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The nation of Barbados, the easternmost island of the West Indies, lies in the Atlantic Ocean, 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of the Windward Islands; a former British colony, it has a total of 166 square miles, about 2.5 times the size of Washington, D.C. The name Barbados comes from the Portuguese word for "bearded" and probably refers to the bearded fig trees that grow there. Bar…
Barbados was established as an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations on November 30, 1966. It has a parliamentary form of democracy based on the Westminster model. The British monarch is officially head of state and is represented by a governor general with limited power. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament, comprised of a 27-member elected House of Assembly, a 21-member appo…
Formal education in Barbados can be traced back to 1680. The present system developed largely from the 1890 Education Act, which established rigid distinctions between and even within levels of education. In 1932, the Marriot-Mayhew Commission carried out a comprehensive investigation of the colony's educational service. It recommended additional educational programs to cater to specific gr…
Preprimary education is offered to all children between the ages of three to five; they are taught in the four nursery schools and/or in nursery classes in some primary and composite schools. At present about 66 percent of three- and four-year-old children in Barbados are receiving preprimary education. Because of the declining birth rate, the government has been promoting the use of available spa…
Secondary education is provided for children ages 11 to 18. There are 34 secondary schools, of which 22 are government-run and 12 are assisted private secondary schools. These schools fall into three categories: nine government-owned former grammar or older secondary schools, four of which have sixth forms; 13 assisted private schools; and newer secondary schools. In between the primary and second…
Four institutions provide higher education, or tertiary education: …
Administration: Administrative control of the formal education system is fairly highly centralized. The Ministry of Education was first established in 1954 under the Premier while Barbados was still a British colony. In 1958, a separate ministry was created with its own staff of administrative and technical offices. The Ministry is divided into two main sections, technical and administrative. The …
The Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs, and Culture has established a system of adult and continuing education that provides opportunities for the adult population to broaden their general education and acquire specific skills through its nonformal and skills-training programs. Other government ministries and departments, such as the Ministries of Agriculture, Community Development, and Health, …
The 1995 White Paper on Education Reform highlighted teacher empowerment as one means for improving the overall educational experience for all students.
As Barbados enters the new millennium, numerous reforms of its educational system have focused on helping Barbados "compete in the global market economy on equal terms in the knowledge-based and skilled-intensive industries..." (White Paper). Although many improvements have already begun, certain areas of concern will continue to be addressed. Those areas of concern include: Perhaps …
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