Educate with a difference

Tue, Oct 11. 2011

Editor: I was made to understand that our schools are being equipped with several pieces of audio-visual equipment and, in my opinion, this is excellent. I am certain they would enhance the delivery by the teachers. However, I still believe that we will not maximize the use of this equipment.{{more}}

To many children, going to school is tedious, with the repetition of one teacher after the next, especially in secondary schools. We have to come up with creative ways of trying to hold the attention of children at school. I believe that the use of audio-visual equipment is very important, because different pieces of material can be sourced and shown to the class. The objective should be to inspire our children to greater things. It means therefore, that the Ministry of Education should try to acquire documentaries on great persons who knew no limit to the acquisition of knowledge and were able to perform great feats. There are documentaries on some great speeches given by persons in various fields and these should form part of the learning material. I feel that similar documentaries should be shown on local television on a regular basis. I am amazed at the number of religious channels that are offered as part of our cable television. I suggest that they should be offered as a religious package and see how many persons would buy that package.

I sometimes have to ask myself when something becomes history. In the strict interpretation of the word, something is history once time has passed. My concern is that history in our schools has to do with mainly with the transatlantic slave trade and other issues of the distant past. However, I believe that this should not be all of it. Things like the uprising that took place in Trinidad, the work of persons like George Mc Intosh and E. T. Joshua should be taught at a very early age and should now form part of our history lessons. The problem is that we have to prepare our children to sit a regional exam, therefore emphasis is placed on passing these exams; but in the process we are not creating a rounded and knowledgeable individual.

I would conclude that we more often than not do things out of routine or tradition. However, we are not inspired as a people; therefore hardly anything creative comes out of this society.

Mystic