The Group of Concerned Parents of Barbados on Thursday welcomed the government’s plan to issue letters showing families the full cost of their children’s education but has cautioned that the message could be misinterpreted if not carefully framed.
Spokesperson and coordinator Paula Anne Moore said the group understood the “worthy intent” behind the Ministry of Educational Transformation’s initiative, noting that many Barbadians had long taken free education for granted.
“My personal testimony is that the hardest I’ve ever worked academically in my life was when I had to pay painful sums for my MBA; in contrast, I limed for much of my time as was possible at UWI when I had a scholarship there,” she said.
Vandalism of new school buses and complacency across parts of the system illustrated how easily the value of publicly funded education could be overlooked, Moore said, especially when “neither US, Canada nor the UK has free university education guaranteed for all its citizens”.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Educational Transformation announced that, in a bid to foster a greater appreciation of free education, parents would be issued letters outlining the cost of their ward’s schooling.
Moore stressed that the communication approach raised valid concerns.
“Based on how the statement was officially described in the official media statement, my first response is that this is a classic case where the perspective of the intended audience should be an integral part of policy-making, to minimise the likelihood that the intended message is misconstrued, or taken the wrong way,” she said.
She warned that some households could misinterpret the gesture.
“Some parents might be deeply disturbed by a potential implication that we are indebted to the government for the education of our children, and that government has magnanimously, generously forgiven that debt,” she said.
Moore emphasised that Barbadians were already fully aware that “education is no free lunch”, noting that “our blood, sweat and tears are in the taxpayers’ dollars funding education — whether via income tax, indirect VAT or other tax”.
She cautioned that the initiative could “open an unwanted can of worms”.
She said: “It has been officially recognised that the education system is failing too many children. Too many children leave school uncertified, with poor literacy and numeracy skills, unable to fully function in mainstream society as a result. Should the tax-paying parent or guardian therefore ask for their money back?”
She added that if the government were adhering to generally accepted accounting principles, parents might legitimately expect “more detailed annual accounting and accountability — national balance sheet/income statement — on primary and secondary school results”.
Moore further argued that starting the exercise by focusing solely on the financial cost risked “dehumanising the value of education”. She said the country must confront hard questions about whether this was “the best use of our very scarce resources” and asked whether the message could be delivered “differently, to enhance and encourage buy-in”.
Despite the concerns, Moore repeated that the group backed the broader reform agenda. “We once again reiterate our support of, and commend the ministry for its efforts to fundamentally transform and improve our education system, for the betterment of all our children.” (SZB)
The post Parents’ group urges clarity as ministry defends education cost disclosure appeared first on Barbados Today.
