标签： Barbados

As communities across Barbados marked World Book Day this Thursday, a clear, urgent message took center stage at all public and school-hosted events: educational authorities cannot cultivate strong, confident readers without consistent support from parents. To mark the global celebration of books and reading, the Ministry of Education Transformation rolled out a full schedule of engagement activities, including interactive reading sessions for students across all early and primary campuses, and curated public displays at two of the island’s busiest shopping hubs, Sky Mall and Sheraton Centre. These showcases highlighted the range of ongoing national literacy initiatives and put student work on display for the general public. At the Sky Mall exhibit, organizers laid out the full scope of evidence-based tools now integrated into Barbadian classrooms, ranging from structured phonics-focused instruction to targeted reading comprehension strategies. Shamel Edwards, a peripatetic teacher with the Ministry of Education Transformation, used the event to directly appeal to caregivers across the island, emphasizing that in-school instruction can only go so far without home reinforcement. “Parents, parents, we need you. We need your support. The teachers can’t do it alone,” Edwards stressed. “We provide the learning environment and structured literacy instruction in school, but you are the key to building a lifelong love of reading at home. Read to your children, read alongside them, and give them space to read aloud to you.” Edwards added that World Book Day serves as a critical reminder that reading remains a foundational, relevant skill in modern life, pushing back against narratives that books are an outdated form of engagement. Current efforts center on reconnecting students to core literacy fundamentals while making reading a joyful, low-pressure activity, rather than just another academic task. Nursery and primary school students are taking part in daily read-aloud sessions, peer buddy reading programs, and curated book displays, with dedicated book clubs and cozy classroom reading corners used to spark organic interest in reading. “We’re not just reading to complete school work. We’re reading for pleasure,” Edwards explained. The day’s public outreach is part of a far broader national literacy push launched in September 2024, which targets literacy skill-building from as early as age three, through to the end of primary school at age 11. Janelle Little, Education Officer and National Literacy Lead, outlined that the strategy prioritizes structured, age-appropriate literacy instruction from a student’s first day in the education system. Ministry outreach teams have already completed visits to roughly 35 primary and early childhood institutions across the island, where they lead group reading sessions and track student progress. “Initial assessments revealed that the students have been responding positively to the new programming… we have already recorded some incremental growth in core reading skills,” Little shared. She added that the new initiative also introduces updated screening tools that allow educators to flag common learning challenges such as dyslexia far earlier, leading to faster targeted support. As part of her World Book Day activities, Little visited St Lawrence Primary School, where she read *In the Land of the Shak Shak Tree*, a local children’s story by Barbadian author Jade Small. The title was selected by ministry staff as part of a deliberate push to center local and Caribbean children’s literature in classroom programming. Lorraine Gittens, principal of St Lawrence Primary, said the impact of the new national literacy programs is already tangible on her campus. “We have seen a significant increase in the reading capacity and capabilities of our students,” Gittens said, crediting evidence-based approaches such as Jolly Phonics for the improvement. Echoing the central appeal of this year’s World Book Day events, Gittens emphasized that sustained progress relies on intentional partnership between schools and homes. “It is a balance… what we do here in school must be supplemented at home as well,” she said. “We are working hard to build stronger links with parents to ensure they reinforce the literacy skills and habits we teach in the classroom. We want every caregiver to get on board, so that all our students can get the maximum benefit from the programming we offer.”

At a community policy forum held Wednesday night at Alexandra School in Speightstown, St Peter, former long-serving St Thomas Member of Parliament Cynthia Forde has sounded the alarm over a spiraling infrastructure crisis in her former constituency, triggered by the simultaneous closure of three major arterial roads. After stepping down from her parliamentary post earlier this year following decades representing the parish, Forde used the public gathering to lay bare the cascading disruption that has left local commuters with no safe alternative routes for daily travel.

“We already had two major arteries closed, and now a third has been shut down. The disruption is completely unprecedented,” Forde told attendees, outlining the crippling impact on local movement. With primary corridors closed for long-overdue repairs, motorists have been forced to divert onto narrow backroads including Jack-in-the-Box Gully and Hangman’s Hill – routes Forde described as inherently unsafe, particularly after dark due to a total lack of street lighting.

The former MP shared that she now avoids traveling within the parish after nightfall out of personal safety fear, and called on national authorities to immediately install new lighting along these diversion routes to cut the risk of crashes and criminal incidents. Beyond inadequate illumination, Forde also blasted the severely deteriorated condition of these secondary roads, noting that deep potholes – which she called large “craters” – are causing consistent damage to local residents’ vehicles, spurring daily complaints from frustrated commuters.

Forde also called out systemic failures in public communication around roadwork plans, pointing out that road closures are often implemented with little to no advance warning for affected communities. She pushed for more proactive, direct engagement between government agencies and the residents whose daily lives are upended by the infrastructure works. Among other long-running unaddressed issues in the parish, Forde highlighted Vaucluse Road, which has been used as an illegal dumping ground for years. She noted the site’s isolated location has already contributed to serious past safety incidents, and despite repeated community appeals, the problem has never been resolved, creating ongoing environmental and public safety hazards.

Responding to Forde’s concerns directly during the forum, Deputy Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw – who previously served as Minister of Transport and Works – did not push back on the criticism, instead openly acknowledging that St Thomas has suffered from systemic underinvestment in infrastructure for generations. “I have to agree that Cynthia is right; St Thomas has been neglected for many, many years, especially when it comes to our road network,” Bradshaw stated.

Bradshaw explained that while the current government has launched a slate of long-overdue road improvement projects across the parish – including upgrades to Cane Garden to Bridgefield Road, Shop Hill Road, and Prior Park – multiple unforeseen challenges have slowed progress dramatically. A core barrier, she noted, has been coordinating infrastructure upgrades alongside utility companies that manage century-old water mains running through the parish’s road corridors. These aging, undocumented water systems require extra work to relocate or repair as part of road projects, leading to repeated work stoppages and extended timelines.

“Some of these projects have started and stalled multiple times over the past few years because of the unexpected complexity that comes up when we start digging,” Bradshaw added. She also conceded that Forde’s criticism of poor communication with residents was valid, particularly given the large scale of ongoing works across the parish. The Deputy Prime Minister noted that after decades of chronic underfunding for St Thomas infrastructure, the government is essentially playing catch-up, and the combination of broad project scope, limited local contractor capacity, and the parish’s challenging terrain has made executing upgrades far more difficult than initially expected.

While offering a formal apology to residents for the extended disruption to daily life, Bradshaw outlined steps the government is taking to mitigate current issues, including deploying new pothole-patching equipment to address secondary road damage and adjusting traffic routing to ease congestion on diversion routes. She ended with a note of cautious optimism, saying that visible progress is finally starting to emerge after years of delay, and gave a formal commitment that the government would strengthen public communication about upcoming road closures and project timelines moving forward.

Amid rising job-related pressures and rapid technological transformation reshaping workplaces across Barbados, a growing movement to reframe work around human health and dignity gained momentum on Thursday, when both top government labor officials and union leaders gathered to demand stronger protections for workers’ mental and physical wellbeing.

The call for a balanced, human-first approach to work took the spotlight at the opening of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU)’s two-day Occupational Safety and Health 360 Conference, hosted at the union’s Solidarity House headquarters. The event convenes labor stakeholders to align local workplace practices with global guidelines set by the International Labour Organization (ILO), which has centered its 2024 policy focus on a people-centred, prevention-first framework for occupational safety and health.

Barbados Minister of Labour, Social Security and Third Sector Colin Jordan emphasized that ILO conventions and standards are clear: human workers must always take priority over machinery, capital, and other production inputs. “A human-centred approach to development, work, business and every productive effort means we must recognize that people are the foundation of every workplace,” Jordan explained. “They deserve to be treated very differently from inanimate tools like machines.”

Jordan stressed that this philosophy must be woven into every workplace policy and daily practice, noting that workers bring far more to their roles than just physical output. “When a person shows up to work, they are not a tool – they are a whole human being, bringing both their mind and their body to the job. We have to strike a balance between hitting production goals, working efficiently, and protecting the whole person whose labor powers every task,” he said.

The labor minister also drew attention to growing modern stressors, particularly the rise of digital technology, that are increasingly draining workers’ mental health even outside formal working hours. “Technology can leave us mentally exhausted when we clock out, so this year’s conference theme – ‘Mind, Body and Work in Balance’ – is more critical than ever,” he added. While Jordan acknowledged that striking this balance is no simple challenge, he noted that the conference provides a structured space for stakeholders to collaborate on solutions. “Like balancing worker protection and production, finding this equilibrium takes work, but it is achievable,” he said. “These 360 safety conferences give us space to talk through challenges and map out a path forward. We keep pushing for open social dialogue, where workers, employers and managers can talk meaningfully with a shared goal of doing what works for everyone.”

BWU General Secretary Toni Moore echoed Jordan’s call, reinforcing that the focus on holistic worker wellbeing aligns with the union’s core mission as it approaches its 85th anniversary. “When we talk about balancing mind, body and work today, we are not shifting to a new direction as we look ahead to our next 85 years – we are living out the core purpose of this union,” Moore said. “We are strengthening systems that protect workers physically, mentally and socially, to make sure the next generation of workers inherits safer, healthier, more humane workplaces than we have now.”

Moore pointed out that evolving work practices have steadily piled more pressure onto workers over recent decades. “You can see how work has changed: every year, employers expect faster output from teams. Even if you are physically and professionally able to meet the demand, that constant push raises the emotional stakes for every worker,” she explained. “On top of that, workers are dealing with rising cost of living stress, and new technologies that are completely redefining what our jobs look like.”

She added that workplaces are still adapting to post-pandemic shifts, including the rapid acceleration of digital adoption forced by COVID-19 public health measures. “We had talked about integrating technology for years, but COVID forced us to learn new tools overnight to stay connected to our teams – that’s been a real benefit in many ways, so I’m not saying new technology is all bad,” Moore noted. “But we have to keep it in balance. All these unregulated pressures show up in our minds first: burnout, anxiety, constant emotional fatigue. Then they show up in our bodies, as chronic illness and even preventable workplace injuries – when you’re stressed and distracted, you’re far more likely to trip, cut your hand on machinery, or have another avoidable accident. Worker stress is not an abstract issue – it’s a real threat to safety.”

Moore called for targeted training to help employers and supervisors spot early warning signs of mental health struggles among their teams, arguing that mental wellness must be treated as a core pillar of occupational safety, not an afterthought. “As leaders and industry partners, our job is to build work environments where people feel their mental health is supported, their bodies are protected, and work never pushes people past their breaking point,” she said. She closed by calling on all stakeholders to recommit to building safe, supportive workplaces that center worker dignity, alongside clear systems to protect work-life balance. Ultimately, Moore said, workplaces should prioritize “respect, rest, family life and human dignity” above constant productivity gains.