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Dr. Ronnie Yearwood was the guest speaker for the Democratic Labour Party’s (DLP) Errol Barrow Memorial Lecture on Thursday.

Students need more options

Every school in Barbados does not need to offer the same educational programme.

This was the view expressed by Dr. Ronnie Yearwood, guest speaker for the Democratic Labour Party’s (DLP) Errol Barrow Memorial Lecture, which was held on Errol Barrow Day under the theme   “Barrow’s Legacy – A New Vision”, at DLP Headquarters.

“If we consider that one of the main roles of government is to provide a high quality education, simply tearing up the Common Entrance Exam cannot be the core of a vision or attempt to further Barrow’s original vision to democratise education and eliminate inequalities based on fees.

“Removing the Common Entrance Exam does not address the inequality of wealth distribution we have in this country. There is no denying that education can be a way to help persons build wealth and have better life opportunities, but my biggest fear is that the abolition of the Common Entrance Exam, if not carefully handled, could be a missed opportunity for not addressing other social problems, at the heart of which is the need to address inequality and provide for a new generation of economically enfranchised Barbadians,” Dr. Yearwood said.

He added, “The matter of development in education becomes more acute when we conclude that the biggest reform of education – EduTech – to introduce technology into Barbadian schools, appeared to have started and stalled as there was no successive building on the premise beyond having computers in schools, which COVID has revealed never was fully manifested in a sustainable way.

“I believe that every school in Barbados does not need to offer the same educational programme. We can introduce a range of schools. Keep some grammar schools with a modified Common Entrance Exam to cover other subjects in arts, sciences and languages to address transfer to those schools; and introduce International Baccalaureate Schools and Academies of Excellence in certain areas.”

Dr. Yearwood stressed that the idea overall is to give power to parents to decide what type of school their children should go to and also prepare children for jobs beyond the traditional professions.

He stressed, “Providing free education was monumental for Barbados, but it was one size fits all. Now to have options besides the Common Entrance and different types of public schools not following the same programme of education – that could be the next step.”

(RSM)

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