In his impassioned address to the Honourable House of Assembly prior to the presentation of the 2014 to 2015 report on education – on Tuesday 26th January 2016 – the Honourable Evans McNiel Rogers, Minister of Education, referred to education as one of the biggest economic issues we may have to grapple with. Mr Rogers made the link between an educated populace and economic development. It is a link that may not be immediately obvious to many persons, but nations across the globe have recognized that economic prosperity and quality education are inextricably linked. Investments in education are therefore viewed as investments for future economic and social development.
The President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, also describes education as an economic issue. In an address in 2009, the US President is quoted as saying, “the countries who out-education us today will out-compete us tomorrow”. In addressing students at the University of Texas in Austin in 2010, the President said: “If we are serious about making sure that…America…succeeds in the 21st century, the single most important step we can take is to make sure that everyone of our young people…has the best education that the world has to offer.”
Similar sentiments were more poignantly expressed by Nobel Prize-winning columnist Paul Krugman, of the New York Times, who wrote in his column of 8th October 2009:
“If you had to explain America’s economic success with one word, that word would be ‘education’….Until now, the results of educational neglect have been gradual – a slow-motion erosion of America’s relative position. But things are about to get much worse, as the economic crisis …deals a severe blow to education across the board… We need to wake up and realize that one of the keys to our nation’s historic success is now a wasting asset. Education made America great; neglect of education can reverse the process.”
Perhaps it is time we view education not just as a means of personal advancement, but as a strategy for economic and social development. There are many shining examples around the world of countries for which this strategy has reaped meaningful dividends. However, we would be naïve not to recognise that education requires significant investment in areas such as infrastructure, teacher development, teaching resources, support services for students and families etc.
When we consider the improvements that need to be made so that our children can access education of the highest quality, it is difficult not to be upset by the stance taken by the UK Government in relation to Anguilla’s national budget over the past few years. There have been several occasions in the last five or so years when there has been a delay in assenting to Anguilla’s budget – in addition to a requirement for budgetary contractions. The UK Government has pulled the noose so tightly around Anguilla that any chances of economic growth have been stifled. To think that the UK Government is giving consideration to sending a Financial Adviser to oversee Anguilla’s finances is the final fatal tug on the noose. No matter how much the UK Government’s motives are disguised as looking out for the best interests of the people of Anguilla, it is clear to me, and many others, that the only interests the UK Government is seeking to safeguard are its own. What other reason could there be for not agreeing to the proposals put forward by our Government, the costs of which are to be met by all of us collectively? What reason could there be for sending a watchdog to guard and hold us hostage in our own house? The answer is simple, really: to ensure the UK does not have to dish out a cent in relation to Anguilla. It is for this reason that people sitting behind stuffy desks in the UK are purporting to know more about what is best for Anguilla than our elected Government.
Since the UK Government’s stance in relation to assisting Anguilla seems to be “Abandon ship!”, then I kindly suggest that the UK Government steps aside and allow us to work out our own solutions and chart our own course. Anguilla has a long road ahead on its development journey. Education is one of the many areas in which our Government will have to invest heavily if this journey is to be successful. For now, we need the UK Government to get out of the way.
