BAHAMA JOURNAL
11th July 2006
Education Matters In The Bahamas
Happily, the matter involving teachers and the government has been resolved. For a short while, we were troubled at the thought that this would be –but yet again- another instance where the Hon. Alfred M. Sears would disappoint the attentive public.
Today we can happily say that this embattled Minister now seems to have been given a renewed dose of time to prove that he has what it takes to be an effective member of the Cabinet.
While we would not go so far as to say that he has come through with flying colors, we would concede that he has managed to convince many that he does have some of what it takes to be an effective Minister.
In this regard, we note that some people are convinced that the Hon. Alfred M. Sears was dealt a bad hand when he was asked to man two very taxing portfolios, Education and Justice. Those who say that he was dealt a bad hand lay the fault at the doorstep of Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Perry Gladstone Christie. In truth, it could not be otherwise granted the fact that appointments to Cabinet are made on the invitation of the prime minister.
To his credit, the prime minister did eventually see the wisdom in relieving some of the pressure that had been piled upon the Hon. Alfred M. Sears. At that juncture, there was any number of people who dared breathe a sigh of relief.
These were the types of people who were utterly convinced that a Sears who was now less burdened would then be in a position to put some of his ‘prodigious intellect’ to work in bringing a semblance of progress to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
For a season, they were sorely disappointed. As we have been made to understand some of his staunchest defenders were beginning to wonder whether the prime minister had –after all- made a blunder when he invited this man to be a member of his Cabinet.
Happily for this Minister, teachers are prepared to work with him.
This –quite evidently- bodes well for the country and the Christie administration.
It is quite clear that there were incentives all around for good sense to prevail.
It is clear that the teachers understood that the public could turn against them.
And for sure, the Christie administration clearly understood that it had nothing to gain and a lot to lose if teachers were despondent, schools dropping to pieces and students failing to make the grade.
And so it turned out that with elections in the offing, the governing group has come to agreement with the Bahamas Union of Teachers.
And with that, the public gets a well deserved and well earned respite from the pufferies and pontifications that came from both sides of the bargaining table.
And so while we are at this business of commenting on this good news, we must register some complaint about the manner in which Education ‘dirty linen’ has been pushed to the center of public discussion.
More to the point, we have known for quite some time that there was some kind of bad blood between the Minister of Education and some of the most highly placed public administrators in that Ministry. We also know that the Minister was –in fact- hamstrung.
But truth is we just cannot figure out how this came to be in a system where the duly elected administration is ultimately responsible. Quite frankly, we just do not get it as to how and why a Minister in a government was not in a position to get people who would carry out his government’s policies in a timely fashion.
This is a mystery.
We suspect that the true story will come out as to how it came to be that the Hon. Alfred M. Sears was not well-served by the administrative make-up in the Ministry of Education.
We also believe that whoever thought that they could prevail were happy for the coincidence that Minister Sears was burdened with a double dose of burdens as he manfully tried to ‘carry’ Education and Justice.
Fortunately, Prime Minister Christie did come to the rescue.
With a series of deft political strokes, he now has at his side a most competent Minister of Health and National Insurance in the guise of The Hon. Bernard J. Nottage. He also has an Attorney-General in the guise of the Hon. Allyson Maynard-Gibson who is getting the job done.
And now, Prime Minister Christie also has at his side a Minister of Education, Science and Technology in the guise of the Hon. Alfred M. Sears who seems as if he is –at long last- on the way to some high achievement in the Education portfolio.
In the ultimate analysis –then- Minister Sears now has a second chance to prove that he is the right man for the job with which he was entrusted by the Prime Minister. We wish him well.