Mahogany CoConut Blog

One Caribbean Nation. ‘BACK TO BLACK’ PRESCOD CALLS FOR PAN- AFRICANISM IN EDUCATION REFORM By Shanna Moore The prime minister's special envoy for reparations and economic enfranchisement, Trevor Prescod, has called for a bold reimagining of Barbados' education system, urging policymakers to centre African civilisation and Pan-Africanist thought in the curriculum as part of the government's broader reform agenda, which includes abolishing the 11-plus exam and decolonising learning. In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Prescod shared that without this reclamation, efforts to reform the education system would fall short of addressing its deeper flaws. "Any true reformation or revolutionary changes in the education system must restore the presence of the civilisation of the African people, both in Africa and in the diaspora," he said. "No other changes in the education system make any sense unless we can make that reclamation of who we are, let African people ...

One Caribbean Nation. ‘Abolish 11-Plus’: VETERAN EDUCATOR ADAMS SLAMS ‘EXAM INEQUALITY’ By Sheria Brathwaite Former senator and retired principal Alwyn Adams on Friday reignited calls to scrap the Barbados Secondary School Entrance Examination, commonly known as the 11-Plus, describing it as an outdated relic of educational segregation that stifles the potential of the working class. While delivering the keynote address at Speech Day of St Leonard's Boys' Secondary School where he was once principal, Adams criticised the island's education system, declaring that it was failing the people and urgently needed reform. Repeating a call made two years ago, he argued that the common entrance examination is an antiquated mechanism designed to limit the academic advancement of Barbados' working class and perpetuate educational segregation. He said then that with Barbados having transitioned to a republic, the country ought to get rid of the current educational system which he...