Running head: THE NATIONAL STRATEGIC PLAN OF BARBADOS 2005-2025; AN

ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL AND INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENTS.

The National Strategic Plan of Barbados 2005-2025; an analysis of social and international

commitments.

Shabree Jemmott – 2002628252

University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus

EDEP 6001 Caribbean Ideologies and Policies

Dr. Verna Knight

Due Date: December 12, 2021

Planning in education is extremely important if a country is to attain educational growth. This

is true for any sector, there must be a strategy in place to guide officials towards desired

goals. Countries around the world plan assiduously with stakeholders to ensure that the

education system facilitates the schooling needs of students, while also providing future

workers with the skills necessary to drive the country’s economic, cultural and social

development. Barbados is no different, though the country does not have a specific education

sector plan, it has developed within its National Strategic Plan, goals that are directed towards

education. These goals have implications for education planning within the country as

education is one of the main engines that propel development.

Many educational goals are intended to promote social development, Midgely (1995) states

that social development is the "process of planned social change designed to promote the

well-being of the population as a whole in conjunction with a dynamic process of economic

development." Here you can see how social and economic growth work together and how

through education planning both goals can be derived. Barbados has outlined six goals in its

National Strategic Plan, in terms of social development, goals three and five are of particular

interest.

Goal three speaks about what is known as building social capital. According to the Strategic

Plan of Barbados 2005-2025 (2005), “creativity and innovation drive the information

economy.” Therefore it is the citizenry that drives development and economic growth. It is

only through education that human resources can be created. These human resources serve

the economic needs of the country, through the use of skills acquired, the service economy

and knowledge-based positions. Therefore, in order to create social capital, education and

training is a necessary tool. With education comes increased social conditions whereby

citizens can reach their full potential while building the country’s development. All
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Barbadians must be involved in lifelong learning. Economic success now depends more than

ever on intellectual capital, self-confidence and belief in oneself ( Strategic Plan of Barbados

2005-2025).

Goal five seeks to enhance Barbados’ prosperity and competitiveness. This is in an effort to

combat the effects of globalization. The island has realized that the agrarian society which

once existed is no longer sustainable and they are now required to compete globally. Hence,

the objective of this goal is to ensure that the island remains prosperous. This priority has

major implications on the education system as it requires a shift towards creating workers

who are able to create and compete globally. According to the National Strategic Plan 2005-

2025 (2005) “What is needed at this juncture in our history is the radical transformation of

Barbados that equips us to compete in the new global economy while preserving and

strengthening our national identity.”

Though many of the goals outlined are geared towards Barbados and its social development,

there is some inclusion of goals that go outside the local scope. One important one is goal six,

branding the country internationally. It is the objective of Barbados to become well respected

throughout the world by maintaining an image well known for quality while remaining true to

the roots of the island. This priority is linked to goal five, they both are aimed at ensuring the

country continues to strive economically, internationally. Building a positive brand or image

gives the island a viable chance of being seen and accepted globally. The National Strategic

Plan 2005-2025 (2005) states “our duty will be to continue to show others how a small

country can be successful and yet retain its identity; in other words, we have to brand

Barbados globally.”

To achieve the goals that are set out, the government has put several measures in place some

of which has implications for the education system. Goal three speaks to the building of
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social capital, for this actualize there needs to be access to quality education, one which

focuses on problem-solving skills and critical thinking. These new aims impacted education

planning in a profound way, as it created a new ideal for the system to reach. New types of

teaching and learning had to be conceptualized which focused on the areas that the

government believed would create development. Therefore, there was a need for the

expansion of education and training within the country.

To increase the level of education available, The National Strategic Plan of Barbados 2005-

2025 (2005) proposed numerous strategies. According to the plan, the following approaches

are viable to the success of creating social capital.

1.1 Continue the educational initiatives of the Educational Enhancement Programme

(EDUTECH) to ensure that everyone enjoys the right to be educated to his or her full

potential.

1.2 Promote, at all educational levels, the development of critical thinking skills.

1.3 Enhance adult education, training and lifelong learning. (The National Strategic Plan

2005-2025, 2005, p. 54-56)

According to Barbados’ Ministry of Education EDUTECH “is a comprehensive education

reform programme, which seeks to increase the number of young persons contributing to the

sustainable social, cultural and economic development.” This programme targeted individuals

within the age range of 18-30 with the goal of having 80% of these individuals being enrolled

in tertiary education by the year 2025. This would mean that most of the younger population

would be highly educated and well-equipped with the skills necessary to elevate the country’s

development. To ensure high literacy rates, which again will boost social capital levels,

critical thinking skills was promoted at all levels. There was a turn away from rote learning
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and an emphasis on project-based learning occurred. There was also a focus on lifelong

learning. People were encouraged to train and retrain in order to keep up-to-date with current

trends in their fields. This lessened the amount of foreign labour that was needed to fill roles.

As was mentioned earlier, goal five seeks to increase developmental success. One objective

the country has outlined to achieve this is by encouraging entrepreneurship. The National

Strategic Plan 2005-2025 (2005) states “eentrepreneurship is vital to our efforts to achieve

prosperity and competitiveness.” Therefore much emphasis has been placed on creating

entrepreneurs and educating citizens about the important role that they can play in society. To

reach the goal of creating a positive outlook relating to entrepreneurship, there are many

strategies outlined as listed below.

1.1 Facilitate a mindset change among all Barbadian towards entrepreneurship.

1.2 Strengthen entrepreneurship education and training at primary, secondary and tertiary

levels.

1.3 Facilitate the mentoring of potential young entrepreneurs through attachments to

established businesspersons. (The National Strategic Plan 2005-2025, 2005, p. 76-77)

The government thought it wise to create a positive mindset towards entrepreneurship.

Having entrepreneurship seen socially as a desirable occupation could have the effect of

increasing the number of individuals considering it as a career path. There was a need then,

for citizens to value the contributions that entrepreneurs make to society. That it was seen to

be of import to create a change in perspective shows that the society’s ideals of work were

geared towards being employees instead of owners. Another tactic used was to educate

students about entrepreneurship and what it meant. This strategy impacted the education

system. There was now a new subject area to be taught and planning had to be done to
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facilitate it. The facilitation of mentoring programmes also would have impacted the

education system. Where before the students were only exposed to teaching about business

within the classroom, they were now able to go out and gain firsthand experiences. Therefore,

new teaching strategies were implemented to accommodate this new subject matter.

The global nature of goal six affects education in another way. While the other goals call for

changes in curriculum planning and strategies, goal six calls for the education system to be

pristine. Here education is seen as a part of the country’s brand. The National Strategic Plan

2005-2025 (2005) states, “the Barbados Model can capture the global imagination and establish

Barbadian leaders as intellectual pioneers.” Here one can see the role that education is meant

to play globally regarding the image of the island. The plan goes on to say “we have a duty to

show others how a small country can be successful and yet retain its identity.” Therefore

education is crucial, it ensures that trust is maintained between the island and the wider world.

Listed below is the main objective that outlines the promotion of the education system.

1.1 Identify and promote the governance and institutional arrangements for which

Barbados has achieved international recognition such as strong adherence to

freedom, peace and security, good governance and jurisprudence, stability,

evolutionary politics, the volunteeristic model of trade unionism, tripartism via the

Social Partnership and the system of free education. (The National Strategic Plan

2005-2025, 2005, p. 87)

The system of free education is seen as something to be advertised; it is a marketing tool to

showcase that every Barbadian is well educated. Education planning is affected by this, it

means that at all times the level of education must remain the same. A high level of education

means that the products that are to be sold internationally are of high quality and meets every
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standard, as they are being produced by a country that is competent. This puts pressure on

education planners, as they now have a task that is two-fold. They must plan in a way that

creates interest for students that builds social capital as well as maintain the system in order

to guarantee the island’s place on the world market.

Though planning may be thorough, oftentimes, implementation is challenging. Two major

factors that may impede the execution of governmental goals are issues relating to finance

and social issues.

Government spending on education was reported at 4.295% of the GDP in 2020. This marks

an increase from 2019 as spending was reported at 3.204%. Between the years 2008-2020,

the range of spending on education lay between 3.204% - 6.143%. (CEIC, 2020) Therefore a

large proportion of government spending goes towards the education sector in hopes of

returns through social capital. Though expenditure on education is large, there is still a need

for more funds to be granted if Barbados is to keep up with the rest of the world. Barbados

has successfully implemented the Education For All Initiative which allows access for every

student to attain an education that is free and of high quality. Though this is true, areas such

as emerging technology need to be properly funded, according to Brissett (2021) there needs

to be “integration of STEM education for increased participation in the global knowledge

economy.” The goal of creating social capital is hindered if workers are not well prepared to

compete in the global sphere with the existing technologies and skills necessary. The

branding of the country through its educational resources can also be impacted. Workers are

needed that are knowledgeable in new realms and if they are seen to be lacking in some areas

as they communicate with the outside world, doubts regarding the capabilities of the island

may ensue, thereby affecting potential trade relations. Additional funding in these new areas

may prove to be difficult as the budget allocated is already quite large and according to Sam
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(2016) “Fiscal challenges facing governments and changes in the focus of international

funding agencies away from education have combined to reduce the amount of money

available for financing education.”

It may be difficult to construe how a social issue can deeply affect the enactment of

educational goals, however, they can have lasting negative effects that deter implementation

efforts. Though the focus is on creating social capital by educating all citizens, it must be

noted that at the end of primary education, students are stratified. This begins the social

issues associated with education and the perceived levels of success within the society. On

the one hand, the government is pushing for increased education, while stunting the

emotional and social growth of students by dividing them by perceived ability. According

to (Rudder 2014; Pilgrim et al. 2018), "the education system has not sufficiently shed its

colonial past, evidenced, for example at the transition between primary and secondary levels,

where high stakes examinations, the common entrance, still determine the fate of students in

inequitable ways.” The school a child attends after primary school has lasting effects on

students and can determine what they believe they can attain in life. Schools are also victims

of social discrimination, therefore attending a particular school may serve to damage an

individual’s chances at certain professions. This goes against the grain of what the

government is trying to achieve. This social barrier caused by antiquated methods of

assessment obstructs the success of the intended goals. Though funding is made available,

and new programmes may be put in place, if individuals are not given an equitable chance of

achieving personal goals, or if their perception of themselves is limited by high-stakes

testing, they may not fully access the programmes and jobs that are available to them due to

lack of confidence.
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There are many solutions that may be used to address these challenges. Overcoming financial

issues can be accomplished through the help of the private sector. Private sector businesses

also have an interest with regard to the education of citizens. It is the students who will at

some point in time become employees, therefore the government can ask for financial support

from the private sector. In the article Education in China, A Snapshot the OECD (2016)

stated “Other than government appropriation for education, private organisations and

individuals are the principal sources of funding for schools.” Therefore, the concept of asking

private institutions for help in education funding is not a novel approach, drawing from the

experience in China, Barbados too can extend the responsibility of funding into the private

domain. Another solution to reduce the financial load of education funding is to ask for

societal help. Again, asking society to assist in areas where the government is traditionally

responsible is not new. Take for example the case of Bhutan; though not an initiative to fund

education, the Bhutan government has embarked upon a financial project aimed at reducing

carbon emissions and creating carbon-negative spaces. To do this the government has called

upon the public to help fund the initiative and it has been very successful. Barbados can use

this same strategy to help fund education.

Addressing social challenges affecting the success of goals is not as simple as asking for help

from outside sources as you would for a financial problem. To do this, the government must

seek to overhaul the very thought processes of the citizenry. One solution is to actively and

consistently launch campaigns that uplift all schools. These campaigns must showcase what

is unique about each school and what factors make them desirable. This can be done through

social media and other types of advertising. This must be done to change the persisting social

narrative that exists surrounding schools and schooling in Barbados. Another solution may be

to break completely away from the colonial roots that bind the country to the current

education system. Finding news ways for ascension into secondary school that does not
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require high-stakes testing, which according to Brissett (2021) “… have resulted in many

negative byproducts, including reproduction of class privilege.”

The Government of Barbados has used education as a means to develop the country’s

economic base, it has also sought to use it as an implication of quality as it seeks to brand the

country internationally. Though there has been much success with regards to the planning and

implementation of goals, there have still been some challenges. Financing all aspects of

education is expensive, though the country has attained Education For All, they are still

behind in terms of subject matter and technology. Financial and social issues still plague the

country’s education system; therefore they must find ways to combat these challenges as they

move forward.
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References

Brissett, Nigel. (2021). The Education System in Barbados A Remarkable Evolution.

10.1007/978-3-319-93443-3_30-1.

Information Technology and Quality Assurance Unit. Information Technology and Quality

Assurance Unit / Departments / Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational

Training. (n.d.). Retrieved November 9, 2021, from

https://mes.gov.bb/Departments/PCU/.

Midgley, J. 1995: Social development: The developmental perspective in social

welfare. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS, Strategic Plan of Barbados 2005-

2025 (2005).

OECD. (2016). EDUCATION IN CHINA A Snapshot. Retrieved November 12, 2021, from

https://www.oecd.org/china/bytopic/education/.

Pilgrim, M., Hornby, G., & Inniss, T. (2018). Selective secondary school education in

Barbados: The need for change. Journal of International and Comparative Education,

7(2), 111–126.

Rudder, R. (2014). Barbados education for all 2015 national review. Barbados: Ministry of

Education, Science, Technology and Innovation. St. Michael, Barbados: Government of

Barbados. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000230018. Accessed 20 October

2021.
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Sam, C. (2016). THE CHALLENGES AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS OF FINANCING

EDUCATION IN THE CARIBBEAN. Caribbean Educational Research Journal, 4(2),

122–138.

Tobgay, T. (2016, February). This country isn’t just carbon neutral – it’s carbon negative

[video]. TED Conferences.

https://www.ted.com/talks/tshering_tobgay_this_country_isn_t_just_carbon_neutral_it_

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