Private school students will be given the opportunity to serve on the National Student Council, a move Educational Transformation Minister Chad Blackman described as essential to “moving the needle forward” in the education system.
Speaking at the Seventh-Day Adventist School Prefect Installation Ceremony at the SDA Church, Dalkeith Road, St Michael, on Wednesday, Blackman announced that private secondary schools will be formally invited to nominate student representatives, marking the first time the council will include voices beyond the public school system.
“Up to this point, the National Student Council has been for public schools only,” he said. “Now, if we were to move the needle forward and if we were to move the agenda and include all our students in public and in private schools, it is certainly my view and the ministry’s view that public schools and their students must be part of the national student council movement.
“It therefore gives me great pleasure to say to you that as of now, private schools and their students will be included in the national structure of the Barbados National Student Council leadership movement.”
Blackman explained that the Ministry of Education will be writing to all private secondary schools, instructing them to nominate representatives through their internal processes. He noted that the education officer for private schools, Michelle Williams, along with the officer responsible for student councils, would oversee the transition.
“This is the transformation of education that we’re talking about, where inclusive education is not just about the skills that you must acquire if you’re especially gifted or if there are challenges; it is about ensuring that every single child who passes through the education system in Barbados, public or private, has the opportunity to be brave,” the education minister said.
He also voiced strong support for students exploring careers in the creative economy, and encouraged schools to provide more opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration.
“Schools should now be able to, at the beginning of every academic year, say this year we want to focus on creating festivals – student-led festivals – but in so doing, the students who study business at secondary school should be working with their counterparts who are doing the creative side of the curriculum and planning for them,” Blackman said.
“But equally along the way, all of the different business elements and the other elements in creativity, you’re being marked and you’re given the grades going forward.”
Blackman stressed that education must be about preparing students for real-world problem-solving, not only passing examinations.
“The time certainly is now for us to reimagine what education delivery looks like and to give our children real-life skills,” he said. “Yes, you’re still going to achieve your CXCs, but to put you in a position that you can compete with your counterparts anywhere in Asia, the Arab world.” (SB)
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