The Chairman of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) Education Reform Committee, Dr Ian Marshall, has slammed the government’s proposed education reform plans, describing them as “faddish and devoid of serious intellectual rigour and analysis”.As the government continues to promote its reform proposals, dubbed Education Transformation, the BUT group has staked its position – the plans must be backed by a strong policy framework, transparent processes, and a clear alignment with economic realities.Speaking at an event organised by the BUT, titled Caribbean Teachers Talk 3:50 & Beyond, Dr Marshall said the reforms were “long in political expediency but short on contextual applicability”.One aspect of the reform plan is the introduction of a new school certification called the Barbados National Secondary Diploma (BNSD), aimed at showing student competence in certain areas. Dr Marshall questioned the rationale behind this diploma, arguing that in his experience, the previous Barbados Secondary School Leaving Certificate was not widely used to help individuals advance academically or acquire jobs.“What value is such a qualification in circumstances where other qualifications, namely CSEC (Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate) and CAPE (Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination), supersede them and for which there is greater currency in the marketplace?” he queried.
