Acknowledgement at last.

Accordin tuh all kind ah experts, it is de first step in solvin ah problem. So wedder is a person finally sayin dey does drink too much an need help tuh stop, or ah govahment admittin it have someting rong wid it education system, dat acknowledgement is key. While it doh guarantee de person go stop drinkin or de education system go get fixed, widout dat acknowledgment no change eh happenin fuh sure. Not tuh mention tings go get worse.

De analogy strong enough tuh go some more: Everybody know de drunk is ah drunk before de admission come. So who really surprised dat dis year’s CAPE results show de same pattern it always does show?

Tuh be fair tuh de minister ah education, he broach de topic from de side. He say cabinet vex wid how de govahment secondary schools perform only gettin what, five percent ah de scholarships? As big as dat concern could be, it still only ah nibble of ah far bigger problem.

It look like de minister grow ah pair an decide tuh dive deeper cause ah read where he say sometin about de boys. Gypsy sing about dem same boys. Anybody who does follow CAPE or CXC results know dem boys always MIA. Dey never ah big part ah de celebrations. However like Gypsy an unlike de minister ah education let we be clear, it eh all boys dat missin, is primarily an consistently black boys startin out when dey little.

Now dat de govahment open it mouth thru de minister, de question now is what is de solution. Part ah mih wonderin eef in couchin de problem as being govahment secondary schools under-performin, eef de ultimate solution go get missed.

Of course dat solution cyar be tuh take away from de schools dat kickin all de udders tail year after year. It cyar hint at punishin de ability ah students tuh do good work. Regardless ah de type ah inequality, pullin dong who doin good honestly is never de right ting tuh do.

As ah try tuh tink of ah answer mih mind gorn back tuh my days in school. Back den de exams had names like Common Entrance an GCE but de signs ah what does happen now was startin tuh show.

I remember somebody parsin fuh ah govahment secondary school an dey parents say tuh hell wid dat an make dey chile stay in Standard Five tuh take Common Entrance over de next year. I would ah dead eef my mudder did have tuh do me dat. Tuh be de oldest pupil in Standard Five would ah mean no friends an endless fatigue.

De secondary school I went to was denominational so we continued tuh have prayers an attend church like in primary school. While dat eh even come close tuh makin we saints or anyting, some ah dat religious teachin had ah impact. Eef it didn’t happen no udder time, when we see how hard dem test was, each one ah we used tuh pray.

I remember which schools was co-ed, which was single sex an which produced de brightest students.

Correlation an causation at work? It any different tuhday?

Mih assumption is dat eef religion central tuh ah family an dat family see education is “de way out”, dem traits go manifest deyself in how de family move when it come tuh it chirren education. When enough families tinking an movin de same way dey does realize de power it have in numbers. Dat realization have ah powerful subtlety when used right. Yes, when ting happen parents does yell an get attention like dey should however, dat power works best when tings eh outrageously rong. In fact tings mightn’t even be wrong. Dat power does get used tuh make good tings better an keep better tings good.

Dem parents does be as important in de education process as dey chirren an de chirren teachers. Ah sure dat change in ah non-combative environment where all de parts involved, does work better. Dat is when power does turn into empowerment fuh everybody an good tings does flow.

Dem is only some ah de assumption ah rollin wid.

So de question tuh de education minister an de govahment in general is how it plan tuh fix de problem. It eh systematic in joke nah an eef anybody dig, dey go find it have de deepest tap roots ever.

Can it be even addressed in T&T’s multiracial society where people normally see two ethnicities competin against one annuder an a racist remark is only ah closed mouth away? Would dat discussion degenerate into racist accusations, tempers flarin an nuttin gettin achieved except people watchin each udder cut eye?

Finally ah ask ah question ah could make ah stab at answerin.

Just like solvin de problem cyar be achieved by pullin dong anybody else group, is de same way discussin it can be done widout attackin anybody else. It could open up sores doh. Deep sores. Tap root deep sores. When people doh agree, name callin does start one time. I eh know eef not havin ah problem insultin one anudder is good fuh Trinis in dis case doh.

I go always believe Trinbago is ah unique place when it come tuh its people. Under all de ole tork dey have what it takes tuh respond tuh whatever bitter medicine any ah dem have tuh take.

So now de acknowledgement of de problem out in de open, will de govahment be like ah alcoholic an fall orf de wagon? I hope not as not solvin dis go only push it orf tuh de next govahment. Dat could mean pushin it tuh itself, especially eef action follow tork orn udder fronts an people start gettin value fuh money. De kind ah govahment actions dat excitin tuh people who does put country first nah.

It eh have no place in dis discussion tuh be cynical. Nobody better even stop tuh tink fuh ah moment an wonder eef dese CAPE results did come out well into de reign ah de new govahment eef de concern about govahment secondary schools would ah be ah issue. It is ah issue an eef mih recollections right, it has been for decades.

In de mix is someting else de govahment say: Crime is de country’s top issue an de entire govahment involved in addressin it. Not fuhgettin tuh mention all law abidin citizens.

Any Trini who, fuh whatever reason, tink dey not affected because Gypsy Kaiso not about dem, only foolin dey self. Dey affected because dey gettin shortchanged in ah country wid ah economy dat sputterin lil bit because everybody not contributin positive vibes.

Dey affected when de govahment have tuh divert resources from udder tings so it could spend upwards ah ten billion dollars tuh meet its first obligation; success not guaranteed. Dey affected when dat lack ah success mean marginalized people free tuh show dem dey antisocial side.

If only all it did take tuh fix ah problem was tuh acknowledge it.

Sigh.

One step at ah time.