144 | Campus Events
School of Education hosts Biennial Online Conference
Chief Education Officer, Dr Ramona Archer- Bradshaw, has called for a review of the education system to ensure that students receive instruction that is relevant to their current and future needs. She was addressing the Schools of Education Biennial Online Conference which was held from June 15-16 under the theme ‘Reimagining Education for Global Sustainability’. “When we think ahead we have to ask ourselves, what do we want our future to look like? What are the competitive advantages do we want our students to have as they go out into the real world? What are the distinctive competen- cies that we want them to have and how should we teach them?” she told the virtual audience. Dr Archer-Bradshaw announced that as part of steps to reimagine Barbados’ education system, the Ministry of Education recently completed a strategic plan which focuses on imagination, transformation and the leading of education for a future Barbados. She outlined five specific goals set under this plan: “These five goals include the learning outcomes of our students, improving teachers’ quality of instructional leadership, enhancing the physical infrastructure, strengthening the operational functioning of this ministry, and enhancing our regulatory framework.” The education administrator noted that any reimagination of the education system must be systematic, based on research, and must also be sustainable. “I know when we speak of education there’s a tendency to focus on the Sustainable (Development) Goal Four that speaks to the inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong opportunities for all. However, we must recognise that Sustainable Goal Eight is extremely impor- tant. (It) deals with the promotion of sustained inclusive, and sustainable equitable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all. “The two sustainable development goals are inextricably linked. It means that we have to find a way for our education system to prepare our students that they’re able to function
as contributing citizens in the future,” Archer-Bradshaw said. Technical Specialist in Education Management at the St Lucia-based OECS Commission, Germain Anthony, high- lighted the need to go beyond reimagining the education system, saying there is a need to focus on technological development. “We (are) really focused on trying to develop a digital learning ecosystem that would support lifelong learning, and the idea is that this would be a type of platform … or environment that promotes learning at all levels, at all stages. And so be it the K to 12, higher education, profes- sional development, there’s a lot that we’re in the process of doing. “But more important than that is the philosophy that learning is continuous. And I think that is something we need to embed in the minds of all of our children in school, that you never stop learning, and in the minds of our educa- tors, that you never stop learning,” Anthony said.
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES CAVE HILL CAMPUS ANNUAL REPORT TO COUNCIL 2021/2022
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