For talk show host Cromwell Smith aka Edju En Ka; however, it may be a ploy by businesses to import labour.

Mr Smith; nevertheless, posed the question to former Principal of Elmore Stoutt High School (ESHS) and Director of the HLSCC Institute of Education, Sandy M. Harrigan-Underhill on the show ‘Umoja’ on ZBVI 780 AM on February 28, 2022.

Harrigan-Underhill said she has heard the statement by some businesses but it was difficult for her to assess the accuracy of it without any kind of data from a structured survey.

“As a business education teacher, I have heard it time and time again.”

Talk show host Cromwell Smith aka Edju En Ka; believes the talk that the local school system is not adequately equipping students with sometimes basic skills to function effectively in the workplace may be a ploy by businesses to import labour.

New way of teaching needed- Harrigan-Underhill

Harrigan-Underhill admitted; however, that what the school system is missing is “teaching in a way that develops very strong critical thinking skills, and it is not just the BVI. It is not something that is unique to the BVI education system. It is in the United States, for example, and other countries.”

She mentioned that countries like Singapore and Finland have done a marvelous job in their education system and there are other countries that the VI can use as a model.

She said this includes using a sort of STEM method, “which would take Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and use the principles of engineering, which is based on problem-solving using critical thinking skills.

“So they use the engineering model and they advance that as the basic underlying principle as to how they would teach in every discipline, whether it is Math, English or Science.”

Additionally, she said teaching should be made more student-centered.

According to Harrigan-Underhill, recent studies and best practices show that students learn best in a student-centered classroom that is designed for them to solve the problem. “And when you give them the problem to solve they have to come up with solutions and that whole experience forces them to tap into their critical thinking skills.”

Training required

The Director of HLSCC Institute of Training noted that there are teachers in the current system who are trained to teach using the STEM method and some teachers have been using it; “But if we want to establish a consistent pattern of how we do things, and a standard, training would be required.”

She said everything is a work in progress and she is certain the local education experts are currently putting plans in place to change the way students are taught.

Harrigan-Underhill also said the HLSCC Institute of Education will play “a very big role in that because even the way we would educate educators has to now underscore the importance of changing the traditional ways of thinking. So that would be a big role for the Institute of Education.”