THE Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) is demanding that the Ministry of Education and the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) provide a clear and full explanation as to what has caused the proliferation of ungraded marks across the system.

President Mary Redman made it clear while speaking to the media during a press conference at Solidarity Building yesterday, that the CXC irregularities in Barbados and other Caribbean countries need to be addressed as the public is owed an explanation.

Redman said there must be acceptance and culpability wherever it lies, and a commitment to address the professional reputation of teachers – who had absolutely no hand in the fiasco – is needed.

“The Minister of Education [Ronald Jones] has an obligation and it is hoped that obvious answers will be required of him in Parliament, in this regard, even though he may seek to ignore us in the BSTU in our quest for such answers.

“The CXC needs to be held responsible where there is culpability on their part. The Ministry must hold CXC responsible and protect the interest of students sitting their exams,” Redman said.

The President stressed that there cannot be any perceived attempts of the two entities covering for one another, or the perception that cooperation and collaboration will go beyond where those two actions are used at their highest moral levels.

THE President of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU), Mary Redman, has issued a warning to teachers to ensure that their schools carry out sporadic, surprise searches of school bags.

Redman told the media yesterday that against the noticeable and reported increase in gun crimes and other forms of violence to unprecedented levels in the country over a relatively short period, she had received many phone calls and messages from teachers expressing their concern and fear for their safety, as well of that of the children over whom they have duty of care.

She made the point that what happens in society sadly makes its way into the school system and noted that there is currently a situation where matters involving children taking weapons to school are not being handled properly.

This is why, Redman stressed, that searching school bags must be done regularly as a measure of precaution.

“Yes, many compounds are large with ample hiding spaces, but the action may stave off a disaster,” she said.

Redman also indicated that the Ministry of Education needs to address the problem at its source, and suggested that stakeholders coming together to find solutions, placing guidance counsellors in primary schools, increasing the number of guidance counsellors at secondary schools, are a few of the ways to tackle the issue.

“Stop frustrating students and teachers alike by having all schools across the system pursue almost all identical programmes regardless of their intake, and instead develop programmes for students in keeping with the intelligences of various groups.

“Kudos to them for the initiatives undertaken for implementation at St. George Secondary, but what did it take to get back there? The time, effort, physical and psychological injury and the united determination of teachers and their Union that things had to change,” she said.

The president also suggested that the Ministry start reorienting the thinking and attitudes of the wider society by recognising and rewarding excellence in areas other than academics, and must validate and give recognition where it is due.

“The Edna Nicholls School, where students love to be referred and claim it to be like going to a hotel where they are coddled and well fed... Imagine, an institution of this type to which deviant children are referred, sending the students back to their substantive institutions and stating that certain students are not to be referred there again, since they cannot deal with those students. They are finding it impossible and want the school to deal with them, and the Ministry wants the students to remain in the system,” Redman said.

“As teachers, we have to unite and put our feet down. Place pressure where it needs to be placed and cause something different to happen. That institution needs to be seriously revamped or closed down and resources placed into something else more efficient,” she added.

The president also argued that too often, students who are sent to the Juvenile Liaison Scheme do not attend, but are allowed back at school without having been through the programme they should have undergone there.

She also raised questions regarding the purpose and structure of the New Horizons School, which was opened for students who demonstrate they cannot function in a normal school environment. (AH)

THE head of the Roman Catholic Church in Barbados is urging Barbadians not to turn a blind eye to the criminal activity taking place on the island.

“All of us together need to save our country,” stressed the Most Reverend Dr. Charles Jason Gordon.

“If we as the citizens don’t take back security of our country, then we as the citizens will see it slipping away. People think that security is the business of the police, but every citizen is responsible for the safety of the nation.”

He is therefore calling on Barbadians to contact the Royal Barbados Police Force or the community-based action programme Crime Stoppers, instead of pretending not to notice illegal acts.

The Bishop, who was at the time addressing the press conference of the 10th Annual General Meeting of SIGNIS Caribbean, explained that drugs bring guns and guns bring violence.

“But, drugs also bring a capacity to corrupt,” he pointed out.

“And once you have a drug culture that emerges you have the capacity of corrupting officials, then things start to come into the country much too easily because people turn blind eyes where they should be much more vigilant.”

Bishop Gordon further observed, “What we are witnessing is something in its embryonic stage still in Barbados, and something that if Barbadians come together it can be dealt with and settled… Any citizen who knows of someone conducting criminal activity and not reporting it, is contributing to a problem.” (TL)

AS a part of their celebration of International Literacy Day, the Barbados Association of Reading (BAR) decided to donate a few books to multiple organisations and schools yesterday morning.

Speaking at the book donation event, which was held at the United Nations House, Cheryl Williams, Public Relations Officer of the Association, explained each school present yesterday morning, would receive 30 books for their respective reading clubs. She revealed that these donations were made possible by their partner, the CODE Foundation in Canada through the Burt Award for Caribbean Literature.

“The CODE NGO is an initiative that looks at global literacy and education. One of the things that they noted is that in the developing world, we need books written for children and young adults in their context. They found it was much easier to help children achieve literacy and love reading when they saw themselves reflected in the books that they read,” she said.
Williams told The Barbados Advocate that they tend to give books to schools, book clubs and reading clubs per their requests. Additionally, she noted that they also gave books to the Summerville and Dodds institutions.

“Now International Literacy Day this year focuses on literacy and technology and earlier this month, we were discussing the whole idea of eBooks in our school system and some of the challenges that come along with using eBooks,” she said.

She expressed that from a teacher’s point of view, there are many challenges as to how that system would work in Barbados. She suggested that instead of trying to buy eBooks to completely replace the textbooks of students, the Government should just look at having a virtual library. She explained that this virtual library would contain over 900 books that would cater specifically to the young children and expressed that the children could pay a small fee to have all the books at their fingertips for the year.

She went on to note that community literacy was a main plank of their organisation and they also did programmes, which parents and grandparents are invited to be a part of, and that train teachers for eight weeks in the literary department and how best to help their students.

THE Association of Catholic Media Practitioners and Professionals is appealing for help for victims of Hurricane Irma.

President of SIGNIS Caribbean, Lucille Nathu, made the call during their 10th Annual General Meeting (AGM), hosted by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgetown at the Living Water Community Centre in St. David’s, Christ Church on Thursday.

She acknowledged that there has been devastation and pain to the people of the Caribbean.

This week the Category 5 storm caused loss of lives and extreme damage in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Saint Martin and Sint Maarten, and continued to head northwest to Dominican Republic, Haiti, Turks and Caicos, Cuba and The Bahamas.

“People are really suffering and we have an obligation to assist,” Nathu expressed.

“We the members of SIGNIS Caribbean express our deep and heartfelt concern for all who suffered and are suffering the threat of Irma and now Hurricane Jose. We promise that we will keep them in our prayers and do whatever we can to solicit and to contribute to whatever aid is being sought… I appeal to all persons who can assist in anyway – the time for us to come together as a Caribbean people is now.”

General Secretary of the Antilles Episcopal Conference, Father John Persaud, revealed that they have been in contact with Bishop Robert Llanos of the Diocese of St. John’s Basseterre in Antigua, who has requested items such as bottled water, cups, mattresses, blankets, sheets and canned foods for those displaced.

“We will be appealing to all our Dioceses inviting them to organise collections – monetary as well as other items that can assist which include building items to help with the rebuilding of those who have lost everything.”

Fr. Persaud also revealed that he will be proposing to the Executive of the Antilles Episcopal Conference that they consider appealing to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to consider debt relief.

“It’s one thing for these international organisations to come sometimes and help in such situations, but sometimes they give you a loan, and on top of all the countries are already faced with, how do they repay a loan? Therefore, helping them with debt relief so that they won’t have to pay back loans, will be a good way of helping them.” (TL)

“As you enter into this great institution of learning and become a member of the UWI family, I urge you to thrive in the West Indian-ness of this institution. The great benefit of UWI is it’s regional scope, or certainly the ideal of the University of the West Indies is that ‘Caribbean-ness’.”

This was the word coming from Rashad Brathwaite, Graduate of UWI & Guest Speaker at The University of The West Indies Cave Hill Campus, Matriculation Ceremony 2017 recently in the Roy Marshall Teaching Complex at the UWI.
He told the audience of new students, “Dare to think of the Caribbean, with all its imperfections as yours, radically yours to make whole and yours to make a future that you and our descendants can be proud to live in. One that our ancestors may equally be proud of; fight in their name – the great work of history is to uncover its very present presence.

“The trauma of a region such as ours requires us to work sometimes three times as hard to achieve one third of the glory; but we must. The work of making whole, must involve the staking of our claims to reparations and equally the pride to work for our collective development whole-heartedly in the national and regional interest…Dare to think of yourself as a global citizen.”

He continued, “Be concerned about global wars, about the real dangers global actions – the undermining of PEPFAR will have on HIV Programming in the region, the impact of climate change, international financial regulations and the uneven geographies which often influence the structuring of the world we engage. We need people strategically placed throughout institutions of power globally, working for and on behalf of the Caribbean. I say this to say think of your story within the narrative of the Caribbean – Does your life trajectory benefit your home?”

“But do not be so cosmopolitan that you remain in the global clouds and do not land. Shout Black Lives Matter in reference to Ferguson but equally question the suspicious deaths of usually poor and classed bodies in suspicious circumstances in the region ...”

He stressed, “The work of gender inequality requires men – the primary beneficiaries to work against it – not because you have a sister, or a mother – but because you are human and equally recognize humanity of women. I have no recollections in my 8 years of experience with UWI Cave Hill of a female Cave Hill Guild President in that period – I want to see one. I want there to be so many stories of women in politics; that women are allowed the possibilities of doing exceedingly well or horribly – based on their individual stories and for it to mean nothing more than she was a great leader; or she was horrible – Not women, but she, an individual….”

Brathwaite stated, “Be as, or more concerned about white collar corruption, and the violence unleashed at the hands of wealthy and classed power as you are about violence in urban corridors or inner-cities. Be more concerned still about the failures- political and otherwise – whether our education systems, weakened safety nets, structural conditions made possible through violent neglect which enable these types of violence. Be concerned about perverse things and address them...”

Brathwaite advised, “Refuse to be less than excellent. Refuse to live in a space of mediocrity. Refuse to ask yourself what is the minimum I can do to get out of university? What’s the minimum I can do to pass this course? Dare to live in the audacity of bodacious goals; to dream of things you are afraid to realise…”

He believes that individuals can do a range of things, and stated, “You do not have to be one thing. You do not have to be a doctor, full stop; or a psychologist, full stop. Be fluent in many things. Write about Rihanna and Reparations. Be academic and politician. Be a dancer, and a singer and a prolific academic as was Rex Nettleford. You do not have to do things as has been done traditionally. Define success on your own terms and live by those terms…” (NB)

Though business was relative slow over the Crop Over period, the owners and operators of Rock Hard Cement are expecting business to pick up in the construction industry, as a number of construction projects will soon resume or get started.

Darren Matthews, Operations Supervisor with Rock Hard Cement (RHC) Limited, made the observation recently, during a media tour held of the cement company, located on the Spring Garden Highway in St. Michael.

“The construction market over the Crop Over season was relatively slow, but now everything is expected to (pick up). Come September, October, there is supposed to be a big increase in the amount of projects that resume (or) commence, whatever the case may be. So we expect a higher increase in volumes, coming in to the latter part of the year, September, October, November and then next year, there seems to be very, very good prospects in the pipeline,” Matthews remarked.

Pointing out that one major project to get in full swing will be the construction project at the site of the historic Sam Lord’s Castle in St Philip, Matthews added, “We are just waiting for everything to start up entirely, (but) Rock Hard has been the choice at Sam Lord’s for most contractors so far, so that is one of the major projects that is on the agenda”.

“But there is also the finishing of Sandals going on and a couple other big projects that are supposed to start very soon,” he maintained.

The Operations Supervisor meanwhile noted that business is going well to date for Rock Hard Cement Limited, as Barbadians have responded well to the products being offered and the company has also been able to expand into regional markets as well.

“Business is doing well and sales are on the rise. So we are happy with where we stand right now and obviously looking to do better, as we go ahead,” Matthews asserted.

“We continue to expand into different territories. So far we are in St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Guyana, Trinidad and Barbados and in each of these markets, sales are doing exceptionally well. The customers, the end users are all happy to have a new product and more choice and different qualities. They have more options now to choose from and everyone is happy moving forward,” he further stated.

When the issue of the battle between Rock Hard Cement Ltd. and the Town and Country Planning Department however came up, it was noted that the matter is still under litigation and no detailed comments were therefore offered about the ongoing legal battle.

Matthews however did point out that Rock Hard, fully aware that it is next to the Flour Mill, has a “no dust policy” in effect and as such, daily cleanups are a must. (RSM)

A group of young Barbadians have teamed up with the Venezuelan Institute of Culture and Co-operation, to create a drive to collect food and toiletries for the people of Barbuda.

Cuban graduates, members of the Riddim Tribe dance group, CARICOM Youth Ambassadors, and the Clement Payne Movement, have come together to pull off the effort which is taking place this week.

They are calling on residents of Barbados, including businesses, to donate food, toiletries, clothing, and medication, which will be sent to Antigua and Barbuda, via a military plane being provided by the Government of Venezuela.

Those willing to contribute to the worthy cause can take the items they are donating to the Clement Payne Centre, The City, between the hours of
9 a.m. and 7 p.m., starting from tomorrow.

The Venezuelan Institute, Hastings, Christ Church, will also be receiving items from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

There are also barrels stationed at the Barbados Community College Book Source, the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Student Guild, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, Sky Mall, Haggatt Hall.

Yesterday, speaking during a press conference at the Clement Payne Centre, to launch the project, Cuban Graduate, Dr. Shari Goring, said she and other young professionals decided to create the drive on Friday, after feeling concerned about the residents of Barbuda which was directly hit by the disastrous storm.

“We are going to approach some companies, through the help of the Clement Payne Movement, to try to get some sponsorship to donate as much as possible,” Dr. Goring said.

The collection should be completed by Friday, September 15, as the items have to be packed and ready to be delivered to the Antigua and Barbuda government over the weekend.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan Ambassador to Barbados, Francisco Manuel Perez Santana, said his country was saddened by the destruction and willingly responded to assist Barbuda which was completely destroyed by the storm.

The Ambassador said the military plane was sent with soldiers and emergency personnel and food, to assist Barbuda. The plane has thus far assisted with transporting survivors from Barbuda over to the sister island Antigua, as well as to St. Lucia to collect water.

He said the Institute was happy to have teamed up with the youth groups to assist in the effort, and made an appeal to Barbadians to lend a helping hand. (AH)

Speaker of the House of Assembly, Michael Carrington, is adamant that the much touted Social Partnership needs to be strengthened.

He made the suggestion as he delivered the Astor B. Watts Lunchtime Lecture at the Democratic Labour Party’s headquarters yesterday, as he lamented that the mutual respect and trust that existed among the three members presently does not exist. He argued that the only way to restore that trust is by transparency and order, which he further contended can only be achieved if the tripartite grouping of government, labour and capital, is made stronger.

With that in mind, Carrington, an attorney-at-law, put forward the idea that the Social Partnership needs to be placed on “a firm legal foundation”, with a public funded secretariat and clearly defined rules and procedures. In essence, the Speaker maintained, the Social Partnership must be properly enshrined in our law.
“That has to be so going forward,” he told those gathered.

His comments came as he maintained that contrary to what some may think, the Social Partnership is not dead. With that in mind, he put a case for the group not to be dismantled, pointing out that it has served this country well in the past and still has work to do. Speaking on the topic ‘After Barrow, What?’ Carrington said that thanks to the foundation laid by the Barrow Era, Barbados was fortunate that it could form an alliance like the Social Partnership and should hold its establishment dear.

“The fact is though, having formed it, we have to make proper use of it, but there are challenges. Serious questions are being asked of all three components of the Social Partnership. Government is being asked – Are your policies working? Can you really pilot the ship of state out of this economic conundrum?
Employee organisations have to answer questions like these from its members - Are you giving us effective representation or should we stop paying dues to you and cease membership? Don’t you know that we really need a pay increase? Owners of capital must face questions like these – Aren’t you a big part of the problem by putting the prices of goods and services so high? Can you not help by absorbing more of the NSRL rather than passing it on to the consumer? Is it really fair for government to take all the risks while you reap the benefits?” he stated.

Carrington noted that there is also quite a bit of suspicion between the parties, as there has been concern raised that capital is manipulating labour; labour is acting as a pressure group and Government is said to be reluctant to take capital and labour into its confidence, and appears reluctant to meet and discuss. All this, he maintained, has to be addressed. He contended that whether the reluctance is real or perceived, due to miscommunication or misinformation, the damage has already been done, and that is what, he maintained, is the country must work on fixing. (JRT)

You must reposition yourself for excellence.

These words of advice came yesterday from Reverend Dr. Adrian Smith, the officiating minister at the annual service to mark the opening of the Legal Year 2017-2018 at the Calvary Moravian Church yesterday morning.

Addressing members of the legal fraternity in the congregation, Reverend Smith noted that in order for them to reposition themselves for excellence, they must first believe that it can be done.

“You need to believe that you can reposition for world class excellence. If you don’t have this belief then this theme makes no sense. If you don’t believe that it is possible to overhaul the legal system and improve on the legal areas and address the areas needed to be addressed we are all in trouble.”

“Do we still believe that good still trumps evil? Do we really believe that justice still prevails? Do we really believe that no matter how much the appearance of evil and the dominance of people who choose a path other than that which is good and seemingly get away and enjoy life? Do we still believe that those who choose the next path can still have justice prevail?” he queried.

He also challenged that they must believe in themselves and never give up. “You need to believe that you can make a difference. That one person can make a difference....Do of your best from your heart with a sense of integrity. Remember the promises that you are committed to. You can and will reposition for excellence. That is the standard that God wants from all of us.”

However, Reverend Smith cautioned that with advances toward excellence, there will be those who will wish to see them fail and derail their efforts.
“Persons will be there to block and to stagnate your progress and develop-ment...There are some people who you work with in the same room supposed to be trying to achieve the same objective who would try to stab you in the back.”

To this end he urged them to be ready for jealousies. “It is one of the oldest spirits you have to fight against when you hear about team work and unity.”

The reverend also urged the older members of the legal fraternity to share their stories with the newcomers and never forget their background. “Sometimes when we come new into a situation, an institution or circumstance we don’t have an appreciation for the struggle to get where we are. Sometimes persons as you are elevated and you progress you forget where you have come from.”

“Please don’t ever forget where you have come from. Remain humble no matter how high, no matter the position, no matter the title that is given to you. Always remain humble because you are not indispensible. God can always raise up somebody else to replace you,” he said. (JH)

FOR lawyers practising in the offshore banking and international business sectors, it is imperative to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) laws and carry out thorough due diligence on all clients, even those introduced through intermediaries such as banks, other law firms and accountants.

Deputy General Counsel at the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), S. Nicole Liverpool Jordan, explained that this will go a long way in assisting correspondent banks in knowing the origin of the funds that they are processing.

“Given the current operating environment, offshore legal practitioners should also manage their clients’ expectations regarding the ease of doing business in their respective jurisdictions with the delays in opening bank accounts and in completing financial transactions.”

She was at the time delivering the 16th Annual Caribbean Commercial Law Workshop: Hemispheric Change & Caribbean Commercial Law on the topic, “Considerations for Legal Practitioners on De-Risking in the Caribbean”.

According to her, corporate lawyers would also have similar advice for their clients regarding ease of doing business.

“In addition, when negotiating contracts with their clients’ suppliers, lawyers should ensure that there is adequate time built in for payment after presentation of an invoice and, be attentive to any ‘time is of the essence’ clauses in the contracts.

“For attorneys working in the legislative drafting units in solicitor or attorney general’s chambers, they will no doubt be called upon to draft robust updated AML laws and regulations designed to prevent terrorists, drug traffickers, tax evaders, and other criminals from misusing the financial system to commit their crimes. Ideally, those laws should be harmonised with other jurisdictions in the Caribbean, as that would lead to more efficient regulation of the banking industry,” she pointed out.

The CDB official also stressed that while there needs to be an effective partnership between the banking sector, the regulators and law enforcement, as a precursor draftspersons should concentrate on laws to bolster investigatory powers of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, so that banks can renew their focus on commercial rather than regulatory activities.

“We see from the Mexican and Cayman examples that bank secrecy and data privacy laws may also have to be revisited by Caribbean governments to create a legal mechanism by which respondent banks could share information about their customers and their transactions,” she highlighted.

“In the interim, attorneys should be giving advice to respondent banks and to their customers on the extent to which customers’ data can be legally shared pursuant to any local freedom of information and data protection legislation. This advice would also extend to future situations where respondent banks in the Region introduce bio-metrics to identify their customers.

“In-house counsel of respondent banks also have to consider negotiating new CBRs (correspondent banking relationships) with, in some cases, smaller correspondent banks as well as CBRs in new currencies. There are, of course, also opportunities for lawyers who wish to move in-house to get specialist training and join the growing compliance departments of respondent banks,” Liverpool Jordan said.

Principal of Ellerslie Secondary School, Lieutenant Colonel Errol Brathwaite has reaffirmed the importance of restoring certain principles that will guide our children.

The Barbados Advocate spoke to him yesterday on the first day of school after the summer vacation and against the backdrop of the recent incidence of crime in Barbados by young persons he believes that we need to get back to the foundation that it took a village to raise a child.

According to him, “We have to look at this crime issue holistically, we have come away from the principles in our society. Society has changed to the extent that gone are the days that we live as a community and we are moving away from the old adage it takes a village to raise a child. It has to do with guidance and supervision from all elements of society particularly it has to start in the home, parents play a pivotal role, the school, church and every element in society that can give the child that positive moulding and grounding, but we have to work together to the development of our youth.”

He continued, “Also, a lot of parents are not encouraging their children to be involved in the extra curriculum activities which provides for them interesting and exciting activities, these activities help developed your children socially. Young people need to be engaged in positive activities because at adolescence, this is where a child is looking to identify who am I, they are looking to be part of something and if we don’t provide and encourage them to take part in interesting and exciting activities, we see then involved in negative behaviour. They are activities in schools such as Cadets, Red cross, Interschool Christian fellowship etcetera...”

The Principal stated , “I don’t believe young people are angrier than before; they have the tools to publicize this behaviour … Our children have a lot more access to the world, therefore we have to put systems in place to control and explain right from wrong and help them make good decisions. We have to engage students about conflict resolution.”

The principal spoke about the use of cell phones.

“In terms of cell phones there is still a when and where and they are certain rules that still need to be followed, a teacher may use it as a tool for learning, not that the student is on the phone talking in class ….Also as adults we need to show young people how to behave, that they also have good examples ..”

Brathwaite contended that positive young people should be highlighted. “We need to publicize our positive young people, that this needs to be the image to aspire to …My position is that we have a lot of positive young people and it is a joy to work with children and see them develop from one strength to another.
We have a competition called Ellerslie Rising stars and to see those children building confidence and getting praise from other students is great.”

We have past students such as Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Professor V Eudine Barriteau, David Ellis of Starcom Network and many others that speak to young people and show them that if you put in the work any dream is possible….” (NB)

Once you work hard, you will be the best that you can be.

This is the advice that the Principal of Hindsbury Primary School, Nola Cummings Lewis would like to send out to her students.

“You can be anything that you want to be as long as you put in the effort and that is the advice. This morning, we were dealing with optimism and I tried to show them that as long as they want to achieve and they put God in front, they would achieve.”

She said that when it comes to the Common Entrance Examination, they are doing really well and the school holds the sixth place position overall in terms of Government primary schools.

“... Right now we are sixth in the island above the national mean so our aim is just to try and be the best that we can be. Our theme speaks to excellence – ‘Excellence Sustained – It Is My Choice.’ That is our theme for the year.”

This year the national mean for English was 70.4 and Hindsbury Girls had 75.1 and the national mean for Mathematics was 55 and they had 54.24.

She said that this year she is hoping for the same successes and just as long as they have the cooperation with the parents, they would be able to attain this goal.

“I just wish that we would have a productive term, a productive year and we want to impress upon the parents that they continue to help their children and to work with us because if they work with the school, their child would improve and be the best that he/she can be. That is what we want for each child and for each child to improve the zeal academically so we are going to work on that.”

One of the things that she would like to see for the school however, is a new school hall where they can hold morning assemblies and other activities as they do not currently have one and this poses a hindrance especially on mornings when rains heavily just like it did that morning.

“Well it was raining and seeing that we don’t have a hall, we usually assemble just under there and some will spill all on to the outside. So it was a bit cramped because of the inclement weather, but it went smoothly.”

She said that they have put in requests, but with current economic climate the way that it is, it has not been possible to date, but they are hoping that it would be soon.

“We are always making requests that we can have a covered space for the area. So we have been promised that for a while now, but you know with the economic constraints, but we would hope that one of these days we can get a covered area where we can have these activities and you know, not having to be in a cramped space and so on.”

The school has 397 students, 22 teaching staff and eight ancillary staff.

THE founder of the Clement Payne Movement is praising the Government of Venezuela for the significant assistance it has given to the Government of Antigua and Barbuda, following the passing of Hurricane Irma which left Barbuda uninhabitable.

On Friday, while delivering remarks during a press conference at the Clement Payne Centre, The City, social activist David Comissiong said he was very proud of Venezuela for sending a military plane with food, soldiers and emergency personnel to assist the people of Antigua and Barbuda.

“Venezuela, as one of the bigger and most substantial Caribbean countries, stepped up. Cuba could not do much because Cuba was preparing to face the hurricane.

“But Venezuela immediately stepped up and made its aircraft available to transport food, and relief items to Antigua and Barbuda, and then to play a role of transporting human beings from Barbuda over to the sister island of Antigua. Right now that work is ongoing by the Venezuela Government,” Comissiong said.

Activist Robert “Bobby” Clarke, who was also present at the press conference, also commended Venezuela for providing the food, manpower and transportation system. Clarke reminded that when the Caribbean was hit by natural disasters in the past, there was no way to transport food and other necessities to those affected.

“It is good that Venezuela can put a plane at our disposal for us to deliver stuff to the people... It is important for us to get as much stuff over there as possible,” Clarke said. (AH)

BUSINESS Development Executive Caribbean Government Sector IBM, Robin Forde has lauded the Ministry of Education for its move to improve the local education system through technology.

He made the comments during a recent press briefing to announce a joint initiative with the Ministry of Education, Digicel (Barbados) Ltd and IBM which will ensure that Barbadian students keep pace with evolving technology, through the 9 000 tablets that have been distributed to several schools on the island.

Ford stressed that children of today learn by different methodologies and they no longer need to be in a classroom. “So they can be any place and have access to information.”

He noted that IBM has a variety of learning products including Watson Analytics which they would wish to introduce to Barbadian students. “We would love to share with the children and give them access to not only e-books but to the wealth of knowledge that exists out there. We want to give our children the access to that information and help them to quicken their learning.”

Similar sentiments were expressed by Chief Executive Officer of Digicel Barbados Alex Tasker who highlighted the transformative role of technology. In order to ensure that the country is not left behind the rest of the world, Tasker says the transformation must start in the classroom.

“We are not just preparing them to compete in the digital age, we are also giving them the opportunity to use the tools they need to win when they are at work or at school.

Through the partnership with IBM the tablets in the programme will be managed by a best in class Mobile Device Management Solution called IBM MAS 360. It enables the Ministry to push approved educational content directly to the devices, restrict access to unauthorised apps, websites and features of the tablets and track location of the device in the case of loss or theft.

Tasker also revealed that over the years Digicel has also successfully implemented similar projects in other countries like the Government Assisted Technology Endeavour in Antigua and Barbuda as well as the Tablets in School Initiative in Jamaica in 2014.

“We look forward to seeing this project right through to success and hope to continue working on even more initiatives like these that aim to put Barbadian youth at the forefront of the knowledge economy,” he said. (JH)

An appeal is being made to those in authority to work swiftly to re-erect The City plaque which highlights where the enslaved came ashore to Barbados.

Historian Trevor Marshall on Friday pointed out to the media that the plaque, which is situated on the Wickham-Lewis Boardwalk along the careenage in Bridgetown, has broken off and is lying flat along the footpath where pedestrians walk.

Concerned that someone may be injured or that someone may walk on it, he called for relevant authorities to take action as soon as possible. “We suspect that the screws were loosened by…the outer bands of Hurricane Irma, which as you know reached us two days ago. So we think they were loosened and arguably this must have fallen last night [Thursday night]. That would take government probably $1000 or so but mainly to reinforce the concrete, put in bigger screws and restore it.”

He added, “If it lies longer than next weekend then it is disrespect. I think we have to get this back up and I am sure all the other historians of Barbados…[would agree].”

Going into detail about the significance of the memorial, Marshall explained that “the plaque has been here from 2009. It was authorised by the then Prime Minister, the late Hon. David Thompson to be put here because it is thought that it is at this point that the boats bringing the enslaved Africans docked.”

He further added that the plaque was erected because “it indicates that this is where the ancestors of 280 000 Barbadians black as well as some Bajan whites came ashore here as enslaved people. So I think it is a cause for concern particularly, we are in the era now of people getting rid of offending statues but this is a memorial which does not offend. In fact, it elucidates, it enlightens, it even inspires because Barbados was the distribution point for the entire British Caribbean.”

Gene Ramos, who is visiting Barbados from New York and was on a tour of historic Bridgetown led by Marshall, also made an appeal for the plaque to be restored. He also called for more to be done to educate Barbadians about the importance of the landmark.

“We realised that one of your plaques which is really important to your island was down and nobody noticed it. People just walking right by, they were people stepping on it and it is really important to this island and it is where the slaves were dropped off and like the gentleman said, 99 percent don’t even know this plaque is here and that is so sad. I would like to see it back up so it can be taught to the younger generation what this plaque means to this island.”(MG)

Any new environmental issue that occurs this academic term or during the remainder of the school year or any other time following that would not be allowed to disintegrate further, but rather it would be addressed immediately.

This assurance came from the new Principal of the Combermere School, Vincent Fergusson, who spoke to The Barbados Advocate yesterday after he addressed the school body on his first official day in his new post.

He stated that should any environmental issues come up again, he would be one of the first persons to know and he would report it to the relevant authorities at the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation and then they would work together to address these issues immediately.

“However, if there are any new issues to the environment, I would be the first one to pick it up or I should be the first one to pick it up and I would report them to my bosses in the Ministry (of Education) and we would see if we could address them almost immediately.”

As for the first day of school, Fergusson said that this has gone quite well so far with a timely start to the morning assembly and while there were a few hiccups prior to the start with some of the new students not exactly sure where to go, this is normal for students when they are starting a new school.
“We started about 8:45 this morning, which is the usual starting time. It took them a little bit longer to get them settled this morning as this is the first morning and the First Years were not sure as to where to go and what to do and the Fifth Years were not so sure either. But generally, they take about five minutes to get into the hall and settle themselves down,” he noted.

However, once this was over, the students were able to settle down easily, were attentive during the assembly and followed all of the instructions that were given out to them and these crop of students reminded him of the set of students that he would have taught previously when he was at the school before he left for Coleridge and Parry School, only to return years later.

“They are very responsive. As I told them, they are very much like the set that I left here. They have a good sense of humour, they responded well to the instructions of the Deputy Principal to remain quiet when she asked them to be quiet. In less than 30 seconds, there was a deafening silence in the hall and I think that is what we need here in Barbados, for our young people to follow instructions and to comply,” he noted.

The school has about 60 teaching staff, 18 to 20 auxiliary staff and a little over 1 000 students.

IT is hoped that the work of the Drug Treatment Court will assist in reducing some of the crime and violence being exhibited in this country.

Chief Justice, Sir Marston Gibson, speaking out against the recent spike in violent crimes committed with firearms, suggested that there is little doubt that much of the use of firearms is fuelled by the drug trade and as such, he hinted that successfully countering the drug challenge, should help deal with the violence. His comments came at the Special Sitting of the Supreme Court to mark the Commencement of the Law Term 2017-2018.

“We in the Court join right-thinking Barbadians in deprecating the violence which has caused so many of us to cower in fear. We will continue, in our own little way, to reduce the market by reducing the number of addicts, and we can only hope that this will in turn reduce some of the violence which we have witnessed,” he stated.

Sir Marston, speaking more to the work of the Drug Treatment Court, indicated that it continues to meet on a monthly basis with a total of 21 clients, and to date, he said the presiding judge, Magistrate Graveney Bannister, has only had to order one of the clients into further and more clinical treatment. Those clients, he said, are expected to graduate in January 2018 and he revealed another cohort of Drug Treatment Court clients will be enrolled thereafter.

The Chief Justice also touched on the Mediation Project. Noting that there has not been the interest for the project as was expected, he said to combat this absence of enthusiasm, the Court recently hosted another sensitisation session for members of the Bar. This, he said, was done in an effort to have more cases resolved rather than decided.

“In April of this year, we were fortunate to have 26 persons receive the first half of the mediation training. The training was conducted by the Riverdale Mediation Group based in Toronto, Canada, led by Ms. Hilary Linton. The trainees spoke glowingly of the level of attention and professional input which they received from Riverdale. They also specifically requested that Riverdale play a role in supervising the second half of their training, the practicums which involve mediation of live cases filed in the Courts,” he explained.

According to Sir Marston, he has requested funding from the JURIST Project for this second portion of the training, but is still awaiting a response on the matter.

THE new academic year 2017-2018 got off to a smooth start at a number of primary and secondary schools across the island yesterday.

This was particularly the case at The Alleyne School where scores of students returned to the Belleplaine, St. Andrew plant for the beginning of the Michaelmas term (Term 1).

As students, who were smartly dressed in their new uniforms, entered the school’s yard, several hugs were exchanged as they greeted each other. Some pupils used the time before the start of the school day to inquire about what activities each person did during the summer break.

Speaking to The Barbados Advocate, Principal Julia Beckles said at The Alleyne School they are looking “forward to having a very productive and safe term for all our students and all of our members of staff”.

She continued, “We especially look forward to welcoming our sixth form as we finish what we started in 1947 when we became the first government school to become coeducational. So we are very excited and we look forward to September 18.”

Beckles pointed out that in preparation for the beginning of the term there were “two orientations, one for our first formers and one for our fourth and therefore we are in a position to say that those year groups and all others are prepared and we are ready to start the term”.

Offering words of advice to pupils for the academic year, she urged them to “stay focused, remember what you are here for – the business of education, enjoy school and work hard”.

The first term is slated to run for 14 weeks. (MG)

THE only thing a mother could have done was to cry tears of joy yesterday afternoon when she laid eyes on her two children who were trapped in
St. Maarten since September 6, when Hurricane Irma wreaked havoc on the island.

It was indeed a touching and emotional moment when Vicki Weekes embraced her 33-year-old daughter Sabrina, and her 29-year-old son Shane, minutes after they touched down at the Grantley Adams International Airport.

The siblings, who have been teaching primary and secondary school students in St. Maarten for the past year, came home on a flight organised by The Sol Group.

The mother was lost for words, as she told the media how happy she was to see that her children were alive and well.

“I just want to thank my church family and people who were praying for them. I just want to say thanks again to Sol, and thank God that they are here. I am glad to have them back,” the mother said, as water settled in her eyes.

As Sabrina held on to her mother, Shane spoke about how “tough” it was to have experienced the ordeal.

He said not knowing when to expect the next distribution of food, or water, was an experience he never wants to have to relive.

“No light, no water, we were just tired. I am just happy to be home to see my family. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone else,” Shane said.

Shane thanked Sol Group for making it possible for him and his sister to return home safely.

“I can’t say how grateful we are for them to do this for us. So thank you again Sol, our thanks goes out to you,” he said.

The Sol Group Brand Communications and External Affairs Manager, Nanette Pagan-Soto, said while Sol is currently carrying out rescue missions in territories that were devastated by the Category 5 hurricane, the company was happy to have been able to offer assistance to the siblings.

“We continue to deploy teams to the affected territories, and our main aim is to first ensure the safety of our missions, to supply essential and medical provision to our teammates in the islands, and to provide resources, professionals, technicians, equipment and support for the teams to be able to recover the operations.

“We know that our recovery operations and services are key to the recovery of the communities. In this instance, we are very grateful for the fact that among those efforts we were able to support Sabrina, Shane and their family,” Pagan-Soto said.

Meanwhile, Sabrina, who also expressed her gratitude to Sol, said the first thing on her to-do list is to visit her worried 16-year-old son, to let him see that his mummy is okay. (AH)