By Grace-Anne King on Thursday, 10 March, 2022 at 07:24 PM

As the government of Barbados begins to implement planned educational reforms, some people believe that consideration should be given to having more skill-based subjects taught in primary schools.

Wendy McClain, the manager of Technical Service, at the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Council of Barbados believes that skill-based subjects should be taught at a younger age. She explained that the early start would allow students more opportunities to pursue training in their field of study.

“Having a flexible educational system would allow students to choose subjects they want to do and not what was forced upon them,” McClain said.

She also mentioned that allowing students to have greater academic flexibility would result in the workforce becoming more competitive since students would have been practicing their technical skills from a young age.

“If you were to teach more technical and vocational subjects in schools you might see a rise in skill-based entrepreneurs, which would benefit the economy,” McClain said.

James Pile, an electrician of over 33 years, shared similar sentiments.

“Skill-based subjects should be taught in primary schools to identify the students that have an interest in skills so the schools can work on honing those skills as early as possible,” Pile said.

Pile stated that since the government is planning to abolish the Barbados Secondary School Examination, they can use this opportunity to engage students directly, identify which students have an interest in technical courses or academic subjects, and give them more guidance in their chosen fields.