I'll combine your two questions to me in one answer.
Right now, in our schools there are classes that are part of the curriculum. (Or they were in my time.) I guess one could even call them mandatory:) - English (reading, writing etc.) Math. History, Geography. Spanish. Physical Education and, if they still do it, Civics. It would take little effort to incorporate some of your ten points into those courses.
English - Critical thinking skills could be added here. The student could use the books they are reading and subject them to critical thinking skills. Memory skills could be plowed into this as well.
History could put more stress on our history. PS. Our History is linked to the History of Africa as well as the History of these Islands.
Spanish need not be the only option as a language.
P.E. Could include Martial arts, even teach mental and physical wellness as well.
Civics could be used for teaching Citizenship and even Law.
If I was the Minister of Education I would agitate for such a change. I might even try to convince a Private school to adopt the change. As people began to see the good things that came out of such a program then maybe there would be a demand that other schools follow.
Kids would still be learning the fundamentals but they would be getting the extra benefit of expanding the fundamentals.
If I could only have one of those changes, it would be the Martial Arts - including T'ai Chi. Here a kid would learn discipline, physical well being, mental well being (to a point.) It would increase their self respect and would give them a confidence in themselves - if that is, it was properly taught.



Thank you CG for the clarification. I am not advocating ammendments in the educational system i purposing the dismantling of the entire structure and creating a new one.

When I look at the system we have in place and the shear number of autotrins that the country produces each year there is no choice but to have a revoultion in education. The system dose not work.

Tai Chi is an excellent art, i have been practicing for Thriteen years now.

Now that is kashanga. You don't build a nation by flying in for one day and scratch an x on a piece of paper every few years. That is the brain drain right now. That is a total and absolute copout. Change is made by living the example and teaching others it is a form of humble pride in ones self, others and country.
Those in my trade barley scratch out a living I would be way better of in a bigger country I mean way better off. Foreigners provide product in my trade and Bahamian merchants like it like that. One day I cornered one of the merchants that bought 6 of this and 6 of that while she bought gross of this and gross of that from foreigner and it was delivered the same day I took mine down. I confronted her right then and there. "I know your this and that is better quality and better price but if I give you that kind of business you could become my competition". I have proven this over and over again.
We have been robbed at gunpoint twice and has set us back worse that square 1. We are still in recovery of the last robbery. Yeah I know insurance that is another story.
With all that is against me gender and trade wise I am still here this is my home. I will live the change of attitude not run from it.



Whatever. You want attention. You can say the dumbest things you wish. Its not going to get me riled up enough to waste time arguing with an imbecile.

Whatever. You want attention. You can say the dumbest things you wish. Its not going to get me riled up enough to waste time arguing with an imbecile.
:what:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3565421.stm
interesting article discussing how many educated africans are leaving the continent for europe/n. america. i know this isnt a new issue, but do you see this as a serious issue facing our country? are there really so many of us that leave home and never come back? i'm playing with the idea of moving home, but the prospect terrifies me. that might sound stupid, but the longer you are away from home, the harder it might be to re-adjust. of course home is always home, but well...so anyway, any thoughts on this?


I know that this doesn't respond to your question directly, but you should come home. I know for many of us the Bahamas isn't as progressive as we would like it but we should be reminded that the country is only 32 years old. The Bahamas desperately needs its talent (ALL OF IT) to come back to make a contribution. I know that there are a host of issues that one has to weigh but that's truly the only way the country will move forward.

From the time that I've been viewing this site, one thing is apparent, that we all know the issues that challenge us a nation - nepotism, perceived corruption and so on...The only way though to kill that cycle is for people who are outraged and revolted by it to actually hit the ground and try to change it. What if the F....... point of just complaining about the issues if we don't have the fortitude / will to fix them!

I love when people say things like that...

I left the Bahamas in 1998. From 1989 to 1998 I went everywhere with my mother and the FNM party. I was 14 years old trying to get people to vote and educate themselves on the issues. Eventually the FNM came to power in 1992. One goal accomplished. Then it was the issue of providing Bahamians with opportunities. Many of them felt that the only way to get a job was to go and talk to their MP -- that's how you did it in the years prior to the FNM assuming power. Had to squash that. People needed to be educated and qualified in order to get decent jobs. Tackled that issue. Now Bahamian students were getting scholarships and loans to go to university. But, problems start to arise when students were taking the money and doing stupid things with it. There was still the issue of a nasty looking city. That's where the summer programs came in. I was in the street with my garbage bag picking up trash at the East Park, the park on Shirley Street right off from St. James Road, even paved roads in Adelaide. But the most important issue if decentralization just couldn't happen. Bahamians couldn't see that far into the future. Rebuilding a nation doesn't happen at the snap of a finger. Things had to happen brick by brick. But while you're building and the people that you are building for are trying to hold you back from helping them -- it got to a point where you just give up and look back on your life to realize that you're 25 years old and the only people that you've lived for don't appreciate anything you've done or want to do for them.

So you pack your georgie bungle and leave...

I love when people say things like that...
I left the Bahamas in 1998. From 1989 to 1998 I went everywhere with my mother and the FNM party. I was 14 years old trying to get people to vote and educate themselves on the issues. Eventually the FNM came to power in 1992. One goal accomplished. Then it was the issue of providing Bahamians with opportunities. Many of them felt that the only way to get a job was to go and talk to their MP -- that's how you did it in the years prior to the FNM assuming power. Had to squash that. People needed to be educated and qualified in order to get decent jobs. Tackled that issue. Now Bahamian students were getting scholarships and loans to go to university. But, problems start to arise when students were taking the money and doing stupid things with it. There was still the issue of a nasty looking city. That's where the summer programs came in. I was in the street with my garbage bag picking up trash at the East Park, the park on Shirley Street right off from St. James Road, even paved roads in Adelaide. But the most important issue if decentralization just couldn't happen. Bahamians couldn't see that far into the future. Rebuilding a nation doesn't happen at the snap of a finger. Things had to happen brick by brick. But while you're building and the people that you are building for are trying to hold you back from helping them -- it got to a point where you just give up and look back on your life to realize that you're 25 years old and the only people that you've lived for don't appreciate anything you've done or want to do for them.
So you pack your georgie bungle and leave...

cop out

^^ Just because you're alive doesn't mean I care.

I love when people say things like that...
I left the Bahamas in 1998. From 1989 to 1998 I went everywhere with my mother and the FNM party. I was 14 years old trying to get people to vote and educate themselves on the issues. Eventually the FNM came to power in 1992. One goal accomplished. Then it was the issue of providing Bahamians with opportunities. Many of them felt that the only way to get a job was to go and talk to their MP -- that's how you did it in the years prior to the FNM assuming power. Had to squash that. People needed to be educated and qualified in order to get decent jobs. Tackled that issue. Now Bahamian students were getting scholarships and loans to go to university. But, problems start to arise when students were taking the money and doing stupid things with it. There was still the issue of a nasty looking city. That's where the summer programs came in. I was in the street with my garbage bag picking up trash at the East Park, the park on Shirley Street right off from St. James Road, even paved roads in Adelaide. But the most important issue if decentralization just couldn't happen. Bahamians couldn't see that far into the future. Rebuilding a nation doesn't happen at the snap of a finger. Things had to happen brick by brick. But while you're building and the people that you are building for are trying to hold you back from helping them -- it got to a point where you just give up and look back on your life to realize that you're 25 years old and the only people that you've lived for don't appreciate anything you've done or want to do for them.
So you pack your georgie bungle and leave...


I think that many of your conclusions are inaccurately drawn and also that your political slant is skews your sense of reality. When the FNM came into power they were not the saviours and initiaters of a meritocracy. Furthermore, no government has given as many scholarships or assisted in deepening the professional class more than the Pindling administration. Also, the FNM's loan scholarhip scheme was riddled with problems and poorly concieved. A fatal flaw of the scheme was (or is, if it still occurs) is that cheques are made payable to the individual and not the institution - internal control at its most basic. Again your post smacks of partisanship and as such should hopefully be ignored as simply bad propaganda.

Furthermore, no government has given as many scholarships or assisted in deepening the professional class more than the Pindling administration.

No government?? You mean no Bahamian government?? And in 25 years of dictatorship, it would be a damn shame if they didn't do more than the FNM being in power for half the time. But...I'm too bored and disinterested to make you look like a bigger fool than you have already. So I'll return to yawning as it appears to be a more stimulating endeavor.

No government?? You mean no Bahamian government?? And in 25 years of dictatorship, it would be a damn shame if they didn't do more than the FNM being in power for half the time. But...I'm too bored and disinterested to make you look like a bigger fool than you have already. So I'll return to yawning as it appears to be a more stimulating endeavor.


You obviously have no recall of Bahamian history or you simply chose to ignore it, which qualifies you as the fool. I never sought to compare the record of the FNM (1992-2002) to that of the PLP (1967-1992) as that would be a completely unfair to the FNM. All I was simply trying to convey homey is that your analysis was flawed but then it is obvious that you are simply an ***, so forget it and remain in your small world.

To some extent there is a fair number of Bahamians studying abroad who may not return to The Bahamas to setup a permenant home. A small place such as The Bahamas has many disadvantages. For instance, The Bahamas cannot match the economic and intellectual opportunities that the United States, Canada and Europe offer.

I do want to add another dimension to the "brain drain" debate:

With the negative attitudes toward Haitians and Bahamians of Haitian descent, why should an educated Bahamian of Haitian descent return to The Bahamas?

.....I do want to add another dimension to the "brain drain" debate:
With the negative attitudes toward Haitians and Bahamians of Haitian descent, why should an educated Bahamian of Haitian descent return to The Bahamas?

Good point! Why indeed?

With the negative attitudes toward Haitians and Bahamians of Haitian descent, why should an educated Bahamian of Haitian descent return to The Bahamas?


If he or she is intergrated into Bahamian society and identify themselves as Bahamians then they should come back home if only to quash those negative attitudes. Bahamians who hold that view do so because they dislike that many Haitians that have moved to the Bahamas have no interest in absorbing themselves into Bahamian culture (way of life). That my friend poses a significant threat to the sovereignty of the Bahamas, as they essentially erect their own citiy within the legitimate cities of the Bahamas. That said, if examples of Bahamians of Haitian parentage can be seen and realised that allign themselves with the Bahamas - on all issues - that would do a lot to quash the attitude to which you refer. If Haitians want to be accepted then they must adopt Bahamian customs and practices.

Stupidity knows no bounds.

Anybody that knows the history of the Bahamas knows that the FNM inherited a hole. When you inherit a hole, most of your time is spent trying to fill that hole. When the FNM came to power they adopted a cancer of a society. Bahamians expected all of the PLP inflected wounds to heal overnight. You don't repair 25 years of damage overnight. My point was, Bahamians are so shortsighted that they didn't understand the process of sacrifice before gain or walking before flight. People so self-interested fought the process of repairing the country as a whole that the people interested in helping the country as a whole just gave up. And left. Love it or hate it. I am not interested in returning to a people that don't understand the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. If that's how we'll play....then I'm fine with it. I can be just as self-interested. But don't feel bitter when you and the country are floating down the toilet because there are no qualified Bahamians willing to take the reins and reintroduce integrity, values, and pride to a moral void of hedonism and self-service.

Bahamians who hold that view do so because they dislike that many Haitians that have moved to the Bahamas have no interest in absorbing themselves into Bahamian culture (way of life). That my friend poses a significant threat to the sovereignty of the Bahamas, as they essentially erect their own citiy within the legitimate cities of the Bahamas. That said, if examples of Bahamians of Haitian parentage can be seen and realised that allign themselves with the Bahamas - on all issues - that would do a lot to quash the attitude to which you refer. If Haitians want to be accepted then they must adopt Bahamian customs and practices.

And so the light shined down from heaven upon the truth :angel: