“[…] The Ministry of Education says to the public that they have trained us, but they have not. We basically had to use videos and articles from the internet to figure things out. “[…] I am not able to do my job the way that I’m accustomed to. I don’t …
Read More »Daly Bread: Strokes of the pen of life; the cost of ‘digital poverty’
Our beloved and vibrant niece Sarita had joined us for a day during a sunny Mayaro week. I did not know it at the time, but while the laughter and camaraderie overlooking the beach were at their height, she had shown her aunt something under her arm. Ten days later, …
Read More »Best: Why a teacher-led classroom is still a locus of a lot of learning
Like the archer’s arrow into the flame cauldron at the Barcelona Olympics, it sailed out into the arena from beneath the old wooden scoreboard at the Queen’s Park Oval. It’s a Shell Shield game. Inshan Ali, the left-arm unorthodox spinner who first made the national team as a teenager, has …
Read More »Daly Bread: Online school issues condemning T&T students to a learning death sentence
Partisan political delusion invariably masks reality. Sometimes, persisting in the delusion means denying a reality that is capable of irretrievably damaging real people. The current state of online learning contains crippling elements of delusion, so fundamental that it is possible that many children have been condemned to a learning death …
Read More »Media Monitor: Chalkdust’s advice, Fourth Estate allies and education today
Until David Rudder came along to fill our hearts and minds with his inspirational repertoire, Ah Fraid Karl ranked up there with the best. And Ah Put on Mih Guns Again was among my top dozen favourite calypsoes. So having long recognised his worth as a calypsonian, I have no …
Read More »Noble: We’re witnessing governance crisis on education, POS reform and Venezuelan migration
“We will never bring disgrace to this, our city, by any act of dishonesty or cowardice, nor ever desert our suffering comrades in the ranks. We will fight for the ideals and sacred things of the city, both alone and with many. “We will revere and obey the city’s laws …
Read More »Media Monitor: Chalkdust’s embarrassing offering on education in the age of smart boards and laptops.
Education kills … by degrees! That graffito leapt off the walls of the London Underground at me about half a century ago. And stayed with me. Last weekend’s Sunday Express brought it back to the front of my mind. And reminded me as well of this idea, long espoused by …
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 »Daly Bread: Patriotic manoeuvres on energy and education
Not for the first time, I wondered last week about the coherence of some of the government’s objectives. I noted that the chairman of the committee on community recovery gave an empathetic update on its work so far, but I wondered again whether that empathy would be shared by those …
Read More »Daly Bread: Disconnections and loose ends; making education our ‘great equaliser’
I paid more detailed attention to the Budget debates this year because our country is so down. The Opposition had little fresh content to offer. Most contributions represented attempts to fight over the General Election, which it lost nine weeks ago. The Opposition is so bazodee that, despite its recent …
Read More »Virtual lessons in the time of Covid-19: Day in the life of a school teacher
“[…] Tutors face many challenges in this pandemic era that they possibly were not prepared for at teaching college. Most students are technologically savvy, and in the age of memes and TikTok, teachers are at risk of being ridiculed…” Today Wired868 features a secondary school visual arts teacher with more …
Read More »Daly Bread: Bake, dumpling, cereal and banking czars—a people out of touch
As a small boy, I grew up knowing that my single parent mother was in a sou sou. Many decades later I have lived to read that the current governor of the Central Bank was surprised to learn of the extent of the practice of sou sou. The czars of …
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