By Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

#Trinidad&Tobago, April 21, 2023 – Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica and a former Minister of Education at the CARICOM Crime Symposium during the panel discussion said, there needs to be a “dramatic and urgent” review of the Caribbean education and school system to aid in the fight against crime and violence.

He explained that Caribbean school systems put a large amount of focus on academics, preparing the students for external and national examinations while neglecting their well-being and welfare.

“There is absolutely no time in the 5 hours or so that students spend in the school to do with the welfare and well-being of the children. We don’t take time to understand where they come from, where they live, their economic circumstance and to appreciate their behaviour in the classroom.”

He added that subjects have been added to the system, going from 7 to 15 or 18 for the students within the same five hours while extra-curricular activities, sports, and physical education are placed on the back burner.

In all of this, he expressed that those who excel are given more attention unlike the 20 or 30 percent that don’t meet the matriculation mark, “who we define as failures.”

There is too much opportunity out there for our children now, compared to earlier years for the focus to be only on academics, as he highlighted.

In addition, Roosevelt referred to the talk on guns, saying that we focus on the issue but must also focus on the source, pay attention to anti-social behaviour, alluding to the well-being of the students, which can often lead to the “extreme of using guns and other weapons.”

Skerrit believes that a review of the education system could “dry up” the recruitment ground for violent behaviour.

Not only that, he spoke to the “It takes a village to raise a child” concept, firmly stating that various groups in society such as the Clergy, Parents and Guardians, and Businesses, should take time to consider their contribution to addressing the social issues of the region, and not just leaving it to the ministry.

Like the rest of the CARICOM Heads, Skerrit is cognizant that some level of reform is needed to help address Crime and Violence in the region.

The Symposium lasted two days, April 17-18 and was hosted by Trinidad and Tobago.