by Dr. Donald M. McCartney, D.M.As a nation and as a people we still do not respect and elevate education and those who have struggled to obtain it.
By education, I do not just mean book learning. The truly educated are those who have the wisdom to use the tools that they have gained through education. Indeed, the truly educated are those who use their education and wisdom to uplift humankind and not obfuscate their efforts to achieve as the have achieved.
One only has to look at the list of honourees in the Local and Queen's honours list. You can count on your fingers and still have some left over when you attempt to find the truly educated among us who have been honoured. It is a national disgrace how the truly educated in the Bahamian society is and has been ignored. We make and give the dishonourable honourable.
We have elevated those who are not deserving of elevation. We have made dishonourable men and women honourable.
Yet, we decry the behaviour and morays of our young people. Yes, indeed, we expect our young people to excel despite the fact that they can see those who are undeserving being elevated to the status of national heroes.
Yes, they can see the status of honourable being given to those who do not deserve it because they have not performed a truly honourable act in their lives.
Indeed, we pretend that we honour those who have achieved high honours in education, but because of our national guilty consciences we merely pay lip service to honour them.
Have you ever heard of an educator who has made exceptional contributions to education being referred to as honourable or addressed as excellency. It has never occurred in my life time.
Oh, yes, we have named a few schools after them, BUT so have some politicians had schools named in their honour.
It is so very unfortunate that everything in The Bahamas is based on politics and for those who have for the most part "sucked up"" to the political class so as to be honoured!
On the other hand, there are those people who have been honored who are honorable and deserving, but the "honors game," unfortunately, is NOT honorable!
Believe it or not, many of those persons who are really honorable, perhaps never look or hoped to be honored; they do what God wants them to do and are blessed by doing His will!
The views expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of Weblog Bahamas (which has no corporate view).
