By Oliver Mills
Raymond Hackett, a Trinidadian educator, has written an article in the Trinidad Express questioning whether the Ministry of Education there is in a catalyst or paralysis mode. He looks at some of the problems faced by the education system, and sees some of these as overcentralisation, too many decisions being made by the political directorate, elitism, and the tendency to seek foreign strategies to solve local problems.
These problems are typical of the Caribbean education system as a whole, and have recurred over the years. One of the concerns I had while a lecturer in education was that each year, with a new group of students, whenever educational issues were discussed, the identical problems were mentioned as areas of concern in each Caribbean island, irrespective of size.
I will now analyse each of the problems mentioned by Hackett, and then discuss whether Caribbean ministries of education are in catalyst, or paralysis mode. Mr Hackett has not discussed very much in detail about this, although it forms the topic of his article.
Where centralization is concerned, Caribbean countries have inherited this form of organizational structure from their colonial past, and it remains a feature of its education system, even in independence. Colonialism was a rigid and hierarchical system, with control as it main characteristic. Centralisation took place because of the need to be in charge, to see everything as a unit, despite unique differences, and to use the same methodology and authoritarian management style throughout the colonies.
This shaped Caribbean systems for a number of years. There was no deviation, despite changes on the ground requiring flexibility. It was felt that sameness meant predictability in outcomes. This was the same philosophy that led to the colonial suggestion for a West Indies Federation, where oneness and being identical were cherished ideals.
We would have thought that independence would change this ethic, but it seemed to have strengthened it. Despite new ideas in the philosophy of management suggesting decentralization, institutional democracy, and creativity, Caribbean educational systems, with the Ministry at the apex, remain centralized, and autocratic, with the same hierarchical structures. Centralisation prevents new thinking, and devalues new strategies and methodologies. It also stunts progress. Educators in this system take no risks, since they fear for their jobs, and feel that promotion through the system would be abridged if they should make any waves. In this limited sense, Caribbean ministries of education are in a paralysis mode. Attempts at new methodologies are incorporated into existing systems, and therefore minimised, having no transformational effect.
With respect to the political directorate making too many decisions more qualified people should make, this is typical of centralized systems. The Caribbean political directorate feels in order to know what is going on, it has to be involved in everything, and be informed about everything. As a result, decisions that should be made by professionals are taken over by the political directorate, who feels it knows everything about the area it deals with, and becomes suspicious of the ideas of others.
With this climate, professionals in the ministries tell the political directorate what it wishes to hear, fears giving critiques of issues, and assesses the intentions of the directorate to such an extent that they know what it wants to here. If you should read Caribbean ministry of education reports, you will see how conservative and controlled they are. Great effort is put into making things look palatable, so as not to jeopardize the jobs of officials, or their standing in the ministry. These officials also fear that if they should speak truth to power, they would be accused of not being team members. The problems therefore persist, while paralysis becomes more embedded.
Elitism is the other factor seen by Hackett as a problem in the Trinidad system, which is also typical of the wider Caribbean. And again, this concept is part of the colonial heritage of the Caribbean, where class origin was determined by colour, wealth, particular professions such as law, medicine and the clergy, and reflected in the elite educational systems of the colonial power. The colonial power transferred its ideas of what was good, and the best to the colonies, reflected in the school systems it built in a hierarchical order, such as primary, secondary and higher education. There were and still are elite schools, based on this historical heritage, and deemed to be the best, whose clients were the wealthy of the Caribbean, since many of the best were, and still are private. Some Caribbean governments tried to minimise this by giving certain scholarships, but the concept of an elite or good school remains a feature of Caribbean education.
Just recently, a private church owned school in one Caribbean country got into conflict with the government over an issue with a principal. The school board supported the principal, despite any ideas to the contrary the Ministry of education might have had. There is also still and issue in the Caribbean, over what level of authority its education ministries have over private schools with a denominational affiliation. In many instances, the position of the denominational authorities prevails over the ministries of education view. Here, again, we see how there is a certain paralysis in Caribbean education ministries, rather than taking the role of catalyst to change things. Despite talk of fairness and equality, educational elitism remains a feature of Caribbean education, and the achievement of high grades buttresses this practice, and justifies it. This further translates into political leadership, where many Caribbean leaders are graduates of elite schools in their own country and from abroad. They themselves continue to perpetuate elitism.
Hackett’s final problem is the tendency to seek foreign strategies to solve local problems in Trinidad. Trinidad, like most other independent countries, tends to look abroad for fixes to its problems. Consultants and professional groups are relied on, and the latest strategies for improving education, conceived in a different environment are attempted. Recently a Canadian was appointed Police Commissioner. This is the same in other independent territories we would thought had built up their infrastructures and trained their own people to deal with the challenges of the local environment.
Because others were brought to deal with indigenous problems, without any consideration of local cultural practices, many of these problems have persisted. Colonisation in a more subtle form continues therefore. In the Caribbean, we do not even have faith in our own professionals, despite the change in consciousness independence should have brought. Again ministries of education assume the paralysis mode, rather than being a catalyst for transformation of attitudes and behaviours.
In a wider sense, are ministries of education in the Caribbean catalysts, or are they always in a paralysis mode? In some instances, they have been forced to be catalysts as a result of political and interest group pressure. Ministers of education are politicians, and try to respond to the needs of their supporters for greater accommodation space, the wider use of technology in schools, more scholarships, more furniture, and from teachers who use their unions to advocate for better salaries and working conditions. In a developmental sense ministries are catalysts because they want to be able to equip the education sector with the latest methodologies, and effective strategies to enable the system to be more successful in meeting its goals. This ensures future support in an election.
Ministries are also catalysts when international organisations connected to major funding agencies insist certain reforms should be implemented, for example, the millennium development goals, and done over a period of time to receive funding. They want the funding and the development that comes with it, so they become active in seeing it through. However in many instances, because of inertia, even good intentions succumb to the status quo, and the drag of tradition, despite valiant efforts. Paralysis therefore sets in. Also, although educational personnel might receive the necessary training to carry forward programmes, a weakness of the will causes them to give half-hearted efforts, while advancing excuses why things cannot happen. Development efforts are therefore thwarted. The catalytic role of the ministry is undermined, and paralysis sets in.
In many instances, education ministries are not committed to new innovations, and so the whole purpose of a ministry being a catalyst is undermined. Ministries therefore need to exert strength and more professionalism, with the goal of advancing their societies taking precedence. It is only then that paralysis and inertia will be replaced by entrepreneurship, transforming the education system and the society, while eliminating age old problems and challenges.
September 30, 2010
caribbeannewsnow
