Minister of Educational Transformation Chad Blackman says Barbados’ push to become “the No. 1 education system in the world within six years” is already under way.
Speaking in the House of Assembly yesterday during first-day debate on the Appropriation Bill, 2026, containing the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the coming financial year, he said Government remained committed to overhauling the education system, and that the vision he first outlined months ago remained unchanged, though the urgency had intensified.
Barbados, he said, was confronting rapid global change, increasing skills demands, widening learner needs and the realities of climate resilience and digital inclusion.
“These can no longer be treated as optional,” he told fellow parliamentarians from the Well of the House. “They must be built into the core of how we run education, how we teach, how we measure progress and how we protect learning time.”
Assessment reform was also advancing, he said. From September, Class 3 students’ performance will begin contributing to a system of continuous assessment that, combined with final examinations, will determine secondary school placement. By 2028, students will enter secondary school based on a 5050 mix of continuous assessment and examination results, alongside a revised placement model blending catchment and non-catchment criteria.
Infrastructure upgrades form another pillar. Blackman reported that 66 primary schools were refurbished over the summer, with 35 more slated for improvement this year. Maintenance is now being carried out year-round, he stressed, including weekends and bank holidays, targeting climate resilience and digital readiness.
Teacher training, leadership development and stronger accountability across the system, from the ministry to boards, parent-teacher associations and unions, round out the reform package.
Blackman said the transformation agenda was aimed at raising student achievement, empowering educators, modernising physical and digital learning environments, strengthening the ministry’s internal operations, and updating legislative and governance frameworks to reflect 21st century realities.
He pointed out that transformation was not a slogan or a single initiative.
“It is not an announcement, it is not a single project or budget line. It is a disciplined and transparent build-out of a system with measurable outcomes that families can feel in real life.”
At the same time, he noted that the mission also catered to the day-to-day running of schools, from paying teachers and utilities to maintaining facilities and purchasing classroom resources. Stability, he added, must go hand in hand with reform.
Blackman said among his ministry’s six publicfacing priorities for the coming year was a renewed focus on the “whole child”, with greater emphasis on social and emotional learning alongside academics and vocational training. Students, he said, must be equipped not only with certificates but with discipline, empathy, resilience and respect.
A key plank of the reform is strengthening literacy and numeracy. Government has set a target of December 2026 to ensure all students meet expected standards in reading, writing and computation.
Blackman said education transformation remained an “all-of-country effort” aimed at securing Barbados’ long-term prosperity and resilience.
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