Minister Of Educational Transformation Chad Blackman is declaring this month as the beginning of the educational revolution.
While at St Stephen’s Primary School on Monday, one of the stops in an island-wide schools tour for the beginning of the Michaelmas Term, Blackman said they were poised for great things to come.
“We in the ministry, and certainly the Government, see September 2025 as the time when we move in earnest to ensure that education in Barbados comes of age. We have set that bold ambition of being number one in the world within seven years. And what does that mean? It means that every aspect of the sector must also now see itself as number one.
“Principals must see themselves as the number one set of principals around the world. The ancillary staff must now see themselves as the number one set of ancillary teams around the world, and we have to help them build that capacity.
“The teachers must now see themselves as the number one teaching service around the world. The students, the same thing. And therefore, we must work hand-in-hand, setting clear benchmarks and timelines to motivate, inspire, and give our people that chance,” he said.
One of the new initiatives is the playing of inspirational local music as the students arrive at school. Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw said she was pleased with the results.
“I’m very happy to say that this morning we had across all of our public schools what we call the Triple M, the motivational morning medley, where music was playing as students were coming in. It helped to settle them.
“And this music is local, you know, from our artistes. Some of our students created music as well, and we were playing that, because we need to celebrate what is Bajan,” she said.
Blackman said there was a psychological and scientific component to Triple M.
“All the schools across the country would have rolled out [music] as the [students] are coming in. Not any ripped up or hype music, but . . . music allows them to be inspired as they come to school. There is a psychology, and the science shows that as you play music, people are settled; it settles the students, it settles the teachers, and you create an environment for strong, encouraging learning to take place.
“So, this year into next year, you’re going to see a lot of changes, as outlined in Parliament a few weeks ago, but education in Barbados is at an exciting time. And September 2025 is, in my view, the rebirth, the rebirth of the modern education system in Barbados,” he said.
The minister said literacy in all its forms would be a major focus. He said the ministry remained committed to providing the necessary resources and infrastructure to ensure everyone could read.
“Persons who would have already passed the age of seven and are not able to read in the way that we would like, there are programmes being rolled out to ensure that this can be met. Adult literacy is also critical, as well as digital literacy.
“How do we help our people navigate that moving space of learning in the digital environment? We’ve moved digitally, but there’s a certain psychology in holding a book and turning it, and then committing it to memory and understanding. So, notwithstanding that we’re moving in technology, these things still matter,” he said.
Archer-Bradshaw said the Strengthen Our Ability to Read programme had taken off with teachers teaching reading. She said Barbados’ literacy rate had fallen over the past decade, but after analysis of performances in the Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination, they were taking steps.
“As a result, about a year and a half ago, we started to train our teachers in the teaching of reading. We also encouraged Erdiston Teachers’ Training College to implement continuous professional development workshops for our teachers, so that they have that ability. And it was very important that we focus on this, because when we had our reimagining education sessions with our teachers, they made it clear that they needed to strengthen their skills in this area.
“I’m also pleased to say that over the course of the academic year, we’ll be implementing four structured reading programmes. These include Jolly Phonics, the Heggerty Phonemic Awareness programme, Snappy Sounds, and the Lindamood-Bell Programme. Before, we utilised an eclectic approach to reading, but we realised that is not working to our favour. As a result, we need to have a more structured approach,” she said.
Archer-Bradshaw said more than 500 teachers had been trained in project-based learning approaches. She said the days of students “sitting in a classroom, absorbing information just to regurgitate for an examination” were gone.
“We need them to be able to think critically, to collaborate, to cooperate, and, most importantly, to communicate with confidence,” she said.
The post Education ‘on brink of revolution’ appeared first on nationnews.com.
