There is an exquisite Jamaican saying: “When dog have money, him buy cheese.” That is most applicable to our national spending on tertiary education. The expression means we recklessly purchase unnecessary items when we get excess funds. Hosein R and Tewarie B (2007) saw this recklessness concerning our tertiary education …
Read More »Noble: T&T’s Education system still broken after 60 years—and all we hear is “Yada! Yada! Yada!”
In the long-running comedy series, Seinfeld, the phrase “yada, yada, yada” became popularised. Marcy, a character, used the expression to hide important details, while George used it to avoid speaking about an unpleasant incident. When they discuss their use of the idiom, George discovers that Marcy is a shoplifter. The …
Read More »Demming: Should taxpayers fund tertiary education? What is government’s role?
The following column is based on the author’s participation in the online forum by the Trade and Economic Division of the Department of Economics, the University of the West Indies, St Augustine on the topic The Funding of Tertiary Level Education in Trinidad and Tobago: My favourite quote about education …
Read More »The cost of marginalising Tech-Voc Education (Pt 2): full certificates and the ignored gender agenda
“We cannot simply produce a Policy for Education and not seek to educate the public on the value of Tech-Voc education. We must also demonstrate that value by offering Technology Education in all schools as a core subject in the National Curriculum. “[…] Another concept that needs to be examined …
Read More »The cost of marginalising Tech-Voc Education: a country of ‘technicians’ but not ‘technologists’
“The idea that bright students use their brains rather than their hands continues to haunt the Education System; it has a demonstrably negative effect on the Tech-Voc subjects. “[…] The result of this prejudice is that we have technicians but not technologists, that we produce students who can repair shoes …
Read More »Dear Editor: Five reasons the worst is yet to come in T&T
Recent events in Trinidad and Tobago like the closing of Petrotrin and many other examples have signalled that we are in crisis. For some, we are seeing a crisis of leadership, for others, we are seeing a crisis of governance. It is hard to deny that our future is uncertain. …
Read More »“Pure evilness and unjustness!” TTHTI faculty rages as students asked to pay GATE shortfall to graduate
“How do young people not get disenchanted with education and the stupid systems that are put in place in Trinidad and Tobago when over 50 students are told that they cannot graduate because the Institute that they belong to did not receive GATE funding for them? “And, to add insult …
Read More »Dear Editor: Kambon’s eviction speaks to high-handed, lowbrow behaviour at The UWI
“Professor Copeland’s [alleged] designation of Kambon as ‘persona non grata’ and his subsequent eviction for daring to make a contribution on the proposed renaming (was), in my opinion, a clear violation of (his) constitutional right to freedom of speech which, it has to be noted, is at the foundation of the University’s …
Read More »Street Vibe: Invest in your people! Why the Gov’t must find money for education
At a very early age my parents, who were unable to read and write, stressed education as they understood it to be the future. The then Prime Minister, Dr Eric Williams, reminded us that “the future of the nation is in the book bags of the children.” This was the …
Read More »Dear Editor: Is Govt helping UWI students to harm themselves? Does payment plan need fixing?
“The UWI is developing a track record for demonstrating that money trumps student welfare at the institution. “In fairness, I agree that students should pay what is owed. However, the point at which the administration demands this payment clearly shows that the institution is more concerned with dollars and cents …
Read More »Letter to 868: The Political Education at UTT
Universities are generally considered to be hallowed halls, a place where minds both young and mature go to explore and investigate new reams and upper limits of thinking, while removing barriers and boundaries, all with the acceptance that the end will see human kind better for all the expectations that …
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