The final signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training (METVT) and the Accreditation Commission on Colleges of Medicine (ACCM), Ireland, signals Government’s desire to formalise its commitment and reaffirm its vision of providing access to accreditation for medical education institutions.

Minister of State in the Ministry, Sandra Husbands, made this assertion yesterday at the virtual MOU signing, in the Ministry’s Media Resource Department Auditorium, Constitution Road, St. Michael. She stated that Government is committed to ensuring that the education provided in this country meets global standards.

“Today, this event marks a pivotal moment in the Barbados Government’s ongoing efforts to foster collaboration and to provide additional choices for accreditation to the medical education institutions operating here in Barbados.

“For this Ministry, the accreditation of medical schools is of utmost importance, since it will ultimately benefit our partners in education, stakeholders, and the communities we serve. This partnership will allow us to share best practices, resources, and expertise, ensuring that our accreditation processes are rigorous and relevant,” she said.

Ms. Husbands believes that the aim of the Government, in fostering this collaboration, is to create an environment that promotes educational excellence, professional development, and a culture of continuous improvement and accountability.

She added that accreditation is not merely a stamp of approval, but it also signals quality and trust, and urged stakeholders to remember that this is just the beginning.

“Barbados’ commitment to excellence will guide our efforts as we build a lasting partnership focused on open communication, shared accountability, and mutual respect.  The Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training looks forward to working with ACCM, as we continue to establish global standards for all medical institutions operating on our shores.”

The Minister also expressed gratitude to the teams in Barbados and Ireland who were involved in the preparatory work leading up to the culmination of the MOU signing. 

She commended them for their hard work and commitment to the process, and highlighted the contributions made by Deputy Permanent Secretary in METVT, Deborah Dowridge, the offices of the Solicitor General, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, the Barbados Accreditation Council, and the Ministry’s Tertiary Section.

“You have made this agreement possible, and I’m confident that it will lead to fruitful outcomes for all the parties involved. I look forward to witnessing the positive impacts coming from our collaboration,” she said.

ACCM, Ireland, was represented by Professor Hilary Sanfey.  Professor Sanfey echoed the sentiments of Minister Husbands and expressed her appreciation to Deputy Permanent Secretary Dowridge for her assistance and patience in assisting her organisation in navigating the process.

“As you know, ACCM is an independent non-profit organisation based in the Republic of Ireland, and we act on behalf of a number of governments, in relation to the accreditation of medical education programmes leading to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and in the majority of medical schools currently under accreditation by ACC (American College of Cardiology Accreditation Services).

“The student body is drawn predominantly from North America, where the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) is the recognised authority for the accreditation of medical education. Therefore, we have developed standards that are closely aligned with those of the LCME, and we have been granted recognition by the World Federation for Medical Education for a period of 10 years,” she explained.

Present for the virtual signing were representatives from METVT, ACCM, Barbados Accreditation Council, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. The first MOU signing took place in September of this year, and this was the final MOU signing for medical education purposes. (PR/GIS)

Caption: Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training(METVT), Sandra Husbands signing the final MOU, while Quality Assurance Officer with the Barbados Accreditation Council, Karen Collins (left) and Administrative Officer with the METVT, Tracey Squires-Clarke (centre), look on.

For close to 177 years, the National Library Service (NLS) has been fulfilling its mandate of serving the Barbadian community as a ready source of information products and services.

Many adults can share memories of their youth while at a branch of the NLS and being caught up in the pages of their favourite book, or a magazine on cooking or craft.

In recent times, the NLS has broadened its scope by offering training programmes to assist young children and adults in improving their literacy and other skills geared towards the workforce.

One such initiative was the recent Pave Your Path Summer Programme for Job Seekers, held at the Tamarind Hall Branch in the Eric Holder Junior Municipal Complex, St. Joseph, for young people ages 16 and over. This was a first for the NLS. 

Participants were taught business etiquette, how to write a Curriculum Vitae and Cover letter, prepare for a job interview, and communicate at work.  There was also a session on opening a bank account and financial literacy.  

Officer in Charge of the Tamarind Hall Branch, Astrid Mayers, who conceptualised the programme, spoke about its significance to a team from the Barbados Government Information Service (BGIS), who journeyed there to capture the students in action.

“I know that there are other governmental organisations that do something similar, but I feel like the library, in recent times, needs to pivot from just books and reading and studying, to educating the public. In other words, emphasis should be placed on more than just book learning but on life learning…. So, teaching people how to do a CV to enter the world of work…is something that people need to know how to do.”Officer in Charge of the Tamarind Hall Branch, Astrid Mayers

She stated: “Usually the library does summer programmes, but it is targeted towards children, five to 15. What I have noticed is that this branch, in particular, does not have a lot of juvenile patronage. But more importantly, I have found that a lot of people who come in to get their CVs printed, or they come in to do a CV, genuinely don’t know what to do.

“After a few years of seeing that and just being like ‘this is not what this is supposed to look like’, I thought to myself, you know what? I have the freedom now that I am here at [Tamarind Hall], to have a programme and target it to who I want to target it to.  So, I pivoted from the juveniles to the young adults.”

Ms. Mayers continued: “So, I thought ‘if they are doing CV’s what else would they need to know?’  So, I thought that I’d let them also figure out how to do interviews. When you go to an interview, from my experience, there’s always that question at the end where they ask if you have any questions? I always think, ‘what is this person talking about?’  So, I decided that I will also include that.”

The NLS branch officer noted that a chance conversation with one of the facilitators, Ms. Shirley Morris, unearthed additional elements that could be added to the programme.

“When I spoke to my facilitator, Ms. Shirley Morris, she told me about including soft skills, and we also know that financial literacy is a major talking point now.  So, we reached out to the bank [Republic Bank] and asked them to have a chat with participants about opening their first bank account, using a credit card…. They were willing to come out and speak with us.”

Ms. Mayers said participants were enthusiastic to be a part of the programme and were grateful for the knowledge gained from the facilitators. 

“I know that there are other governmental organisations that do something similar, but I feel like the library, in recent times, needs to pivot from just books and reading and studying, to educating the public. In other words, emphasis should be placed on more than just book learning but on life learning…. So, teaching people how to do a CV to enter the world of work…is something that people need to know how to do,” Ms. Mayers remarked.

She continued: “Libraries around the world have seen a fall-off in people coming in to read because it’s so much easier for you to get your information elsewhere. But at the same time, libraries all over the world are pivoting their services to meet those needs. So, if it is that you see that nobody’s coming in to read Hardy Boys books, stop buying the Hardy Boys books and give them something else that they want. So, it’s really a matter of seeing your patrons, knowing your patrons, meeting their needs, which is what we are trying to do with this programme, and any programmes going forward.”

The BGIS team was also present to see the role-play session of the programme. Senior Manager of Retail Banking at Republic Bank, Sandra Reifer-Wallerson, swapped roles with the eager participants, as she went through the process of opening a bank account.

She explained that the session was part of the bank’s Power to Make a Difference Outreach Programme, and was happy to partner with the Tamarind Hall Branch to prepare young school leavers for the world of work, understanding how to open a bank account and the responsibilities of having a bank account.

“We spoke about the documents required to open an account; when you have an account, the responsibilities of spending the money; how you fashion it out. What do you do? A portion of it would go to your rent, for example, some for groceries, maintenance, and medical. So, they covered all of that. We talked about KYC, or know your customer, and we covered a bit of money laundering as well.

“The session took the format where they would do most of the talking and they would do a role play.  I found that role play is always handy to reinforce anything that you have learnt,” she explained.

Meanwhile,16-year-old Barbados Community College student, Erica Carrington, who was adjudged the most outstanding participant by her peers, was effusive in her praise of the programme. She said she would readily recommend it to others if it is offered next year.

“The programme gives you valuable information, yet it is not boring and drawn out… All of the sessions were useful, but the one that really stood out for me is the session on interviews, where the facilitator gave us all of the information on what and what not to do during an interview.  At the end, we got the opportunity to act out a mock interview with the facilitator,” she shared.

Ms. Mayers is optimistic that the Pave Your Path Summer Programme can be added to the NLS’ list of activities going forward, pointing out “that knowledge is power”. (PR/GIS)

Caption: Officer in charge of the National Library Service’s Tamarind Hall Branch, Astrid Mayers (left) and Senior Manager of Retail Banking at Republic Bank, Sandra Reifer-Wallerson, sharing the moment with participants of the Pave Your Path Programme

There are many layers to the challenge of violence in schools, and it will take the efforts of everyone working together in a ‘whole-of-country’ approach to overcome.

Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training, Kay McConney, stated this in a recorded address to the nation, over the weekend. 

Noting that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’, she said her Ministry recognises that partnership with the village is crucial, and more support is needed to provide children, teachers, and parents with the support they need. 

“There is concern about violent acts which have happened in some of our schools recently.  Members of the public are feeling worried for the safety of our children and worried about violent behaviour in the wider society that is making its way into the school environment,” she stated.  

According to Minister McConney, children live what they learn and they bring to school some of what they learn even outside of school – the good and the bad.  

She added that while school must first and foremost focus on delivering quality education that caters to all, the Ministry cannot get away in these times from being increasingly vigilant, and placing greater emphasis on safety and security.

She said weapons do not belong in the hands of children, but revealed that there are instances where children admitted that they were encouraged by an adult to carry a knife or a scissors to school for protection.

The Education Minister further stated that fighting must not be the first option for resolving conflict, simply because some of children have not yet learnt how to cope when they get angry.  As a result, a boiling point has been reached, where bad behaviour is bubbling over into learning time, creating far too many disruptions at the primary and secondary levels.

She disclosed that the Ministry of Education had partnered with others over the last four to five years to ‘ramp up’ the number of qualified persons in the Ministry’s Student Services Unit, which deals with psychological and social support to students, parents, teachers, and guardians.

“What we did is, we have recognised it is not just about dealing with violent behaviour at the beginning, but it is also about us giving the necessary support as our students seek to cope…  The many layers that education touches means that we must continue to work collaboratively with each other in what I call an ‘all-as-one’ effort,” she said.

Ms. McConney mentioned that some strong school leaders/principals have taken a firm stance on discipline and have been able to rein in bad behaviour and successfully manage the level of disruptive incidents at their schools.  She added that the same effort needs to be replicated across the [school] system.

In reference to numbers received from within the Ministry, she said less than one per cent of the total school population, approximately 300 plus children, in a school system that has just below 40,000, nearly 37,000, are the ones giving trouble. Minister McConney added that while this percentage may seem relatively small, it is still too much. 

She pointed out that while every secondary school has some form of security, it needs to be strengthened not only in the numbers of the security personnel, but in proper planning, risk management, training in best practices, and in the use of appropriate equipment suited for school environments.  

Similarly, in primary, nursery and special education schools, a security audit conducted by the Ministry showed that just over half have an appropriate level of security in personnel, cameras, systems of practice and equipment.

While admitting that there is much work that needs to be done regarding the physical security of schools, Ms. McConney said the Ministry had conducted security audits of schools and a draft National School Security and Safety Policy had been prepared and was now being finalised, thanks to the support of a wide-ranging coalition of partners. 

This coalition comprises representatives from the Barbados Defence Force, The Barbados Police Service, the Defence and Security Division, the Barbados Fire Service, the unions associated with the school system, the National Student Council, the National Council of Parent Teacher Associations, and the Ministry of Education. (PR/GIS)