Minister of Education Alden McLaughlin’s visit to the Brac last week brought a close to the consultative process that will result in the document, A National Consensus on the Future of Education in the Cayman Islands.
A group of Brackers discuss the issues facing education in Cayman Brac on Thursday. Photo: Submitted |
The document will serve as a blueprint for educational reform.
A panel of educators will write the report for the opening of the Legislative Assembly in October, said a press release from the Ministry.
The Minister, Permanent Secretary Angela Martins and Conference chair Gareth Long met with the Brac’s 63 primary and high school teachers at Cayman Brac High School Thursday afternoon. Later that evening, more than 70 members of the Brac community were able to express their concerns at the same venue.
The mini-conference in the Brac was similar to Grand Cayman’s, in that people were divided into groups with a facilitator and rapporteurs. Little Cayman teachers sent their issues and proposed solutions earlier to Mr. Long.
In opening the conference on the Brac, Mrs. Martins told teachers, ‘We could not look at re-engineering the system without involving the unique issues of the Brac.’
The Minister pledged to make education a top priority and reassured participants that change would come about, the release said.
‘This conference is not just another talk shop. We are moving ahead from here. The report will be tabled in the Legislative Assembly for debate. I am not prepared to leave this report on the shelf. Either the education system will change or I will change. If I cannot make a difference, then I won’t apply to be the Education Minister for the next term,’ he said.
The Minister said that while he understands that there are commonalities between the issues on Grand Cayman and in the Sister Islands, there are many that are different. And those issues are not being managed well from Grand Cayman.
‘The biggest problem we have is how the system is managed. That is the core issue. Our curriculum does have some problems, but the management is the biggest single issue,’ he said.
Minister McLaughlin said he is aware that the Cayman Islands has good teachers, but they are fed up with the system as it is stands.
‘I know they are talking because they are talking with their feet. Two young Caymanian teachers have just quit,’ he said.
The Minister also praised Cayman Brac. ‘It is an open secret that Cayman Brac is doing better than Grand Cayman; we can learn something from you.’
In the evening, the Minister reiterated his position on education to parents and other interested Brackers.
‘There is no reason why a country as rich as ours cannot have the best education system in the world,’ he said.
‘The system is failing. I know that education is less valued now than it was when I graduated from high school, 27 years ago. We don’t need every child to be a rocket scientist. But far too many people are coming through the system who don’t have the basics, and employers can’t work with employees who don’t have the basics,’ he said.
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