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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
 Nassau, New Providence - I address the unfortunate incident that occurred this past Thursday at what was once a banner institution of learning in our Bahamas.
By now, just about the entire country knows, would have seen and have become mortified the utter chaos that erupted on the campus of Government High School late last week.
And I will say more about that in a moment, as well as the deplorable state of neglect that plagues our public-school system, and about how we can tackle the violence and gang recruitment that has become commonplace in our schools.
But first, let me ask, as a matter of exigency, where is the Right Honorable Prime Minister in the wake of this tragedy? Where is he in the face of this terror that is consuming our schools?
Is he busy campaigning for his precious post as PLP leader for this week’s convention? Or is he off somewhere once again shuffling to the Junkanoo beat?
Why has he failed to address the nation or at least visit the campus of the Government High School in the aftermath of these heinous events?
Yet he claims to care so much about Bahamians and our children.
It is reprehensible that on the very same day that our young people are visiting violence upon each other at Government High, the Prime Minister, during the PLP revelry at the Sir Lynden Pindling Centre, did not find it decent enough to utter one sympathetic word to our grieving children, parents and school community.
What is worse, regrettably, that in the few days since this unfortunate incident, Friday and Saturday, did our PM issue a single statement, or give an interview, or deliver a national address to a now traumatized Government High School, the wider educational community, or to our larger Bahamian family, to reassure Bahamians that law and order are still the standard in this Bahamas?
What about our Minister of National Security?
Or the Minister of Education, who, from some lavish location in Europe, deigned to call into ZNS news to speak peripherally about this matter.
I know the PLP is preparing to wind down its time in office, but someone must be seen to be serious about the state of crime in our society, most especially as it now has manifested its pernicious grip on the lives of our children.
The Free National Movement challenges Prime Minister Christie to visit the campus of Government High School, no later than Monday, to signal that his government is in control of this situation, or at the very least demonstrate a paternal care and compassion for the dispirited and demoralized administration, teachers, staff, parents and students who witnessed these horrific events that unfolded on Thursday.
Where is the leadership from this PLP government who promised to double the investment in education? How has their pathetic and unconscionable display of indifference since Thursday injected any confidence in our people that they truly believe ion Bahamians?
What, exactly has the PLP invested in? Surely not the schools themselves.
The Government High School, as are many schools in our public school system, is in a state of physical and social disrepair, unfit to serve as a center of learning for our most treasured resource – our children.
The truth of the matter is this – we have not been serious about education in this country for some time. But that stops now.
The incident at Government High on Thursday past, the near riot in Kemp Road just a few days earlier, and the carnage on our streets in the first few days of 2017, provide a unmistakable fact that a social decay has overtaken our beloved Bahamaland.
We must take immediate and proactive steps to re-establish a society of discipline, respect, order and integrity. We in the FNM believe that we lay the indestructible foundation for this by making education for all the number one priority of this nation.
There is no other way we survive the death spiral of ineptitude, a culture of corruption, dishonesty and incompetence that has subsumed our nation:
I will lay this out simply for the Bahamian people, inclusive of the policymakers in the Progressive Liberal Party, however short your time left in office may be.
In order to save our failing public school system, we must as a start, immediately do these things: WE MUST:
Make education priority number one in our culture. It must become the most valued thing in our culture. And education must be the thing for which everyone is held accountable. The government must be accountable, the parents must be held accountable, the educational establishment must be held accountable as well as society at large.
Invest in continuous training and retraining our teachers, and reward them for their accomplishments. We must pay them better. It is not as if we are without resources. If we can afford to spend $30 million on a jump up shake down carnival in the street over the course of two years, and again this year, surely, we can find the money to pay teachers better, recruit the best students to be teachers and properly resource our schools.
Invest in educational infrastructure. Where is our money going? is the question I hear most from Bahamians. Where is the VAT money going, where is this new push for increased real property tax revenue leading us? We must invest it in our schools - build more classrooms, better schools, and properly equip them with the vital resources they need including but not limited to: computers, libraries, books and learning tools. And please do not tell me that these exist at large in our public schools. I have been touring them and they are woefully and inadequately outfitted.
Involve civil society, by inviting and encouraging every civic organization, every business, every social network invest in our education system and treasure it.
Immediately amend the Education Act to make school attendance mandatory for all children beginning at age 30 months. That’s two and half years old. Every child in this country, must by law be enrolled in some sort of school program, whether free early education provided by the state, private pre-schools or home school with a state approved curriculum and agenda.
In addition to these things, we must also place a real emphasis on four things that are critical to citizens.
Literacy. Every student, other than those with special needs, must leave school knowing how to read and write at a 12th grade level. Anything less must be considered failure on the part of not just the education system, but the country.
Oracy. Speech. Our children must learn how to speak and express themselves effectively.
Numeracy. Our children must know how to count. How to add subtract, divide, multiply and perform simple calculus. These skills are necessary for success in life.
Cultural knowledge. Patriotism and civics must be taught as a priority in our schools. Every graduate should know how our government came to be, how it works, have a general knowledge of the law and understand their civic responsibility as citizens of this country. Anything less must be considered failure.
As for those students seized with behavioral, anti-social or illegal issues, that manifest as gang-affiliated features, I say the following:
School administrators, Guidance counsellors and Teachers are bombarded with problem children that assault and contaminate the learning environment.
We must immediately train and place in our schools, specialized counsellors and security personnel who can identify at-risk youth and direct them to specialized programs.
We must immediately increase the funding and scope of Program SURE and immediately reinstitute and expand an alternative school curriculum, such as the former YEAST program, which would also include some residential component for those who qualify.
We must also engage the schools, and the courts in directing delinquent parents to programs to assist them with their various challenges, and we must also get the Department of Social Services involved.
Ladies and gentlemen, the time for idle talk is over. The time for action is now.
An FNM government will demonstrate to you the difference between the idle talk of the PLP and the resolute action of an administration that is serious about rescuing our Bahamaland.
© Copyright 2017 by thebahamasweekly.com
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