While in New York last month, I visited the famed New York Public Library and was surprised to learn that use of the library, guided tours and special exhibitions are all free.
The idea behind this is revealed by a mission statement engraved on the main pillar of the library’s Astor Hall.
“On the diffusion of education among the people rests the preservation and perpetuation of our free institutions.”
A functional democracy depends on an educated population.
My first thought was that the truth of this statement is self-evident. My second was that it constitutes a powerful indictment of modern Bahamian democracy.
According to latest calculations, the national grade average for graduating students is D+. If the private schools – which represent only a small fraction of the student population – are removed from this equation, the national score is an F+.
On average, therefore, students for whom the government is responsible and who make up the bulk of the future voting population, graduate on the brink of failure.
There is, of course, nothing new about this situation; education in the Bahamas has been in a scandalous state for years.
But what it means is that if the integrity of our free institutions depends on education, Bahamian democracy is worth no more than an F+ diploma from a public school.
No wonder some politicians have sought to attack the press for criticising the state of education. One politician suggested that journalists should “truly shoulder their responsibilities as nation builders.” and recognise the good as well as the bad.
Putting aside the dubious record enjoyed by the kind of journalism he recommends, it should be noted that such calls to concentrate on “the good” are usually intended to divert attention from the bad.
Our political leaders can build as many smoke-screens as they please however; it remains a fact that efficient “diffusion of education” cannot be what is driving our democracy.
The unfortunate consequence, as every poiitician well knows, is that what continues to drive the democratic process in the Bahamas is the long-established culture of “hand-out politics.”
In reality, the state of education does not matter in the slightest to many politicians, because at the end of the day, all democracy means to them is winning elections – and what an election comes down to is what they can offer potential voters in terms of public service jobs, gifts, advantages and so on.
This is the real reason many incumbents and parliamentary hopefuls prefer to “hit the streets” and campaign from door to door – it would be considered obscene to broadcast their promises of immigration, customs and prison jobs on ZNS TV.
Of course, there are a few emotive issues that all politicians know will move most Bahamians; illegal immigration and crime for example.
But these problems do not require detailed policy explanations; just a vow that they will be tackled, coupled with the promise of a ham or turkey at Christmas and the politician can congratulate himself or herself on having constructed a winning platform.
Under these circumstances, what would politicians as a class want with a better educated populace; with voters who ask hard questions and demand efficient service rather than handouts?
The answer is nothing – and that in the final analysis is the reason why public education, the most well funded government entity in the country, is a disaster.
But the new generation of Bahamians have news for politicians: while far too many young people continue to be turned out of high schools unprepared for life, more are taking advantage of new opportunities – including international opportunities – than ever before, and have been exposed to examples of real democratic processes driven by educated, issue-minded populations.
These Bahamians will stand for nothing less for themselves and the day is coming when politicians will have to reckon with a very different electorate than the one they have become used to.
In a February 13, 2003 speech delivered at the very same New York Public Library, Koichiro Matsuura, the director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) said: “Literacy is indeed a tool of freedom, vital for liberating us from ignorance, vital for empowering us to develop and apply our human capacities, vital for the exercise of democratic citizenship.”
His words would make a fitting epitaph for the culture of hand-out politics in the Bahamas.
By PACO NUNEZ, Tribune News Editor
