want pain, but not too much, or be prepared to hold strain, but not for too long. Recessions do not come as one size fits all, so people may be distressed and disappointed but seeing an end to recession in 2010 may be too optimistic, and recovery in 2011 and 2012 was more likely.

Another idea was about the unevenness of economic activity, where my point was that it's good that the whole economy is not tied tightly to tourism, so that when it rises or falls, everything else in the economy does not automatically rise or fall (see Barbados Business Monday report). That said, other than international business activity, Barbados' non-tourism-related economic activities are not strong enough to counteract against developments in tourism.

On the adequacy of international reserves, an idea that was not not well captured was that the real test of adequacy is not the level of reserves when there is no crisis but how that level can withstand an actual crisis. Only time would tell if reserves equivalent to 21 weeks of imports or any other level is enough.

I also gave Mr. Brathwaite a link with the current debate about how to deal with the fiscal deficit as it impinges on tertiary education. Education can be a foreign exchange earner, and now is as good a time as any to look to see if ways exist to leverage the higher education establishments in that direction. I noted how Ross University (located in Dominica and The Bahamas, see http://www.rossu.edu/) and St. George's University, Grenada, (see http://www.sgu.edu/) were doing this and filling needs for medical training in the US. This is not a new idea, and can be seen as part of notions of medical tourism, with a logical step being that foreign medical staff could also be trained in the Caribbean region, which has a good record in areas such as nursing training. This could help in our region keep more of its trained staff while still being a good source of trained staff for north America, for example.

77 Sunset: Teddy's Dead

Most of what I could write, is what others have written already and better, so read instead:
Boston Globe
The BBC
New York Times
The Washington Post

It's All In Your Mind: Is Education Barbados' Achilles Heel?

Barbados has long been admired for what it has achieved with so little in terms of natural endowments. It has the highest rank of any developing country in the UN's human development index. I touched on this some 20 months ago (see Human Development). I wrote then:

Bajans may tend to be complacent or arrogant about what they have achieved after some 40 years of independence, but they need to retain some modesty. They may want to puff up their chests and claim that the rest of the region needs to bend and praise them. Attitudes need to change: some would say that a sense of excellence needs to be recaptured. It is only a short step from mediocrity to failure. An economy based on a fragile and somewhat fickle demand, as is the case with tourism, is no guarantee of long-term success. Factors outside the country's control can easily derail progress, whether it is the weakness of the US dollar, or rapidly rising oil prices, or natural disasters.

That was before we realised that the world was heading into its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. I am no Professor Nouriel Roubini (aka "Dr. Doom") and I can admit freely that I did not see the harsh economic times coming, either in depth or duration. Like many other people, I was hoping that it would be another small hiccup--we'd had them before, and stock market 'bubbles' float and get burst. I had been through a real harsh downturn in the UK in the mid-1970s/early 1980s. I was also just off living for nearly four years in one of the poorest and most under performing countries in Africa. So I was not really tuned in to the relative pain that was likely to hit this side of the Atlantic.

A basic pillar of Barbados' success was the enviable reputation for its high rate of literacy. The latest data come from the UN's Human Development Report, 2007/8. (Although I often do not trust Wikipedia, its presentation of the data is the most easily understood, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_literacy_rate.) Barbados is effectively ranked in joint first place--the statistical differences for the top four countries is tiny.

However, I read a press report that made my eyes pop out. It told me that education officials were now saying something that I had also noted when I first arrived--though it was based on a range of contacts and observations, not a survey. The message was clear: Barbados' educational success is at real risk (see the Government Information Service (GIS) report, Dire Need To Improve Literacy Rates, Minister Says). Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Patrick Todd, made a chilling admission on July 28, during the opening ceremony of a reading workshop entitled "Using Deep Comprehension Strategy Instruction to Create Great Readers and Lifelong Learners". When I read the opening sentences of the report, I was startled:

"Recent data collected by the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development indicate that many Barbadian children still face the very real possibility of entering adulthood as functional illiterates."

The GIS report continued, "According to him, this downward spiral must be reversed if Barbados is to compete on the world stage and Barbadians are to enjoy a satisfactory quality of life."

The dagger was twisted when Deputy Chief Education Officer, Dr. Idamay Denny, also spoke at the opening of the reading workshop. She too expressed concern at some decline in the literacy rate on the island which "once stood at 95 percent and was something to be proud of".

The current debate in Barbados on immigration issues has a clear nexus with educational concerns. One of the factors driving migration to Barbados is its relative success in the Caribbean region, which was based on his improved educational results. But such improvements cannot alone keep an economy ahead of others. It's a savage irony that Guyana's educational system was and remains very successful--at least, statistically. Only Barbados (99.7%) has a higher literacy rate than Guyana (99.0%) using the HDR data, when looking at Caribbean counties. While the UN HDI cautioned that the rate quoted for Barbados should be interpreted with caution since it is based on outdated census and survey information, we will note that but not belabour it. Guyana's data (and I am sure others') are also flawed.

In Guyana, the Ministry of Education and more than one Minister of Education have acknowledged that the levels of illiteracy in that country are a serious cause for concern. While they have not made direct reference to the UN literacy figure for Guyana, by implication they recognize that it bears no relation to the reality. Earlier this year the ministry launched its ‘Fast Track Initiative Literacy Programme’ on what was described as a “mass scale.” It was targeted at improving literacy in the school system as well as among adults and out-of-school youths.

So, high literacy has helped propel Barbados forward, but similar rates of literacy have not stopped Guyana plunging downward. In other words, when other things are working against your body, your head alone cannot change things. It's hard to know what is going wrong if you have an educational system that seems to be so right. We know that a raft of bad economic and social decisions also come into play, as well as a bundle of accidents that bring good and bad luck.

But, when it is clear and acknowledged that your educational system is on the slide, and maybe going down fast, you know the slippery slope you are on and it's hard to know how to stop. POor education usually goes hand in glove with poor other things, and poverty itself. Is that what is on the horizon for Barbados? It may be if the decline is not addressed quickly because the world already knows too many lost generations.

The nasty twist is that during an economic downturn, jobs are at a premium. So too are skills. One of the most evident skills on show is level of education. If it is seen to be lower than before employers will tend to see where they can get better educated people. If they are not available locally, then they will try to get them from overseas. Conversely, if economic conditions at home are faltering, there is a natural tendency to look abroad--we see this with the migration flows to Barbados. But, if the perception is that the educational skills being offered are not good enough, why would an employer want to take on a foreigner, with a range of other issues that that will bring? So, declining educational attainment is a terrible two-edged sword.

Education, health, and immigration (in alphabetical order only) represent three lightning rods for public concerns and conflicts with the decision of elected officials. Barbados was already engaged on one--health. It is now well engaged on another--immigration. It looks set to begin engagement on a third--education.

Studies of clinical depression often highlight the increase in stress and the onset of depression being related to the existence of at least one personal crisis. It is often related to job loss, family turmoil (love, birth, death), loss of home, and threats to life. Any one of these is considered to be bad. In combination, they are often viewed as 'lethal'. In the body political-social-economic, we may have the equivalent crises points staring us in the face. Can the body take the strain?

Cap And Gown

My first born had her day on the stage this morning, in Montreal. She was very excited that it was all over, after four years of good study, including a year in England. We had been through this a year ago, when my wife's first born graduated in New York. Then, it was a sweltering day and we melted and sweated and were desperate for water, but plenty was on tap. This time, it was cool, and truly spring-like, as in England: the sun knew it was due to be out and about, but was not ready to come to work today. We had a good showing of all the extended family: the parental units, and the grandparents from Nassau; Jamaican and English grandparents were not well enough to travel--a great shame.

But, we tried to make it one of those days to remember. We found each other before the ceremonies and took some pictures, with little sister getting her first chance to wear the mortar board. Then we sat down and settled in for the presentations. All went well, and we got a good chance to see the celebrant as she got her degree. She was a bit miffed because of another McGill-style administrative snafu, that meant that her 'great' distinction got down graded to 'distinction' moments before she went on stage. But, she did not really care as she knew that really she had excelled and it was all she needed to know: lots of As and A-minuses.

The graduate's little sister surely has her work cut out to match her older siblings. I hope she can stay the course as well as they did.

We then went for a very leisurely French lunch, which filled us, and now we are just ready for rest. A long day, but worth every moment.

Taking Your Pride In Your Stride

I am not a great one for celebrating personal educational achievements beyond taking the achievements as their own reward. I guess that comes from an upbringing that stressed working for what you get and taking the results as testimony enough. Passing the 11 plus meant a better choice of schools. Passing O and A levels meant a better choice of higher education or first job after school if university was not desired. Getting a good university degree meant a better choice for even further study or jobs for graduates. The base was well built and from that a good life could be built. My parents, once they had migrated, focused much on making the money they earned go to things that built for them and for me, for the present and for the future. I had much the same experiences with sports: medals and trophies for victories were often as sweet as it got (plus the odd bonus, when I got paid), and the memories of defeats (and the lashing of the coach and fans) were as bitter as they needed to be.

I have to pleasure of spending a few days in Tortola again, with the first cohort of students from the British Virgin Island who have taken the University of the West Indies Executive Masters in Business Administration programme. I have taught on this course in Barbados, Belize and Tortola. Most of the course students are about my age (40s/50s), and all are working while they study. They all have well established careers already, and most have families with a new generation going to school and maybe university. So, to take on new studies, part-time, over three years, is a major challenge. I am very interested, therefore, in the way that they celebrate their achievements.

What was clear as soon as I arrived yesterday for the ceremonies was that celebrate they will. Each student was decked out in fine clothes--the women in white suits, the men in dark ones. The women's hairdos and make up were a show in themselves. The families who were in the auditorium were as wild as at a high school sports days, whooping and whistling, and grabbing cameras to record the moments. The speeches were thankfully short but gladly also very on the mark, especially the keynote remarks, which were about leadership: leaders innovate, managers administrate. But, for me, the first high point was near the end of the ceremonies when the cohort took the stage, and the mikes, and started to sway as the strains of a song came out, and they sang an R. Kelly song, 'The storm is over' (see lyrics), not one of his bump and grind songs but the inspirational strain that he also does well. The final verse tells of the relief after struggle:

The storm is over
(The storm is over now)
And I can see the sunshine
(Somewhere beyond the clouds)
I can feel Heaven, yeah
(Heaven is over me)
Won't you come and set me free

These middle aged students could sing! They had their moment of new glory and they were not going to let it pass. Their Premier was there, and had said kind words, so too was their current Minister of Education. How ironic that one of the students was the former Minister of Education, now trying to make a new career for himself as a consultant. That's leading by example.

Then came the cocktail and banquet in the evening. My instructions had been to dress formally, and I did in black tie and Tuxedo. I felt odd at first during the afternoon ceremonies when I had seen no one dressed the same way, except one man, who I found out was a student's husband. But, local people could go home and change, and I had at least half a dozen other bow-tied men to admire. The women were also in their evening wear, and again, the students stole the show with a display of gowns that was really stunning. Michelle Obama, I think you need to visit Tortola for some tips.

The banquet had a first for me, a female MC, and she told some of the best jokes, mainly about men and women and alluding to things they do. She got the crowd going. She urged the testimonials and the acknowledgement of the lecturers and administrators, and praised the caterers, and wondered if the musicians were really asleep, and so on.

What struck me also, however, was how for this group there seemed to be no limits to the amount of praise they were ready to heap on each other, including each getting a gift for 'achievements' such as 'designated driver'.

What I got most from the ceremonies was a sense of incredible inspiration that comes from personal achievement. I will use one case. A female student had a younger sister, who has no become a judge. She tells how as a child, she watched her sister study all day and night and pass over meals, while saying that she could not study like that; she got as a result a range of minor administrative jobs and began to raise her family. But, she had drive and she helped her children, to the extent that one of her daughters went to the podium, picked up the microphone and belted out a song that would have made one of the talent shows think "we have a winner". Her mother had learned to study, and sacrifice her nights, and now had an MBA, so yes, be proud. She was still not like the sister-judge, but there was no doubting that she had learned the trick with the books.

When I taught this group over a two week period I met some of the most determined people I had ever come across. None struck me as intellectual wizards, but each struck me as honest individuals who wanted to do all they could to take another step upwards. That two of the dozen gained distinctions (at least 11 As and averaging over 70%) does not surprise me. What was surprising was that three of the women became pregnant during the course, and added more burdens to themselves. What was wonderful was to see that UWI has a scheme that allows those new mothers to break from the course and resume seamlessly to complete and graduate.

This group of students is unique in being the pioneers for the study of this course in the BVI. I don't know what any of the gifts were that the cohort gave each other, and I may find out later today, as we spend a day sailing and having lunch. But, I know that they are all gifted and have given us a gift of inspiration to achieve. Most of the students have moved on to new jobs, in both public and private sector, and in some cases started their own business. They were inspired to stay on the island and study more to work to better their small island and its capabilities. They are all excited that, as the economic downturn starts to hit activities in tourism and finance, they have more tools to better weather the storm.

Afraid To Speak Your Mind?

I went to university to read law, and stayed at law school a whole day. I turned to economics instead. The first job I was offered after graduation was to work for a major UK bank (Lloyds) either in international banking or domestic branch banking. At that moment, when I visualised myself as a black branch manager, several years down the road, in some leafy suburb like Chalfont St. Giles, deciding on the financial fate of my largely white clients, I somehow did not see something congruous. I declined the offers politely and decided to think more, while doing some post-graduate work.

I have since seen lawyers and bankers as amongst the most reviled professions in the minds of many people; economists often rank up there amongst the largely irrelevant and confusing, or harbingers of gloom and doom and therefore not to be counted as friends.

Nevertheless, most economists, who are often mainly academics, often have a lot of self respect, have a lot to say, and take each other to task with glee. They do this in a manner that most of the world cannot fathom, dressing arguments in equations and language that defies understanding unless one has university level mathematics and a command of language that is close to that of a great scholar. As part of the genus, economist, those comments are not to inflate myself into something wonderful, though I may be for other reasons.

When economists savage each other it is a feast of data and proofs and rebuttals and counterarguments; not that different from attorneys battering each other in court. Most people, however, never get to see or hear such arguments. In recent times, many prominent economists have come to public notice because of their exaggerated and strident claims or their close association with a political party and its leanings. Ranking up their on my rancour scale are the Americans Jeffrey Sachs and Joe Stiglitz. Many of my former economist colleagues are now talking heads and I see them as officials at the Bank of England or IMF, or as top 'strategists' for major international banks and they are often revelling in differences of views.

Personal feelings aside, what is good about these disagreements is that they have moved from the pages of arcane and obscure economic journals. They now feature prominently in the media: printed pages and now online publications and TV and radio are riddled with economists' railings and unravelling of each other's arguments. Among the more prominent in this field are Nobel Laureate, Paul Krugman, who is having a vigorous public debate as a liberal arguing with the policies of his own liberal-leaning president. It's great reading his columns and blogs in the New York Times.

The public visceral dislike for bankers has been apparent over the past year, as real economic problems mixed with financial market problems have put dodgy banking practices full-square in people's eyesight. Bankers were not left to hold all the hot coals as other financial companies' activities also raised questions about the quality of risk-taking and risk assessment. The recent hate spree against AIG is really a natural culmination of those feelings. The planned demonstrations in London for the coming meetings of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors is also a natural extension of such feelings, though there is a lot of bare piggybacking going on as anarchists etc look for a good fight.

That said, several things strike me about discussions in Barbados on major financial issues. The first is that the general free and relatively vigorous debates that I have seen and heard in the US and UK media, particularly, have barely any parallels here, where I would almost have to conclude that most of the experts are mute. They have certainly made themselves moot. I have mentioned before this surprising lack of visible input on such issues by well-known local academic economists, and heard explanations that touch on fear of reprisals, small country, etc. I'd like to buy it but I wont. I have filled some of that space myself because I feel that I can stand up for my opinions and am not especially fearful of reprisals, which if they ever became personal would have to be dealt with in that context. As some UK bankers were warning this morning, many are/were good athletes and pugilist or at least are not fearful of getting into a dust up. Given that I played sport against a lot of bankers while I worked in The City, I can attest to the ability of many bankers to handle themselves well in a fight, on or off the pitch.

The second is that discussions quickly descend into personal attacks. That is something to which I am not accustomed, but I am growing aware of it. It's somewhat like fights between children, where there is a lot of baiting and name calling and the real basis for the argument is quickly forgotten.

So, it's interesting to read today some commentary by Mr. Harry Russell, a retired banker, writes a weekly column ("Wild Coot") in the Nation. Today he looked at "Banking on money' (see Nation report) and politely and clearly takes on his old industry. I've read it several times and find it odd that a former banker has to take issue with the way that local banks seem to have "neglected very profitable ways of boosting their income for reasons that are debatable". He cites practices that are not common enough here that I too have noticed by their absence and wondered why: widespread use of credit cards, online banking, debit transactions. Some of this absences fits in with the national tendency for risk aversion, but most people to whom I have spoken are just confused but also unwilling to press for some of these products. People seem to love lining up in banks, even with ATMs that are never crowded: I've heard fears expressed such as "How I gine know de money reach my account? I don' trus' no machine." People seem to love to pay in cash or check, rather than use their card to have the transactions debited. I heard a discussion the other day how (some) banks wont accept checks over a certain amount from private customers (the limit mentioned was B$1000), whereas they take them from businesses. As the moderator noted, what made a check for B$ 995 intrinsically different from one for B$ 1000? Businesses have financial problems too. Some practices are just arcane and bizarre.

Mr. Russell mentioned also the idea of reverse mortgages, which was a subject of some comments on the radio last week, and really could be an attractive product for pensioner-homeowners. The issue of repayment after the death of the mortgagor is simple to overcome as the loan can specify the repayment out of the estate/sale of the property or by whoever takes over the assets (house). Clearly, banks may want to avoid the risk of somehow getting stuck as holders of real estate.

I know that the lack of local commentary is not for want of expertise. I also know that there is a vociferous body of commentators, of mixed expertise, but loquacious nevertheless. I think of the adage 'never mind the quality, feel the width'.

I know that there is a strand of thinking here that puts all critical commentary into the bag of subversion: eg., school teachers make rules (say banning drums at national school sports), those who criticise the rules publicly are labelled as inciting children to disobey or subverting the rule of law, without any discussion of whether the rule really makes sense as if rules once made take on the status of sensible decision (what if the teachers prescribed a dose of cyanide?), or will address the core problem (noise abatement, encouragement of fervant behavour, etc.?), or needs to be applied across a wider plane of social situations (eg., cricket matches, where they are flouted as part of national culture). The harsh part of me sees this as real dumbing down in the sense of creating unthinking, uncritical people, who cannot deal with different situations and therefore are fearful of change so want to ban it all.

A Bajan pediatrician discussed this with me over the weekend and lamented how she had seen the tendencies early whereby children were no encouraged to argue and discussed, then 5-10 years later you have children unable to reason critically and thus struggling with basic education. We did not get to discuss if this had changed over 20 or 50 years, but she had noticed it during her career of a decade or so. She called it the development of 'rum shop logic': noise and huff and puff replace substance; senseless remarks go unchallenged, etc. I have to share her lament. I will try to do my part to put forward critical ideas, knowing that if you do not ask questions and get good answers you will be doomed to suffering the decision of fools, no matter how well dressed they are in a little brief authority.

Flogging is a form of torture. Don't pretend that it is otherwise.

I suspect that on this subject I will find that my views do not coincide with some (or even many) in Barbados, or elsewhere in the Caribbean.

As a parent, I do not see that beating my child is part of what I will use to discipline my child, and I do not accept that anyone should beat my child to discipline her. I do not see beating as anything else but a lazy way to try to 'correct' behaviour, and it may work in that sense because fear of pain is very simply a strong deterrent--not total, as we see worldwide where death penalties exist and crimes are still high, including crimes that involve the killing or violent assault of people.

I was recently in Washington DC for the Presidential Inauguration. A few days after I left I read an article by Matthew Farley in the Nation (see report). For those who cannot see the link, I reprint the article:

***************************************************************
In The Candid Corner – For God and the rod in schools
Published on: 1/18/09.

BY MATTHEW D. FARLEY

ON WEDNESDAY , I shared a podium with my professional head Chief Education Officer Dr Wendy Griffith-Watson. The Deacon's Parent-Teacher Association mounted a forum which queried Is it Time To Put The Brakes On Flogging In Schools? Given our professional relationship, I guess many people expected Matthew D. Farley and his Chief Education Officer to lock horns, but we are more professional than that.

It is not too long to recall that when I was president of the Association of Public Primary School Principals, we locked horns on many occasions in public on educational issues on which we held views that were diametrically opposed. We never got personal. We simply dealt with the issues.

I was strident in my view that primary schools were deprived of much needed funds. There were times when she told me bluntly that I was wrong on some issues and I often challenged the stances she took on a range of others, respectfully, of course!

Education in Barbados is a literal hot spot when it comes to issues. The Chief Education Officer and I share a common passion for the sector which has been at the centre of our human resource development. This sector needs people with passion. People who believe in the fundamental principles of education and who will not fall prey to the intrigues of whims and fancies that threaten to undermine the core values of our system.

The liberals among us will have us believe we must embrace methods and practices that have left other school systems in shambles and have produced nothing but criminals, incendiaries, and madmen. There is a sense in which we see schools as certificate factories. In the process we have carved the soul out of our educational system.

Successive governments in Barbados have invested no less than 20 per cent of annual expenditure on education. I am concerned that this investment is under threat by an anti-intellectual culture and storm clouds of indiscipline that have engulfed our schools across the board. I received an email from Patrick Porter, a Barbadian living in Canada in which he laments: "Crime in schools has jumped beyond reason . . . children have total control of the schools and if a teacher or principal says anything . . . they talk about suing and the law courts."

After concluding that the Canadian system of education is in shambles, he ends by praying and hoping that as a Bajan "we do not follow this terrible path".

The Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development in very recent times has appeared to be in a state of confusion in terms of the direction in which it wishes to take education. Earlier in the year, the minister indicated that consideration is being given to banning the use of corporal punishment in schools and homes. After endorsing the common dress code for schools, mixed signals emanated from the halls of central administration in Constitution Road.

Two secondary schools with well-known and outstanding track records of success in athletics and foreign languages were given a bad public image when certain comments seemed to have relegated them to the bottom of the educational totem pole.

At the same time, a measure of student empowerment came from an official podium in one of those same schools evoking rousing applause which seem to have encouraged the flouting of the authority of principals rather than urging compliance from their charges.

Schools in 27 of the states in America have outlawed corporal punishment. The other 24 states retain the practice. Britain and many countries in Europe have criminalised both teachers and parents and have reaped the whirlwind of chaos and indiscipline both in schools and the wider society.

Canada retains some measure of protection for parents and school officials. The lobby for Barbados to follow this pattern of pedagogical and parental recklessness is strengthening.

Dr Griffith-Watson's public assertion that corporal punishment will be retained as one of a range of options available to a limited number of school personnel is reassuring, especially in the light of the rising tide of violence and indiscipline that continues to wash our educational shores. Like my Chief Education Officer, I am vehemently opposed to any attempt to throw the rod and God out of our schools.

Matthew D. Farley is an educator, a secondary school principal, chairman of the National Forum On Education, and a social commentator.

Email laceyprinci@yahoo@com.

***************************************************************
I am always wary when religion is put alongside an idea, because part of the intent is to give it 'God's blessing', and it gets hard to rebut because the twinning then makes it hard to argue that one is not going against a religious tenet. But, even if there is support for this idea in The Bible I do not accept that it is the right way to go.

After I read the article, I thought about the impending Inauguration of the 44th president of the United States of America, and that president-elect Obama wanted to close Guantanamo ("war on terror") prison as one of his first acts. Yesterday, President Obama signed three Executive orders toward that end. Among the things that happened at Guantanamo are a series of acts that have been regarded as tantamount to torture. According to a revised version of the US Army Field Manual, released in 2006, it explicitly banned controversial techniques such as beating, using dogs to intimidate [prisoners], electric shocks and waterboarding, which critics of the prison say are tantamount to torture.

If one is advocating flogging in schools then I suggest one thinks about what flogging really is. It is a form of torture. I have never seen a public flogging, as occurs in countries such as Iran. I have seen boys flogged at school. I know what I saw. I did not feel the pain directly, but I winced and sensed the pain that was being inflicted. I saw the faces of the floggers: never neutral and often somewhat angry. I saw the faces of the flogged: never smiling, often tearful and fearful. I saw the faces of the onlookers: few were smiling; most were wincing.

A dictionary definition of torture includes 'anguish of body or mind', 'something that causes agony or pain', and 'the infliction of intense pain...to punish, coerce, [or afford sadistic pleasure]. I am not going to the sadism aspect, but wonder where the real difference is between flogging and what is seen as torture. Of course, flogging can change behaviour, so can pouring boiling oil on someone. But I have a hard time seeing flogging as something right, and which should be retained in of all places a school, when it is not acceptable in a prison.

When I think back to the historic significance of President Obama's rise I think back to slavery, as many black people will, even though he did not come directly from a slavery background. I think back to days when my ancestors and the ancestors of many people now living in the US, UK, Canada, and the Caribbean knew a lot about flogging, being the offspring of floggers and flogged. I think about my ancestors possibly being flogged--in the fields, in the workhouse, etc. We have reports of adults and children being flogged and we know that there were many cases where that flogging went to the point of killing some (if not many) slaves. To me, these thoughts do not evoke pretty images, and I wonder what place such acts have in a school.

I hear people talk of a 'good' beating. For me, that is a contradiction in terms. I asked a friend to let me see film of a 'good' beating so that I would know what it looked like. I would also like to hear what the person being flogged thought, so that I get the real sense of 'good'. These things should be shared if they are for our good, like in a public information broadcast. Without being facetious, we should see regularly 'good' floggings so that we do not forget what they look like. If it is to be done then let's make sure that it is done right and well.

As far as schools are concerned, I asked myself whether flogging is part of the teacher training curriculum or if it is something that teachers are expected to learn on the job. If the flogging is the sole prerogative of the school's principal (head teacher), and he/she is not trained, from when and where does the experience come? Perhaps there is a manual and someone can illuminate me. I recall from my school days guidance to teachers on things like number of strokes of a cane, and places on the body to be beaten, but not much on the amount of force. If a child says while being beaten, "Enough teacher" will the teacher stop? If not, why not? In my mind, schools and teachers may be asked to do too much; teacher are trained to teach and I am not sure that they should be expected to be good at child care in all its forms.

But why do we think that beating people can possibly right? We abhor an act of physical violence and think that another act of violence is warranted? If the flogging is for anything other than to 'discipline' a violent act what is the real lesson being taught?

Food For Thought.

Today's "Down to Brass Tacks" had an interesting discussion about discipline in schools. Peter Wickham, who moderated, raised some provocative issues, the most challenging of which was the notion that children alone should not be held responsible for indiscipline; a large part of the responsibility should be borne by parents. That seems to make some intuitive sense to me, even though legally it could be difficult to implement.

However, some other notable points came up in the discussion, which I flag below.

"People talk pretty in this country but when it comes to taking action...people are not prepared to take the time to solve social issues." These were the words of Wendell Callender, former head of NCPA. They echo a view I have held since following issues here in Barbados.

Jeff Broomes, President of the Barbados Association of Principals of Public Secondary Schools, said that schools needed in-house psychologists and a second deputy principal to aid in managing indiscipline in local schools. However, he also told listeners that he did not believe the incidence (or did he mean 'incidents'?) of misbehaviour in schools had increased in a major way but might simply be seen in a more negative light now. That makes his proposals a little hard to reconcile.

The system of allocation of children [through the 11 plus exam] contributes [greatly] to problems in schools. "Ghetto" schools are created--a first punishment for the students--and the behaviour problems that arise are dealt with by corporal punishment and other forms of punishment--second punishment for students.

Not every person who has a child is a good parent; it takes no rocket science to make a women pregnant. Parenting calls for time, and that seems to be given less these days. Discipline needs to start at an early age.

Being a good person is not the same as being a good parent. There seems to be some huge confusion in the minds of people discussing the issue that somehow or other the fact that a parent is respected, well educated, prominent, or somehow seem very positively by society, they are immune to having children who are tyrants or have other discipline problems. Again, too much of that deferential behaviour that is common here.

Problems inside schools are not divorced from problems outside school.This should be obvious, but most of the commentary I have read and heard seem to make no connection that says children bring to school bad behaviour and attitudes that they have nurtured elsewhere, and the school is just one of the arenas where they play out. No real discussion occurs on causes. So, naturally, focus is on solutions, but they are useless or at best pander to mistaken notions, because they may not be treating the roots of the problems.

Are teachers equipped to deal with discipline? They are recruited for their skills as teachers. Their training as educators does not necessarily provide good training (if any) as carers for children. Teachers may have no inclination or aptitude for dealing with children's behavioural problems.

Very tangential, was a comment by phone from a representative of the Guyanese community, talking about a recent survey on sex workers. Her views were that if there is no demand then there will be no supply. Amusingly, in a way, she added that if Guyanese are prevalent among sex workers, then it reflects that the best rises to the top. Ooh la la!

One Potato, Two Potato.

I am sorry to say that since arriving in Barbados nearly two years ago I remain unconvinced about certain "stylized facts" about the country. Highest on my list is the notion that Barbados has a highly educated population.

My gut feeling from encounters across the island have convinced me that, while many Bajans have gone through formal schooling and perhaps passed the prescribed tests, the population has levels of literacy and numeracy that are far lower than one would believe from statistics such as the literacy rate (99.7%), which ranks Barbados fifth in the world (see report on Wikipedia, using data from the United Nations Development Programme). For good measure, those same data rank Australia, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the USA joint 18th (at 99%).

So, I was interested to see two reports today that fill out some of my gut feeling. First, was a report that the Ministry of Education has been slow in improving numeracy in schools (see Barbados Advocate reports). A national policy had been developed to improve literacy but similar action had not been taken regarding numeracy. The Minister of Education (addressing the Caribbean Subregional Meeting of the Regional Policy Dialogue on Education, held at the Barbados Hilton) also put his finger on something else, the "need for greater confidence in oral expression and the promotion of critical thinking skills in order to improve comprehension and problem solving competency". The second report notes that the Education Director of the Caribbean Development Bank found a "disturbing deficit" in literacy and numeracy levels among secondary school students and school leavers. Employers are the ones bearing the brunt of this shortcoming, but so are all of us.

I wont go beyond the opinions expressed in these report. I would, however, ask you to look at and think about evidence of the lack of oral expression and critical thinking skills in action from a previous generation of students. The Minister of Education has just chided school principals for sending children home for reasons that seemed to have nothing to do with bad behaviour. The reports suggest that in doing that principals have not made any oral expressions to the parents of these children that they are being "disciplined" and being sent home--to whom we do not know, because no evidence exists that the schools even check if anyone will be available to supervise these children. That seems like a dereliction of duty by the schools. In addition, critical thinking seems lacking in not coming up with solutions better than sending someone home. Some of the reasons reported, which include for matters such as breaking dress codes or not being able to be accommodated at some school ceremony, suggest a level of ludicrousness that borders on satire.

To round out these considerations, we also read in today's newspapers that the main branch of the National Library Service has reopened after being closed for two years. All I ask myself is what kind of country allows its main library to be out of commission for two years? Not one that argues that it is on the cusp of being developed, I would argue.

A lot of what happens in Barbados seems to smack of the knee jerk reaction to situations, rather than a well thought out or considered set of actions. My view on why that is has much to do with how people see the process of education. There seems to be an awful fear here that allowing challenges is of itself threatening, rather than something that helps develop strong powers of argument; the only way to deal with challenges is to categorize them as wrongs and therefore exercise sanctions against them. I went through education processes that emphasized accepting those things that made real sense not those that were spouted by people who were given positions of authority. An idiot in a uniform is still an idiot. Good reasons are easy to accept because they are good reasons. The news surrounding education establishments in Barbados over the past two years indicate a lot of "do what we say no matter how foolish it is", and if you don't we will tell you that you are breaking down the walls of our society.

The brain is a muscle and it needs needs solid training and exercise. I don't see much evidence that in general the education programmes that exist in Barbados are sufficiently muscular.

M Is For More Than Mother.

Here is a simple story of a woman, whom we will call M. She is the housekeeper, nanny, and cook for my friend, Thesephone. M is determined, and it shows in all she does. But that determination comes from the dramatic story of her life. She is not alone in having lived the hard part of this story, which has been a common place situation for women the world over, but still warrants the telling. Basically, she had little formal education but is now making up for lost time.

First, why was she denied an education? Because she is female. Therefore, she was required to stay home and look after younger siblings and the home while her mother, went out, probably as a domestic, to earn money to support the family, on her own.

What typically happens to women like her? Typically young women denied an education, often deny their daughters an education so that they can go out probably as a domestic, to earn money to support the family, on their own. The cycle continues.

Third, what future has she created for herself and her heirs, despite the odds? M, has two daughters to whom she has provided not only a primary, not only a secondary, but also a tertiary education. Further, she has successfully steered both girls clear of unplanned pregnancies, which could have derailed their pursuits. Both are now pursuing careers in their field of choice and have more power over their destinies than many a generation before them. And now having broken the cycle for her daughters, she starts again for herself, to realize dreams of her own.

That is a story some would call incredible. While living in Barbados, a strange land for her, M is now dealing with learning how to speak standard English. Like many Jamaicans, she can converse fluently and clearly in Patois, and can read standard English, but cannot speak it as it is usually written. M now goes to classes so that she can move through life without adding "h" where it does not exist, using "he" instead of "him", feeling comfortable trying to say "whose is this?" instead of "fi who dis?". That is not a simple challenge because it means denying the self that has been well developed over many years; it also means not feeling embarrassed by a lack that many are all too ready to point out.

M also has a healthy fear of water. Not like a dog who is suffering from rabies, or like a cat. But, like someone who cannot swim. While I love to feel the rolling waves push me around the beach as I wallow. As I play with Miss Bliss and throw her for somersaults into the water, and feel comfortable. So, M would deal with each of these with a terror that has to be seen to be believed. She really feels that the waves will pull her out, not just a few feet, but way off into the deep abyss. But, like her incredible story of how she educated her children, M is now trying to be not quite a Michael Phelps wannabee but at least able to make a few strokes and not just splutter around in the water. Like many Caribbean people, she still has some bizarre ideas about being in the sea, such as running for cover when it starts to rain. Now, I understand that M got a medal for being the most improved swimmer in her class.

I wish all the women I knew who had been denied an education had the gumption of M, and were willing to take up the challenges, even when the children are all grown up. My grandmother was like M, and she managed to ensure that while she could not get the education she deserved in rural Jamaica and had to go to the capital to work as a domestic her children got well educated. Those children, including my father, have in turn made sure that their children also got good educations. I was able to go to university as were most of my cousins of the same generation. We too have ensured that our children have had the chance for a good education, whether they are boys or girls. In keeping with current trends, the girls have done well, and most of the great grandchildren have managed to get university educations. It's hard to break the cycle, but we should be glad to know and support someone who tries to do that, and better still help make sure that they succeed.

A Little Learning.

You possibly know the adage "A little learning is a dangerous thing". You may not know the rest of the phrase, which is "drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again." You may not even know that it was written by the great English 17th-18th century poet, Alexander Pope, at the ripe old age of 21, in "An Essay on Criticism" in 1709 (read the whole poem here).

It's a wonderful and unbelievably long poem, which I read long ago and well before I was 21. It contains many now familiar phrases, such as "To err is human, to forgive divine." and "For fools rush in where angels fear to tread."

I do not subscribe to the notion about a little learning, however. What made me think of the poem was two things. First, how "a little learning" had helped a couple rise through the morass of a racially divided society and find themselves standing atop its political pyramid, poised to be the next US President and First Lady. Second, and more parochially, it was bedtime with Miss Bliss. Last night, my teeny one, showed that this little learning business starts and then becomes quite a thirst if well encouraged. My five year old has many qualities that are identifiable as her parents' traits--quite normal for a child who lives with both parents. On of these traits is reading and, even though one of the "parental units" is often travelling, that does not stop a steady flow of influence washing over from parent to child--in this case, a love of reading. They also have special moments such as Friday afternoons and the weekends to do other girlie stuff. The other parental unit has taken up the sword of the "pen", and writes a lot. So, now, Miss Bliss is all about reading and writing when she goes to bed.

Miss Bliss is trying hard to read. We now have bedtime taken up not by my reading her stories, but by her doing "homework". So, we are reading out letters and making the sounds, and practising letter patterns; last night we worked on "S", and tried to make the letters sit nicely between the lines. All of this brings back far away memories for a parent who already has a child now at university. I taught my first-born to read early, so that she could do so before going off to pre-kindergarten. It was recalling that why I woke in the middle of the night. I don't remember my first born giving up reading stories to learn how to write. Is my latest child having some kind of problem? Just joking ... Miss Bliss is about as balanced a child as I have seen for a while. I just spent part of the night wondering how different her future would be even from her sister's, her mother's or mine. That's no nightmare, so it's a set of good thoughts to disturb sleep.

We pride ourselves in the Caribbean in putting a large premium on education. We fight as hard as people in most developed countries to get our children into the "good schools", whether these are fee-paying or free. I had the great fortune of my parents leaving Jamaica for England, and not having to dig deep for school fees to help me get an education. Britain's educational system was at the time essentially free (i.e. paid for out of our taxes), even through university (where parents contributed depending on their incomes). I instinctively prefer it that education is not based on ability to pay, though I have had to accept that a lot of good education comes with a hefty price.

Education does not stop at school or university, and many of us continue to invest in ourselves or have investments made in us by our employers; that's how I came to learn Russian. So, when I woke last night and saw a message on my trading platform that read "EURUSD ожидание прорыва треугольника в 4 волне - 1.2700 вход в короткую позици" I was not totally nonplussed. That I could learn Russian, courtesy of my employer and relearn French on the same basis, also shows that sometimes the "hefty" price may just be additional hours spent working to make up for the time taken to learn. Whatever, and however, the price is paid, a good education seems to come at a lesser price than no, or bad, education.

In pursuit of excellence

Last week we spent a great time in New York as an extended family. The occasion? College graduation for my stepdaughter, from Columbia University. For the two days of events we had more than we needed in terms of good weather; in fact, it was too hot on the second day when we had no covered seating. Unlike at Kensington Oval, the seats were free so we could not complain about the cost.

The commencement ceremony for Columbia College had Matthew Fox as its guest speaker. I had never heard of him, but he is apparently a star in a popular TV series called "Lost", and he is a graduate of Columbia from 18 years ago. He listed the speakers from the preceding four years, including Tom McCain in 2006, and wondered if the audience would be skeptical about the current choice. He was witty and said things to which the student could relate, and they seemed to enjoy that.

The ceremony for the whole university on the 2nd day supposedly had 40,000 people! That's more than some Caribbean islands.
Admittedly, the size of Columbia makes it hard to feel intimate with the graduating students, so it's a real pleasure when you manage to greet each other in a sea of waving arms and to rejoin each other afterwards.

We were proud that after that ceremony we could take some photos with the national flags for the student body. My stepdaughter was the only Bahamian in the class, and waved her flag with genuine pride. Pity there were no junkanoo bells and drums to go with that. We saw flags for Barbados, Jamaica, and Dominica (represented by Ivy League 400 metre sprint phenom, Erison Hurtault), but no students came to lay claim to those for their pictures. So, we just have to be proud for them too and their families.

The Caribbean keeps producing brilliant students, unfortunately most of those who graduate live and work outside the region, mostly in the US. We have not figured out how to get them to either go back or to make contributions in the region. Our economies remain too small to stop the brain drain. That's a shame. In the meantime, we have to continue to encourage our children to be good students and great ambassadors: living proof that we value education, wherever we are.