A Government Senator says that the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Administration has made significant strides in the education sector, including the creation of the Teaching Service Commission, that should be applauded.
Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Senator Harcourt ‘Harry’ Husbands made the comments while speaking at a DLP meeting held Sunday night at the Alexandra School. His remarks came as he said that contrary to what some persons purport, the educational system in this country, in spite of the problems it has, is one of the leading systems not just in the Caribbean but the world. It is within the top ten, he contended.
“So as much as we get on the radio and say this and that and the third, when people come, and this is not the assessment of the Government, this is not the assessment of the Ministry of Education, when people come from outside and assess what we do, they rate us times higher than we rate ourselves. So when we are discussing education, we are discussing it in that context. It is one of the best systems in the world,” he maintained.
Senator Husbands said that Government recognises the worth of teachers, noting that in 2013/2014 when public servants were laid off, no teachers were affected. In fact, he said that the Freundel Stuart Government appointed 700 teachers in the last two years.
“I was a president and a general secretary of the Barbados Union of Teachers, I was a president of the Caribbean Union of Teachers; the current Minister was the president of the Barbados Union of Teachers… we had the most radical president of a teachers’ union, John Cumberbatch, and he could not get 700 teachers appointed. Under this Minister and the leadership of Freundel Stuart, this Democratic Labour Party did it. Anybody can challenge me on that,” he affirmed.
He made the point as he spoke to efforts of the Government to establish the Teaching Service Commission. He noted that its creation is a signal achievement, coming decades after its establishment was demanded by teachers.
“For 40 years teachers demanded the Teaching Service Commission and we did it,” he said.
Husbands further noted that the Ministry of Education has been training teachers at an unprecedented rate. As he referred to work done to rebuild the Erdiston Teachers’ Training College, the Parliamentary Secretary announced that the training facility is doing a tremendous job in producing graduates with the Bachelor of Education. He made the point as he added that first batch of fully trained teachers, numbering 75, will enter the classrooms soon.
“When we do these things it is not just education, we are reorganising the economy, putting it on a sound footing. If the teachers are properly trained it will benefit the children, it will benefit the country and it will benefit the economy,” the Government official said. (JRT)