There is no shortage of concern about the results, or rather, the lack of results, from our public school system here in The Bahamas.
The Nassau Institute has been writing about it for more than a decade now and they are not the only people doing so. The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce has offered concerns about it, along with the hotel industry. They even formed a coalition for educational reform a few years back and have presented two studies for consideration. Like everyone else, their ideas are dismissed by the Government, both PLP and FNM.
Unfortunately the Coalition for Education Reform believes that sitting at the table with politicians will fix the problem. It is necessary to talk with the political directorate of course, but they must also hammer their point home in the press and other medium, over and over again.
It is necessary to tackle this issue on all fronts because, as John Fund once said: Government will do the right thing, once they have exhausted all other possibilities.
Of course this debate is not only going on here. Cato Unbound, has a great discussion on the system in the United States going on here at this link…
My personal position is that we should privatise the schools and issue vouchers as Dr. Milton Friedman suggested over 50 years ago now.
The sooner we get the politics out of the way, the sooner a solution will be found to help our children get the education they deserve.
Tweaking the public system is simply not enough! The underclass they have helped create with social promotion must stop if The Bahamas and Bahamians are going to move ahead.
Further Reading:
A very interesting yet disturbing article. Thanks for the information. But did the Bahamas consider reaching out to the many Bahamians living abroad to return home and bring some of their expertise to open other avenues for educating young Bahamians?
Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
I’m not sure if the government has such a programme or not, but many qualified young people are staying abroad in increasing numbers.