NO LAUGHING MATTER: What is the pope?

While addressing a group of children recently, I happened to mention the pope and I was completely flabbergasted to learn that not one of these 11 and 12-year-olds had ever heard the word pope.

If they did not know the popes name, or even if they did not know what his role is, or where he lives, or where he is from, I would not have been so upset. But they all claimed that they had never heard the word pope.

If it were one or two of the group who had never heard the word, I probably would not have been so shocked, but it was the entire class which came from different homes and different schools. It really threw me in a spin.

This experience set me thinking about education, learning and parenting. Is our educational system beneficial to the majority of our children? Is learning being experienced as fulfilling and exciting so as to capture the interest of the majority.

It used to be said that what the previous generation knew at 16 years old, the new generation knows at 12 years old. This philosophy signified that there was marked improvement in education and development of the mind, as it should be for the development and advancement of a people.

But now that thinking (generational improvement) seems to be stagnated or has even gone backwards and it is not only evident in general knowledge but also in spelling, reading and in analytical thinking.

I believe that a great percentage of todays Barbadian children are not able to cope with the change in workload that occurs in the move from primary school to secondary school. To move from doing primarily two subjects, maths and English, and then three months later in secondary school they are doing about ten subjects, can be quite overwhelming for many of our students.

There should be a system used where we can determine which children have the capacity to adapt to such a drastic change in workload and at what age. Every child is not ready for secondary school at age 11. Some might not be ready until 13 years old.

Placing a child in that environment before it is ready can hamper its progress. Everyone does not develop at the same pace. I believe that our students would be more productive if we found a way to determine their academic capabilities at that early age.

Also, it would be to the islands advantage if we could determine the childs interest and skill area at an early age. I strongly believe that if the children show the definite talent for carpentry, mechanics, art and so on, they should be channelled in that specific direction from early.

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NO LAUGHING MATTER: What is the pope?