Whenever it comes to this time of the year, in the school life of Anguilla, there are reasons for both excitement and concern. On the excitement side, there are multiple graduations in the public and private schools across the length and breadth of the island. Even the infants are graduating these days from one level of schooling and education to another. The various uniforms lend colour, pride and a degree of magnificence – perhaps achievement as well – to the mass-attended graduations. Parents, teachers and children are all caught up in the ecstasy of the ceremonies and, indeed, these occasions merit that kind of involvement, attention and support as our students reach for the stars as it were.
It is perhaps fitting here to give kudos to our Government and all who work collectively in positions of policy-making, influence and delivery, in the Ministry and Department of Education, in particular, to bring about all the key elements of roundly educating our children. The most recent initiative that our schools, and Anguilla in general, will benefit from is the soon-to-be-introduced Education Development Plan 2015 – 2020, with the assistance of UNESCO. For an island coming from a very low, disorganised and ineffective education system – during our past constitutional and political ties with St. Kitts – we have really developed the level and delivery of education by leaps and bounds, with many of our students doing exceptionally well. Today, at the top level, students have achieved CAPE Associate Degrees, and other outstanding qualifications, and are therefore well on their way to joining their compatriots in pursuing higher education or filling positions of national responsibility. Then, there is our successful and developing Community College, as well as the Open Campus of the University of the West Indies where our people are being further educated.
With all of this type of educational planning and achievement there is, however, a huge element of concern. It is that the job market is sorely depressed and, in many respects, is below the level of our educated young men and women. For them, this is a bedrock of frustration. What will they do with all this high level of education they are achieving? Must they simply become unemployed street walkers, their brain bursting with pent-up knowledge and energy? This is a reality that our Government must urgently address. To do so, we must grow our economy to such an extent that the success of economic development will bring job creation of a level that will match the qualifications of our teeming and selective young people.
Our politicians must be cognizant of, and sensitive to, the large numbers of students graduating each year – from the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School – with a string of subject passes, and do something about helping to secure suitable employment for them. As recent as this week, many school leavers underwent a well-organised and delivered job-training process and, aside from those pursuing further studies, a high percentage of them are now about to knock at the doors of employment opportunities in the public and private sectors. Once we educate our people, we certainly need to provide employment opportunities for them.
Today, the Public Service is still the largest source of employment in Anguilla but, with the current financial woes and limitations, it can hardly absorb any more unemployed persons. This is a big pity because, in many ways, the Public Service is a measuring rod by which many private sector sources of employment look for guidance in administering their own job market and even paying their workers. While on this subject, it is fitting to commend the Governor’s Office and the Department of Public Administration for the new initiative of recognising and honouring deserving public servants for outstanding performance, as was witnessed on Tuesday evening, this week, at Government House. Although this awards system has already become a practice in some areas of the private sector, it is bound to be mimicked and welcomed by other business institutions.
Right now, the burden facing our Government, as well as the private sector, is to develop the economy to provide employment opportunities for our school – leavers and other citizens. The reality is that the increasing numbers of children leaving school around this time each year, without hope of employment, constitutes a frightening spectacle and must be urgently and decisively addressed.
