Just a thought, wouldn’t requiring scholarship winners to study at UWI negate the whole idea of a scholarship since the government pays for the students anyway?  Seems like a not so subtle cost cutting measure to me.

The article states “The report also recommends a sixth form and a maximum of 800 students at every secondary school.” Why not create a sixth form school where all (800) qualified students may attend? Study the costs for adding personnel, equipment, extra space, etc., then determine which would be more practical and cost-effective. Maybe there is an old school building that can be renovated to accommodate a new school.

This is a very DANGEROUS course of action, and will have the immediate effect of killing the academic dreams of many young Barbadians whose only chance of a tertiary education is to win a scholarship or exhibition.
31 years ago, I was one of those young Bajans.  this short-sighted road! 31 years ago, I faced the fight of my life because I wanted to study art/graphic design - NOT foreign languages! I understand the need to put national needs first, but you CANNOT legislate creativity and innovation and SHOULD NOT try. Also, to be blunt, as I usually am, I have found major issues with the quality of the graduates coming out of UWI in several areas - but this is for a separate discussion.
What about the young men and women who wish to pursue what we so snobbishly call non-traditional careers? Do we stifle the dreams of a the next Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs or Ted Neeleman because UWI does not offer the needed course of study?
For the love of our youth, do NOT go down this road!

Send Scholars to UWI!! No Barbados scholars on this committee ? After seeing some of the names on it, all I can say is no wonder they came up with such a narrow finding in this area. I won a scholarship many years ago. I went to UWI for one year, I say no more. So I took to the North to a place that has generated a good batch of Nobel Laureates. It was the wisest decision I ever made. I entered an Honours program and was taught by top notch scientific researchers who prepared me for research in two areas. I have been to Grad school since then and that experience has and continues to serve me well and Barbados was able to take advantage of it.
UWI at the time I won the scholarship had a general degree program in this field of study, it cannot be compared with this RESEARCH university which has the funding and a world renown track record. I was able to return to Barbados and contribute productively for the period of my bond. Please don’t cheat Barbados it might come back to bite you !!

Just questions.

1. Aren’t these the same people who benefited from the education system?
2. Maintain corporal punishment in the 21st century?
3. Barbados should only have one university?
4. How does this align with an overall development strategy and the excessive demand?
5. What methodology was used to conduct this study?

Throw the study out the window.

clearly Dr. Broomes is suggesting that social standing and academic ability are synonymous and I am forced to disagree. I went to Queen’s College where there were people from every social class you could think of in Barbados. What they had in common was their academic ability which generally enabled them to work at the the same speed. Anyone who has taught knows that the most disastrous experience is working with people at different levels. The teacher in such a situation has to stike a sometimes impossible balance.They must pay sufficient attention to the slower learners while being careful not prevent the high-flyers from fulfilling their true potential. Perhaps what the Government could consider is implementing a system in all primary schools where children are taught according to their needs.

Yet another means of narrowing scope of the young minds of Barbados. What no one seems to realise (or at least the influential persons) is that what our educational system really lacks is the promotion of creativity and innovation.

I like most of the recommendations presented in this document but totally disagree with the continuation of corporal punishment. Corporal punishment does more harm than good. Why should a child be in school with fear hanging over him/her? If corporal punishment is still metted out the way it was while i was in school, then this fear is real and quite stunting to his or her development. I don’t see how corporal punishment is going to reinforce some theory in a child’s head.

I would honestly hate to believe that in a modern Barbados that anyone with a Phd. would sit on a committee that would recommend that the brightest of our young brains be given scholarships that should be limited to the three UWI Campuses. Why would any committee want to restrict our brightest children? Is it that too many poor ordinary Barbadians are winning scholarships? May God help Barbados. If we want to restrict our BRILLIANT young people to UWI, then UWI needs to raise the Bar a whole lot. UWI needs to raise its standards back to the very high standards they had before. Shame on that committee.

Barbados Scholars have worked hard to gain academic success and should not be forced into attending one of the three UWI campuses. They should always have a choice as to which university they want to attend.
I however agree their area of study should always have some major relevance to Barbados.

Firstly, let me say I am a Barbados Scholar pursuing studies at a foreign college. A limited scholarship to one of the three ‘local’ universities is a great step backwards in my humble opinion. I won’t harp on the fact that this will only affect the poorer scholarship winners, but speaking from personal experience of the benefits of studying aboard. I studied at UWI for a full year before transferring to my current university abroad, and it has been well worth it. Smaller classes allow students to ask questions and develop a rapport with professors that I found impossible to attain at UWI with much larger classes. The interdisciplinary focuses of colleges overseas help to pique student’s interests in areas outside of their own, and I am now in the process of attaining a double major; something sparked by this strong interdisciplinary relation. Until UWI offers better programs to its students than universities overseas, this will serve as a disservice to scholarship winners.

I am astounded yet some what pleased with the fact that i like the theory of these reforms. I agree that people who are offered scholarships should attend one of the three UWI campuses, but to limit them to something that only caters to Barbados seems more like a recruitment that scholarship, you might have to sell me on that one, i see the logic in it but i dont exactly see it as fair. As for having a sixth form for every school, students can’t even get out of 4th form or gain a CXC, more work should be done on why this is. You are just leaving people behind if you just cater to higher learning and not helping more people get there. The “fraternising” of schools and the reason behind it sounds like a good idea. Primary school students taking tests from early also sounds like a good idea, or using their marks as an average to see a general trend in their learning would also be a good idea. All in all its nice to see some ideas coming out

Why should all schools have a six form? There are countless secondary schools in Barbados who still allow their students to sit Basic CSEC examinations. If they can not do General level subjects across the board by wasting money by giving them Advanced Level Subjects to do.
Secondly on the issue of the scholarship winners.Why should they not be able to pursue their studies overseas? I guess you do not realise that Barbadians go to UWI for free thus making the point of the Barbados Scholarship useless. Going to school overseas allows people to become more worldly and learn things that they might not be able to living in the Caribbean which will inevitably help our societies upon their return.
In conclusion this study is a load of crap!

What narrow minded and backward thinking would it be to contain all scholarships to UWI! How else would Barbados progress if we don’t cast our bread upon the waters.  Are we serious about national development or do we want to remain 20 years behind the rest of the world? Perhaps the criteria needs to be changed. Perhaps the grant of scholarships in traditional areas of law, medicine, and economics - all of which are available at UWI- should be suspended in preference for newer and much needed fields.  Scholarships in areas not available in the region present other challenges, but I daresay the benefits to national development far outweigh the challenges.

I wish more was disclosed on performance and certification, especially the latter. Criteria must stipulate that a mere pass annually is unacceptable. It would also have been interesting to hear the recommendations on creditation.

I get the argument that you should not limit someone not only can they be ” the next Bill Gates” but you also make them less competitive. On the other hand there is a lot of elitism in our minds, that education provided at foreign institutions is “superior” to ours. Ok you can make the argument that UWI might need a little reform sure… Why should government offer money for a scholarship to send you half way around the world to do something that’s offered in the Caribbean and at the same level? Why should the government offer you money for a scholarship and you want to study nuclear reactor or be an astronaut for a living?. I do agree that it should be of benefit to Barbados. Many people get their free education here go over seas and never look back, its the simple truth.

Is this report serious….such STUPID ideas…why would a person want to win a scholarship to go to a place where the government already pays for u to attend…the point in a scholarship is to go and study at a better university and gain experience and knowledge that u couldd not get before at an institution dat u did not have the funds to access.

I’m a UWI graduate I learnt to pass exams as d system did not require me to learn but simply know how to pass an exam. get real PEARSON BROOMES!!!!

I take great issue with the suggestion that national development needs be determined simply by the Ministry of Education.  We boasts the achievements of Kamau Brathwaite and Austin Clarke.  In their youth was literary study seen to be an area of national development?  The premise of our education system is that it affords all the opportunity to access the basics they need for the future of their choice.  If we say to our young people that they must confine their vision of education the the UWI campuses then the UWI has a lot to get done.

I did business and languages at UWI & today I am unable to secure a place which exploits either.  Colleagues who were in a financial position to travel overseas and follow similar study are employed in these areas.  The question I ask now is, ‘Does the recommendation make sense?”  All go to UWI save government some money & then businesses choose those who have had international experience.  What then happens to national development?

Small country,think small. The people that made this suggestion is thinking inside the box.It looks as if they want to cripple the education system in Barbados.In a few years Barbados will have to bring
people to do all the technical work on the island
Don`t forget Barbados is still a third world country and is not exposed to lot of things. Did the people that made the suggestion compare a science lab at a university in the US with the one at UWI? Some Bajans do seem to be comfortable with mediocrity, while others want to be the best they can be even in sports.
NY

I echo the sentiments of many of those who have commented before me that having a scholarship to three universities which are already free defeats the entire purpose of having gained a scholarship.

Further, it is not elitism to not study at UWI. The three campuses offer a limited range of subjects and are plagued by many difficulties. The horror stories from my friends currently in attendance make me pleased with my choice in addition to the fact that my current field of study (crucial to national development is not offered at any of UWI ‘s campuses)

National development is in no way served by the proposals of this report but rather impeded. Robbing the best minds of the opportunity to study a wide range of subjects in well funded well established universities.

Maybe the money used to buy land for Rihanna could be used to invest in education rather than cutting corners. University graduates are the ones making contributions to this country and putting it on the map!