BVI should stop imitating foreign education systems
One academic expert has posited that to improve the local education system, the BVI should gather its own unique data instead of relying fully on studies and practices in other countries.
Dr Anica Bowe from the Rutgers University in New Jersey is in the BVI to conduct research that will help to enhance the BVI’s high school curriculum. She said in many instances, the imported ideas don’t even work in the jurisdictions where they came from.
“We do a lot in these islands, we borrow from abroad — [we say] the US is doing this and the UK is doing this but it doesn’t work here. A lot of the times, it doesn’t work in those places either. But what are our own home-grown ideas that we can esteem and move forward with?” Dr Bowe said in an interview with 284 Media. “We can get ideas from abroad but I wouldn’t say we should adopt them blindly, we should let local voices and expertise shape those ideas and move them forward.”
Stakeholders invited to share ideas
Dr Bowe said she will be collecting information from parents, teachers and other education stakeholders in the BVI as their input can help to provide necessary improvements. She invited members of the community to reach out and share their input via her telephone at 284-441-5593.
“Your participation is vital. Please call me and give me your opinion. I do have a set of questions I’d like to ask but if you just want to give your story and say this is the conversation I want to have, please do so. I want parents, secondary students, employers, employees, faculty at the college and college-level students to call and share your opinions,” Dr Bowe stated.
Once her data is collected, Dr Bowe will hand it over to the government for them to analyse and see how they can use it to shape the high school curriculum in the future. She said her only hope is that the government uses the information to shape their decisions for the future.
The local education system is plagued by numerous ongoing challenges that the government has been working to address. Chief among them are a shortage of teachers, low salaries and inadequate resources to cater to the learning needs of children.
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There are expert educators here both local, belongers, expatriates, retired and in the profession and the Minister of Education has to wait on a foreign person to tell the system that . Shame on the entire government education system . I can name – names of retired teachers who have been preaching this and other hard core measures to implement but it fall on the deaf ears and into the lap of the unconverted.
But again they were not indigenous who pointed out things Like :
Using statistics to choose students for scholarships
Liase with business sector and govt system to see where the work force is needed
Have apprenticeship programs for students
Allow students to shadow nurses and teachers etc
Teach local history in Primary and Junior school not scraps here and there
Implement a local training program for teachers – continuous
Have training programs for young and single teenage parents on parenting skills
Have Life skills in primary and secondary school
Especially sex education and Drug awareness
The programs in the schools should be continuous not adhoc
But we prefer to spend thousands on a free party
. Some of you are hopeless
Can we get a list of things we have adopted from elsewhere that have been proven not beneficial to our education system? This is a pretty broad claim which no specific examples. I can’t say I agree yet.
However I think at the tertiary level there should be a mandatory class during the first semester about about overall finances, money management and investment as these are topics usually not discussed in schools or homes alike. Our young people need to know more about their financial options other than just getting a job and working for a salary to make ends meet.
Not having a functioning high school for 5 or 6 years was a local idea. We could have done with a different approach.
The inability to rebuild the High School was caused (a) because the billions of government revenue paid in since the 1980s had been squandered or stolen, so the buildings we had were inadequate and uninsured and there were insufficient contingency reserves; and (b) the BVI refused to accept the conditions under which the UK would have provided a $400m loan guarantee; becuase it would have been much harder to squander or steal the funds when they were spent.
As usual the leaders of the BVI believes they can re-invent the wheel. Listen, any smart person takes the best of existing programs and implements them into the system you use.
Are there twists you can put on the program to make it more tailored for the BVI – Yes. But to say that the BVI has to re-create its own system is just ignorance on the highest level!
Some if the $hit that is talked by people who should be in the ‘know’, is terrifying!
Education is culture and our children have their own unique culture fostered here at home. No point importing all the ideas from the UK and USA that are simply a poor copy. These are very different cultures. Check a lot of those kids with mixed educational backgrounds: are they happy? I leave that for you to answer.
Welcome back Anica (Dr Bowe)
If the BVI evaluate the BVI against the BVI how do you know where you stand in the region or the world?
an insular mentality in a global world is very dangerous.
Has to wait on some foreign person who never taught in the system nor knows nothing about BVI social system and cukture to point this out .
Locals, belongers and expatriate teachers who taught in the system for over ten plus years says data is needed to make changes in the system
Liase with business places, government departments / institutions and ; private places to find out the work force need and give scholarships to suit
Have apprenticeships programs – Practical and theory for academic and nonacademic programs
Adapt CCSL for the night school program
Put programs in place to teach parenting skills to single and young teenage parents
Reintroduced the Life Skills Program and include sex education and drug awareness
Introduce Healty Life Style Habits – eating, exercise etc
Ensure young interested students shadow experience teachers etc . Have exchange programs with other overseas schools – music …
But if the ideas do not come from indigenous or as they say “ you are one of us@ it is swept under the rug . Some of you are jokets
Maybe Head Coach will agree to teach maths again? “Now children what is 10% of $70 million?”
Let’s create a new civilization. New language (maybe we already have that), and customs. No more reading, or maths, or even learning how to think. Reject the dollar, make our own currency. No more imports. No more outsiders. Buy back or confiscate land owned by outsiders. No more tourists. Just us, and our untainted new civilization as we march into oblivion.
The need for money management classes should be obvious. It should start in High school but I am beginning to believe that what is happening is by design.
The need for money management classes should be obvious. It should start in High school but I am beginning to believe that what is happening is by design after all how can we have economic slaves if they are business savvy.
My sentiments exactly. This is a strong statement with no basis in fact. The curricula used in our school are generally locally created up to Form 3. Forms 4 and 5 use the CXC curricula for obvious reasons. In all my years of service, we have never taken or adapted a curriculum from another country. Moreover, the failure of the curricula in other countries often has nothing to do with these programs. Outside influences, such as political differences, often make it difficult to implement these programs consistently. Dr. Bowe, can you provide some examples of what you claimed?
Is this a taxpayer paid consultancy, how much?
is very advanced in the BVI thanks to internet learning despite the slow speeds of the BVI internet. The BVI government’s education(public) system appears to a be a daily baby sitting business to provide employment to future civil servants in the BVI government.
The only thing they and we need to know is that JESUS is the only ANSWER!
The lady used to teach at the High School, she now a professor at a U.S. Uni and she got the funding to do this from her sources and has nothing to do with BVI paying for it. Suggest you all go and watch the live where she spoke a lot with more info.
Also our system is broken because too many children are leaving Grade 1 with poor reading skills, there is only one PE lesson a week and the children don’t learn about world history or other civilizations or cultures in Primary. If a 9yo has not heard about Ancient Egypt then what?? My grade 1 child at a private (not Cedar) just learned about them and others.
Yes because those foreign education systems such as used in the USA, UK, France etc have failed to make their countries prosperous and successful.
Right?
Let’s get a teacher who knows the difference between worse and worst. We all get it wrong the whole time.
BVI is noted for it’s unique education system and should be an example to the rest of the world to follow. Our national language Tortolian is now being taught to international students at the University of Salt Island. Latin and Greek are no longer available
Seriously? A doctorate and her means of collecting data is to have people call her telephone! How professional is that? Where is the
rigour?
The education system is a waste of time teach the youths real life skills so we can come out this bs systems we have in place to keep us dummy down to the fullest
Dr Bowe, Speak to Dr Penn if you care to, he has $6 million worth of research for a BVI purpose built curriculum that Andrew threw away, just because he was not going to get credit. Plenty local experts and teachers spent a lot of time, and their summer vacation putting together.
Love it. Include God in schools, prayers, devotion,mentorship and much more.
@ Specific,
Why wait for college to teach money management?
Each home should be the catalyst for this basic money management, so when they reach high school and college they have the awareness, some religious school students know more than those in public school, why! Because they see the problems that can affect students, and move to change.
Given some student free money most will first think about the things they will purchase, hair, clothes,shoes, nail polish,this is because those things were first introduced to children at an early age as first priorities. Compare to those who think of all the things they can invest to bring hard asset to the books.
In a scenario parents should teach their children about money management early as pre school, and stick then in school with similar curriculum. Practice with them,take them to the market with 50$ and told how to use it for three days food for one family of three. This group of students will start to think all the things they can get for food that are nutritional.
It’s not hard , good preparation, money, time, energy and vision will change the lives for many students.