Educators have exposed a multitude of dynamics that are affecting the kind of education delivered in the public school system from the reentry into the school environment of students who have been charged with criminal offences, to disciplinary measures and school environs that are unhealthy for teaching and learning.
Stakeholders who are trying to make essential changes also identified the problem of some primary school students assaulting teachers, according to a report of concerns and recommendations that is being considered at the ongoing National Education Conference.
The concerns were gathered from district superintendents, school administrators, school boards and teachers ahead of the summit.
Some principals are concerned about the number of non-English speaking students enrolled in schools who are not benefiting from the classes because they cannot understand the teachers.
It is believed that Haitians account for the largest amounts of students with foreign roots in Bahamian schools, reflective of the wider problems of illegal migration that has plagued The Bahamas for years.
“As the language of instruction in all public and private schools officially registered by the Government of The Bahamas is English, some Haitian students whose mother tongue is Haitian Creole may be experiencing challenges adjusting to life at school,” noted Marcellus Taylor, acting director of Educational Planning.
“Although there is no empirical evidence to validate any of the claims made, there is a view that the academic performance of Haitian students may be affected at least in the initial years of schooling because they are not being taught in their mother tongue in their earliest years,” he noted.
No formal studies have been conducted on the situation that exists in The Bahamas.
Other Education stakeholders offered other perspectives, pointing out that in some instances too many at-risk male students are being “dumped” into an environment that does not help them, others who are taking critical national examinations lack basic literacy and numerical skills and the lack of authoritative male figures in the classroom is another matter that warrants attention.
On another matter, optometrist Ebbie Shearer Jackson recommended that a vision examination be mandatory for students entering the first grade as in many cases the visual abilities of children are not thoroughly evaluated, but are mistaken for learning disabilities.
“In The Bahamas, the results from vision examinations conducted on students between the ages of five and 17 years confirmed that certain visual disorders can and have affected the school performance of many students, impeding their abilities to perform as their greatest potential,” she noted.
She identified common disorders like myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism and colour blindness which were identified in an examination of over 2,000 students between August 2003 and March 2005.
According to the report on the concerns and recommendations facing education that is being reviewed, there are also concerns raised about remuneration for teachers, the alleged protection of dysfunctional teachers by politicians and the Bahamas Union of Teachers and how these deficient educators should be dealt with.
For the Family Islands, the problems identified related to allowances reflecting the increase in the cost of living, inadequate classrooms and incentives to encourage teachers to remain in the profession.
In the North, Central and Berry Island district, there were also recommendations made to reintroduce corporal punishment, ban cellular telephones and augment school coaches.
Ad advocate for children with special needs, Sheryl Wood, principal for The Beacon School for children with learning challenges, advanced the notion of inclusion where students are educated in the least restrictive environment which causes them to function with the greatest ease.
“Best practices for inclusion cannot be achieved without continuous dialogue and the full support of policymakers and the total community,” she said. “Strategies for inclusion must now take in the full range of needs for the special learner.”
She pointed out that these needs include the right to an appropriate and equal education from kindergarten to tertiary levels, the right to proper employment, the right to decent housing and sustainable transportation.
Tameka Lundy, The Bahama Journal
