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We have set for ourselves the objective of transforming our
nation into a fully developed society in the shortest possible
time. Central to the achievement of this will be the transformation
which we will undertake to develop every capacity in our educational
system.
EARLY
CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
OPERATION
HEADSTART
The most
critical period of a child’s development is its early
years.
At present
only 80% of the children benefit from formal preschool education.
We will ensure that ALL children of pre-school age have access
to early childhood education.
EDUTECH
- REVOLUTIONISING EDUCATION IN OUR PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS
The Barbados
Labour Party will complete the implementation of the Edutech
programme which has been designed to bring about a revolution
in education in our schools. This programme has been conceived
to produce students who:
- Are creative
thinkers – that ask what, how, why, when and where
- Possess effective
communication skills
- Are technologically
competent
- Are trainable
and readily retrainable
- Are confident
and acknowledge and understand their social and civic responsibilities
- And have the
potential to become future leaders.
The key components
of the programme, as conceived, are:
- Curriculum
reform
- The modernisation
of the school-plant
- Institutional
strengthening of the sector; and
- The introduction
of technology in the schools.
We will:
- Complete the
implementation of the new curriculum at the primary and
secondary levels.
- Implement a
system of continuous assessment, so that a child’s
performance over a 4-year period will constitute 40% of
the overall “eleven plus” assessment
- Complete the
process for the issuing of a new National Secondary School
Certificate.
- Establish an
Academy of Excellence in Sports and Culture to enhance the
skills in sports and culture of those young people with
potential.
- Complete the
refurbishing of our school plant and develop partnerships
with communities, PTAs and other interested NGOs to maintain
the plant.
- Expand and
strengthen training at Erdiston Teachers Training College
for teachers and school administrators at all levels, through
partnerships with internationally renowned universities.
- Fully implement,
in partnership with the private sector, a system wide National
Teachers Award
- Scheme to recognise
and reward excellence within the teaching profession.
- Expand the
highly successful Parent Volunteer Support Programme in
Early Childhood Education from the current 55 primary schools
to all primary schools.
- Establish a
Centre for Behavioural Adjustment in partnership with NGOs
to provide a rehabilitative residential setting to address
the serious behavioural problems of children
referred by the Edna Nicholls Centre, while satisfying the
academic needs of these students.
- Offer day care
and other support to school age mothers that will enable
them to re-enter the school system.
- Provide the
remaining computer and other technological tools to support
the learning process
in both academic and vocational studies.
TERTIARY EDUCATION
A key indicator
of a country’s development in today’s world is
the number of persons successfully completing tertiary education.
At present only 28% of our students move from secondary school
to university. While this is the highest in the region, we
need to urgently increase the intake to enable us
to reach our national objectives and offer wider opportunities
to our young people. The BLP is
committed to the goal of there being at least one university
graduate in every family by the year 2020.
We also renew
our pledge:
- To meet the
tuition cost of Barbadians attending the University of the
West Indies; and
- Fully support
the development programme at the University of the West
Indies, Cave Hill, to make it a centre of excellence.
UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF BARBADOS
The major initiative
in education by the BLP in the next term will be the establishment
of a University College of Barbados.
More Barbadians
are seeking education at the tertiary level than can be currently
accommodated at the Barbados Community College, Samuel Jackman
Prescod Polytechnic, Erdiston Teachers Training College and
the University of the West Indies.
We will establish
the University College of Barbados that can fully meet our
existing and future training needs, broaden the scope of educational
opportunities, and offer training in areas not reviously given
recognition. That will widen the services presently offered
by the Barbados Community College, Erdiston Teachers Training
College and the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic.
MORE FUNDS
FOR STUDENTS
Through the Student
Revolving Loan Fund, the Barbados Labour Party will continue
to provide
funding for young persons who could not otherwise afford a
tertiary education.
A new BLP Government
will:
- Continue to
make more funds available for lending while constantly keeping
the loan limits under review.
- Include distance
learning education as a category entitled to funding through
the Student Revolving Loan Fund.
- Review the
repayment arrangements in order to reduce hardship on borrowers
from the interest on student loans.
SPECIAL NEEDS
We are committed
to a Special Needs Education Policy to accommodate both the
gifted and those who are challenged, whether physically or
mentally.
The BLP will:
- Institute Individual
Education Plans, (IEP) for every child assessed as having
special needs.
- Increase the
training for teachers in special needs education.
- Increase the
financing of the equipment and resources available to private
sector schools.
- Expand the
number of Special Needs Education Units in primary schools.
- Provide technological
tools to the physically challenged.
ADULT EDUCATION
We believe that
persons who have not benefited fully from education must be
given the
opportunity to continue their education.
We will:
- Implement a
comprehensive programme of adult education and retraining
at the community level in partnership with NGOs.
- Expand the
existing evening classes at secondary schools to meet the
growing demand.
YOUTH AFFAIRS
Barbados’
most precious asset is our young people, our future. In 1994
for the first time, the BLP
established a Division of Youth Affairs. Through this initiative
we introduced programmes for the
entrepreneurial, training and creative needs of our young
people.
We will:
- Expand and
intensify the work of the Block Committee to develop and
implement programmes for reintegrating “marginalised”
young people into the mainstream of society.
- Extend the
Residential Phase of the Barbados Youth Service Programme
to 4 months and we will introduce new programmes.
- Expand the
financial and technical assistance provided through the
Youth Entrepreneurs Scheme (YES) to reach even more young
persons.
- Expand the
YES Juniors Programme of entrepreneurial education and sensitisation
and go beyond the initial pilot to include all primary and
secondary schools in Barbados.
- Provide basic
training at the community level to 2,000 young people per
year in a range of sports and cultural disciplines.
- Provide Sports
and Organisational Leadership training for community groups.
- Transform the
National Summer Camp Programme into a new National Camp
Programme to include the Easter Holidays and cater for 3,000
children per year.
- Set up a national
task force with a view to establishing a National Youth
Service.
ALL
SPORTS
More than any
other field of endeavour, sport provides the opportunity for
talented Barbadians to develop themselves as global citizens,
while offering avenues for personal development and fulfillment.
In recognition
of this, a BLP Government placed increased emphasis on sport
as a developmental and economic tool.
CRICKET
A BLP government
will lend its full support to the Barbados Cricket Association
to ensure
that Kensington Oval is developed and the environs improved
in keeping with international standards, to make Barbados
an attractive venue for the hosting of the 2007 Cricket World
Cup.
PLAYING FACILITIES
It continues to
be the policy of the BLP that every major community must have
a playing field.
LIGHTING
The Barbados Labour
Party will accelerate and expand the programme to provide
lighting of playing fields and hard courts.
NATIONAL STADIUM
The Barbados Labour
Party will redevelop and modernise the National and the Netball
Stadiums to bring them up to world standards.
SWIMMING
The pool at Wildey,
while providing a valuable service, is totally inadequate
for the numbers of persons, particularly Primary School students,
interested in swimming. We will construct additional
public swimming pools, including one in the north of the island.
We will also increase the number
of swimming coaches and training opportunities.
SPORTS DEVELOPMENT
AND PROMOTION FUND
The BLP has established
a Sports Promotion Fund. We will continue to build up the
Fund and use the proceeds to promote road tennis as a world
sport, to support national sporting organisations and to assist
national athletes with their preparation for regional and
international competitions.
NATIONAL SPORTING
ORGANISATIONS
Not all of our
national sporting associations are able to adequately support
their members because of a lack of appropriate central support
facilities. A new Community Services Facility will be built
on the grounds of the National Sports Council Headquarters
to serve as a secretariat for those associations which now
operate without an office or home.
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