Dr. Baptiste – Human Capital is the key to economic development

If education is to be improved in the Caribbean, the ‘little things’ in the system must first be addressed.{{more}}

This is the advice of Dr. Martin Baptiste of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and featured speaker at the inaugural lecture of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College lecture series.

The event took place on Wednesday, March 30, 2011, at the Peace Memorial Hall, under the theme: “Education, the Gateway”.

Baptiste spoke on the topic “Education, the way forward: Getting it and getting it right.”

Baptiste stated that the people of the Caribbean are great architects and that they are good at conceptualizing big ideas.

He reminded the audience that it is the “little foxes that spoil the vine” and that it is “the small axe that would take down the great tree.”

The importance of education to the development of the society was emphasized, not only by Baptiste, but also by fellow speaker Joseph Bobb, a student teacher of the SVGCC.

The role of education in shaping the society and improving the economy was also highlighted.

“No country can sustain economic development without substantial investment in human capital, because it raises productivity, creativity, entrepreneurship and technological advances, “ Baptiste said.

Baptiste, discussing the ‘little things’ that needed to be considered in the education system, highlighted the process of education as a continuum. This continuum, he explained, makes its start at the beginning of a person’s education at early childhood and continues into primary, secondary, tertiary and other levels. The essence of this continuum, Baptiste related, is that the foundations must be built at the earlier level and building continued as the levels progress.

Baptiste mentioned the importance of the quality of education received at each level and that students must have the full educational experience required at that level before moving on.

He also spoke about democratizing the process of education. Baptiste related that, in some cases, the curriculum of a grade is usually covered with some children not mastering the subject areas. “It cannot be that we cover the curriculum whether or not there is mastery in the first year. We’re supposed to cover the children. Cover the children,” Baptiste said. He added that some teachers often make remarks that the ministry is going to judge their teaching based on the results of the children. He, however, contended that once the curriculum is covered without all the children mastering the subjects, the result will not turn out well.

The process of the selection of teachers was also examined, as Baptiste stated that more attention should be paid to the person behind the qualifications. “We need to ensure that the persons who we select as teachers are the best persons we can find, and I mean emphasizing the non-academic criteria and focusing more so on the softer, nurturing, human, graceful, pleasant, lovely attributes that you cannot infer by looking at a paper that says Associate Degree in General Studies,” Baptiste said.

He added that the attitudes of teachers should also be considered when appointing them.

“So if you ‘bark’ in the school, it’s not at my son, it’s because …your feet are killing you,” Baptiste said.

Baptiste also spoke of the importance of greater investments in education, and the steps to move forward in the effort to improve the education system.