Caribbean Students need practical Skills now more than ever!

CREATING A CULTURE OF INDEPENDENCE MUST START FROM OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM. Author: Joseph E. Doway - Business Plan Developer.

Undermentioned are the VISION and MISSION of the Caribbean Examination Council. Are those words TRUTH to POWER. Are our school leavers empowered?

OUR VISION

To assure the global human resource competitiveness of the Caribbean through the provision of quality assurance in education and comprehensive certification.

OUR MISSION

To provide the region with: syllabuses of the highest quality; valid and reliable examinations and certificates of international repute for students of all ages, abilities and interests; services to educational institutions in the development of syllabuses, examinations and examinations’ administration, in the most cost-effective way.

I will take it to another level. A Caribbean Prime Minister did ask the question. Is the University of the West Indies preparing its students for the real working world. Investors will tell you that the Caribbean is the most difficult place to do business , because we are not ready yet.

My problem is I am trying to understand how these subjects helps a child who does not want to be a Doctor, Lawyer or Teacher. Over the last 10 years, I have had lots of medical and legal students say that they did not want to be doctors of lawyers, but they were not given a choice by their parents. But the worse part is the students who stress themselves to please their parents, with the great fear of failure.

In a world where people are tired of being slaves to the system, many want to option of going into their own business and without a skills, without the preparation for the world of business, they usually feel lost, even with 9 CXC subjects. That is a shame. Now, I am not saying that the CXC should be abandon completely, but the emphasis should be more in teaching children skills.

For me and other managers like Hotel Manager Ruth Stevens of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and many other managers , finding sufficiently skilled school leavers in the Caribbean is problematic. The disconnect between the skills they have learnt in school and the job-market is just too wide. Ms. Stevens continues and I quote " When we have students that come out of the colleges, and we hire them to perform certain tasks, we realize that we will have to give them some form of support in terms of skills and job readiness"

It’s a challenge employers across the Caribbean find repeated year on year. This is just one of the findings from a new report, ‘Quality education counts for skills and growth’ published by the World Bank. 

Right in the Caribbean, I had the privilege of working with a company that had to import tradesmen to do Carpentry, Joinery and Masonry, because the local men and women did not have the skills or training. Now with COVID 19, it is more apparent with most hotel and resort jobs closed. Have 9 or 11 CXC subjects does not prepare anyone for the workplace, because their is no practical or on the job training. In my management years, I have had to have our Human Resource department either turn applicants away because of their lack of handling the workplace or going through the expense of providing training. That same training should have come from the classroom. It is time we move away from pleasing the International World and do what is suitable for our Caribbean. Students should be given the option to learn a trade, be it architecture, automotive engineering, wood work, sewing, culinary arts, craft and even vending. In my day, there was home economics. They should be taught how to manage money, both in the home and on the job. That requires learning to budget is very vital in parts of one's life. Mathematics, Geography, English, Foreign Languages are all fine, dependent on the career that the person wants to pursue. In order words, the teachers would guide the children based on their career plans. A young person will change their path as they grow older based on their environment , which could be polished through post graduate studies. But do remember, every child does not have to attend university or college. With the advent of the world wide web, lots of lessons can be learnt with time. The most important subjects that should be stressed on is Language and Mathematics. I am not too sure about history, because lots of it is fable. Computer and Internet Technology are as important as architecture. One can have 11 CXC subjects and no common sense, That is no help to humanity. One of the most important subject for any child growing up is that of our history as a Negro Race. Not only during Black History Month, but year round, because knowing what our people have invented or perfected gives us the courage to push on to better things. Foremost, we have to make our school leavers more competitive, so that when situations arises where tourism drops to the present level, they have another skills to fall back to. As one person remarked, some skilled trades person had to build our homes, office buildings and roads. Some farmer or processor had to grow the food we eat and also the other foods and drinks that we consume. Most of these persons are the ones who had a calling, not too have 11 CXC subjects or a Master's Degree, but to acquire a needed skill.

From the 70's to today, Caribbean Governments and Parents have invested heavily in increasing both primary and secondary school education. While Governments in some countries may provide free education at some schools, parents of children attending private schools have had to ditch out thousands of dollars per term and after spending nearly 11 years in education, school leavers within the Caribbean often struggle to find formal employment. Not too many employers or business owners want to spend their time and resources in training anyone who they consider GREEN in the working world. The negative side of that though, is that when these school leavers cannot find employment that they feel they are qualified for, they become demotivated and in most cases accept lesser acceptable employment, get depressed or get involved in crime to survive. And of course, our social system has not recognized that. Do not get me wrong. basic education is required by every one and dependent on the career choice, both the student and parents/Guardian should be guided or counselled as to what subjects are best for the student at the CXC level. Teachers should trained to recognize the students capabilities and work along in assisting these students to be prepared for the REAL WORLD. Not only a world of work, but of financial management, relationships and raising a family.

Closing the Digital Gap is also important , since it the new way of the world. Youngsters get very enthusiastic when it comes to building things, such as robots. They should be taught to develop software programs through the use of Maths and Science. The gender gap needs to be closed, so that boys and girls can realize and accept that both genders possess the same skill sets and can excel equally. Theory is great, but is is useless without the practical. It is like a person with an MBA or a Masters who goes into the field of Construction Project Management bust does not know how to operate a concrete mixer or use a spirit level, or goes into the hotel industry as a manager but has no clue how to make a bed or cook a meal for a late stranded guest. Most CXC subjects are just the Theory of work. Lets now consider the practical method of application.

Through my research studies both as a Tourism Specialist and the Founder of Caribbean Farmers Without Borders, I see the resistance to change, both at the Public and Private Sector level. Persons stick to the Status Quo of the Colonial Days of pre-Independence and that needs a change. Text Books should reflect subjects that relate to the Caribbean and Africa, because after all, it is our history and culture. Emphasis must be placed on the benefits of being from the Caribbean and growing in the Caribbean, thereby depicting the achievements of our people.

Today, unemployment rates for persons between the ages of 15-20 year in the Caribbean are have doubled and tripled that of the adult average. School leavers struggle to find formal employment because their education doesn’t sufficiently prepare them for the job market and employers are then left to train up those who they do hire.

Last but not least, Government managed school need to become more accountable to the needs of the students, both in curriculum development and funding. Too many time, pre-COVID 19 and now, I hear that teachers are frustrated, because they are overworked and have to spend extra time working with students, because the students have no one at home who understands their level of work and that is a challenge especially for 5th and 6th form students and High/Secondary School Students. School leavers get frustrated when after spending sleepless nights studying for the top position (in most cases to please a parent) ends up packing shelves in a store or cleaning the side of the road, because the same Governments who make CXC a requirement has put not decent job program in place. Hotels and Resorts do not benefit the line staff. Factories, Assemble Plants, Farms and Construction helps to improve the work force and decrease unemployment.

Entrepreneurship is the subject of the day and should be taught from the Primary level. Our parents told us that is is better to be employed than to be self employed. In these times, while we all cannot be self employed, we can be entrepreneurs. We now know that is is okay to work from home, to be self sufficient, to be proud of the skills that we possess, the food that we grow and the contributions we can make to our country's GDP.

Let us continue to build a Culture of Independence by preparing our children.

Thank you. Joseph E. Doway.