HISTORIAN Dr Rita Pemberton says the education system is not tailored toward ensuring that students understand themselves and their talents.
She was the main speaker at a discussion, titled History & Heritage, at the Hochoy Charles Administrative Complex, Calder Hall, on December 3.
The two-hour discussion was among the series of events to commemorate Tobago Day, officially celebrated on December 4.
Saying the world is becoming increasingly competitive, Pemberton told an audience of mostly students that the education system needs to respond more strongly to global trends.
She observed students are still being steered towards certain types of jobs.
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“We are still caught up with this silo education – directing people, specialising people from very early. But people do things (in school) and when they come out they want to do something completely different,” she said.
Pemberton, a Newsday Tobago columnist, said she knew a student whose father wanted her to be an engineer but opted for another career.
“She went and did the engineering and then she come and do English because that is what she wanted to do – she wanted to be a writer. We have to be sensitive to that, that all of us have some kind of talent and school is the place where you develop the talent.
“But the first thing school must do for you is to make you understand you – and that is where our education system is failing miserably. So we have people who discover they love history. But when? When they get old.”
Responding to a student who felt that art and history were not as lucrative as medicine or engineering, Pemberton asked, “Do you know there are many unemployed doctors in Trinidad and Tobago now? They not making any money.
“You know that some artists make heavy money.”
She observed the orange economy has become very lucrative over the years.
“If you look around, you will see that we have too many doctors, too many dentists. Then we have some doctors we don’t trust, some too expensive.”
The retired university lecturer also said in the modern world, it is not enough for young people to have a first degree.
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“That gets you nowhere. You’ve got to specialise, and highly specialise too. So the doctors who make money are the ones who do surgeries; you attend to bones and knees; or you do treatment of diseases that really plague people. But you’ve got to specialise in any field that you are in.
“You are not going anywhere with a first degree, that is just like an introduction. You’ve got to move up with your qualifications and new opportunities are coming.”
She said people in various fields, from medicine to the culinary arts, are also involved in carnival, mas-making and other activities.
“You have got to keep that in mind. So if somebody has something that they love – a passion or hobby – that they make into a business, that’s how the world will be.”
Pemberton said during the post-Emancipation era in Tobago, many young people were expected to learn a trade.
On December 2, Gwyneth Morris-Alexander, acting permanent secretary, Ministry of Education, said the ministry is working on revising the school curriculum to adapt to modern technological advances and create employment opportunities for students.
She said the focus will be on revitalising technical and vocational education and training (TVET) “as a premier option and a dynamic entrepreneurial pathway for students.
“We are actively revising curricula at all levels to align with contemporary technological advancements and industry trends, ensuring relevance and adaptability in a rapidly changing world.”
Morris-Alexander spoke at the opening ceremony of a regional workshop, Designing Courseware for Blended Technical and Vocational Education and Training, at the BRIX hotel, Cascade. The Commonwealth of Learning, Caribbean Association for National Training Authorities and the National Training Agency of TT collaborated on the initiative.
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