LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Perceptive comments by the Education Minister

Tuesday,  September 20, 2005

Dear Sir,

In a recent visit to Cayman Brac, the Education Minister, the Hon. Alden McLaughlin mentioned that the single biggest problem in education is management. He also went on to say that education makes people trainable, and that employers want people who have mastered the basics of education so that they can train them.

These are significant statements, and anyone hearing or reading them should sit up and take notice, since they reflect practically what the pertinent issues in education are, and challenge educators to act to do something about the situation.

The management of education is critical to deciding what goals and objectives should be pursued, the strategies to be formulated to realise them, and how they should be implemented. Management is also about setting directions, achieving aims through the utilisation of people and resources, planning how progress is to be made and measured, and motivating people to give of their best.

Managing education further involves organising the available resources so that objectives can be achieved in a planned and systematic way, and taking corrective action when it is appropriate. Related to all of this is setting performance standards and continuously improving on them, as well as delegating responsibilities, providing feedback, and solving any problems that may emerge. 

Effectively communicating the vision and mission of education is also a management function, so that everyone is aware of where the process is going, and what part each plays in the accomplishment of set goals.

The Hon. Minister of Education is therefore highly perceptive in realising the importance of effective management in bringing about the desired education results, and should be highly commended for placing it on the public agenda for discussion and for educational purposes as well.

All educators should therefore extend their full support for his vision, and energetically assist in helping him to realise it for the good of the education stakeholders, and the country at large. Success in all other fields is directly connected to how efficiently the education process is managed, since the education system prepares individuals to become productive citizens.

Related to the above is the fact that education definitely makes people trainable as the Hon. Minister states, since it provides the knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary for the further development of the individual to occur. The education the individual receives provides the base which contributes to training being obtained quickly, and transferred to the job more effectively. 

Education and training are therefore two connected processes which result in the individual receiving a more holistic orientation, which makes him or her more flexible on the job.

Employers definitely want people who have mastered the basics of education as the Hon. Minister points out, since it will be more cost effective for them to be trained and developed to be able to contribute to the productivity of the organisation, and realise their career goals. The training will also be less time consuming, since the prerequisites are already there.

Employers will therefore be able to proceed with their developmental plans without incurring any delays, as the educated employees will be able to acquire the new skills in a shorter time period. Had they not received the initial education, the process of acquiring the relevant training would take a longer time.

The Hon. Minister of Education can be said to be highly committed and dedicated to the task of transforming education. He is an advocate of noble goals for education, and reaches out to a wide spectrum of individuals and groups to acquaint them with the importance of what he is trying to achieve. 

The Minister is also passionately involved in promoting the policies of his Ministry, and displays a sense of honesty, seriousness, and a clear purpose with respect to the tasks he wants to accomplish.

Education is the key to individual and societal progress, and the educated society is not only self-sustaining, but continuously transforms itself for the better as well.

Oliver Mills (M.A., M.Ed.)

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