Barbados Education Reform: The Need for an Independent, Non-Partisan Advisory Board

As the new school year begins, public attention turns to the state of education in Barbados and the latest chapter of change. In this moment of the long cycle of progress and periodic reform efforts, the Ministry of Education is preparing to reveal its plan for the most significant changes to the secondary school entrance system in generations.

This move to change, long promised by the administration, is not novel in the great history of transformation in a society recovering from slavery and colonialism. From its church-led beginnings to the present government-administered system, education policy has evolved to expand access and improve quality. The current reform agenda aims to equip Barbadian students with 21st-century skills. We think that achieving this requires expertise and continuity that extends beyond election cycles.

As Barbados embarks on another wave of education reform aimed at empowering students and improving outcomes, establishing a non-partisan education advisory board to guide these efforts would serve the country well.

An independent, non-partisan advisory board – a permanent commission appointed by the President, no less important than the royal commissions of the past – would provide invaluable guidance as reform policies are developed and implemented. Comprised of educators, academics, business leaders and other experts, such a board could take the long view and give objective assessments and recommendations. Too often education policies are subject to the agendas of changing political administrations. An advisory board with no partisan affiliations could serve as an anchor for stability and rational decision-making.

Barbados has a tradition of education boards dating back over a century. Indeed, the history of education in Barbados reveals the critical role various commissions, committees, and advisory boards have played in shaping education policy over the centuries. In 1850, the first Education Act was passed and provided for the establishment of an Education Committee, with a part-time Inspector as its Executive Officer. The board lasted for nearly a hundred years: in 1943, the old Education Board lost its executive powers and became an advisory body with the creation of the Department of Education and the appointment of the first Director of Education.

By 1956, the Board of Education was back, reconstituted by an amended Education Act, two years after the first Minister of Education, Luther Thorne, took up office. The board was made up of five constituent committees. But in the post-independence era, councils and committees on curriculum development, the Common Entrance Examination and technical and vocational education have accelerated the development of education – and the consumption of the highest chunk of the national budget.