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Weekly Current, 14 March 2021

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14 March 2021

Weekly Current (archived version)

Governance, ‘social promotion’, vocational training and other education highlights from the first week of candidate debates. George Town North candidate Johann Moxam shares his education platform. CSEC dates are set for spring 2021. Local non-profit brings in a major fundraising haul. And more!

Welcome to this week’s newsletter on education in the Cayman Islands.

(Click here to sign up for our email list.)

Week In Review

The first week of candidate forums is in the bag, and we’ve pulled out every promise, position and plan in regard to education uttered by contenders for office.

There’s still a month to go until the 14 April general elections, but we’re starting to see some common themes emerge one education. Popular touchstones include governance of the system, ‘social promotion’ of students who fail exams, emphasis on vocational training, disparities between public and private school performance, and the cost of public school capital projects.

***Editor’s Note: As we track candidates’ statements in forums and other venues, we’re compiling a comprehensive ‘report card’ containing candidates’ positions on education. Stay tuned …***

This week, in forums hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, and also in debates aired on Cayman Crosstalk, candidates convened from Newlands, Prospect, Savannah, East End, Sister Islands and West Bay Central.

Here are the highlights:

Newlands:

  • Alva Suckoo (incumbent)
    • Create an authority to manage education
    • Unify the public UCCI and private ICCI
    • Does not support closing failing schools
    • Create a third primary school in Bodden Town
  • Roydell Carter
    • Create a separate entity, governed by a board, to manage education
    • Does not support closing failing schools, but does support putting failing schools on ‘probation’
  • Raul Gonzalez
    • “The government needs to lead” on education
    • Against students graduating without passing exams
    • Does not support closing failing schools
  • Wayne Panton
    • Says there is too much politics in education
    • Does not support closing failing schools
    • Calls for an exploration into the root causes for poor school performance

(Read our story on the Chamber of Commerce’s Newlands candidates forum here.)

Prospect

  • Austin Harris (incumbent)
    • Should be more parental involvement in public schools
    • Improve technical education, using empty classrooms in public schools at night
    • Points to raised $5,000/month salary for public teachers, and rollout of new national curriculum
  • Michael Myles
    • Referred to 20 reports on Cayman youth produced since 2000, says “All we have to do is implement it with integrity.”
    • Place the Department of Children and Family Services and Department of Education Services under the same ministry
    • “We cannot continue to build big buildings. It’s not working. Clifton Hunter costs us $110 million. John Gray before it’s all said is done, it’s going to cost us $160 million. And yet both of these 2 schools have not been successful in passing an inspection.”
    • Supports government funding education starting from early childhood care
    • Opposes students graduating without passing exams
  • Sabrina Turner
    • Should be more parental involvement in public schools
    • Open public schools at night for free vocational education
    • Bring Sixth Form and A Levels back into public schools

(Read our story on the Chamber of Commerce’s Prospect candidates forum here.)

Savannah

  • Heather Bodden
    • “There is an increasing divergence in the quality of education between our private and public schools. What measures at this time would I support to correct this imbalance would be an overall concerted effort between government, teachers, parents and the private sector”
  • Malcolm Eden
    • Joanna Clarke Primary School needs a new hall, new canteen, and support for special education needs
    • Improve technical education
    • Bring A Levels back into public schools
  • Jeanna Williams
    • Priority is inclusion of children with special education needs
    • Education should be free for Caymanian students, with no out-of-pocket costs

(Read our story on the Chamber of Commerce’s Savannah candidates forum here.)

North Side

  • Ezzard Miller (incumbent)
    • Unlike private schools, public schools cannot pick their student populations, making issues in public schools “more complex”
    • Should be more parental involvement in public schools
    • Proposes creating a school board for primary schools, and in each catchment area for secondary schools
    • Creating a trade school is not necessary, as technical courses are already available
  • Debbie Broderick
    • Public schools need a technological solution so parents can track students’ homework
    • Create a trade school
  • Jay Ebanks
    • Devolve power from Minister for Education and appoint an education professional to oversee system
  • Justin Ebanks
    • “Government should have education free from Kindergarten to college.”
    • Improve STEM education
    • Against social promotion

(Read our story on the Chamber of Commerce’s North Side candidates forum here, and Cayman Crosstalk’s North Side candidates debate here.)

East End

  • Arden McLean (incumbent)
    • Devolve responsibility and authority down to the school level and “cut out the Department of Education“
    • Create district-level school boards
  • McCleary Frederick
    • “We keep changing the system. It’s like having a sore and keep picking at it. It never heals. It never gets better.“
    • “We’re just throwing money at things that are useless.”
  • Isaac Rankine
    • Supports creating a school board, especially for East End
    • “We do not have to input any more money into education. What we have to do is use those resources properly.”
    • Degradation of public school system started after government effectively barred non-Caymanians from public school.

(Read our story on the Chamber of Commerce’s East End candidates forum here.)

Cayman Brac East

  • Juliana O’Connor-Connolly (incumbent, Minister for Education)
    • Did not appear on Cayman Crosstalk debate
  • Elvis McKeever
    • Improve vocational training
    • End school segregation: Allow non-Caymanians to attend public schools, and provide government vouchers for Caymanians to attend private schools

Cayman Brac West & Little Cayman

  • Moses Kirkconnell (incumbent)
    • Did not appear on Cayman Crosstalk debate
  • Maxine McCoy-Moore
    • Create trade school and civil service university on Cayman Brac bluff
    • Build K-12 facility on Little Cayman

(Read our story on Cayman Crosstalk’s Sister Islands candidates debates here.)

West Bay Central

  • Eugene Ebanks (incumbent)
    • Did not appear on Cayman Crosstalk debate
  • Katherine Ebanks-Wilks
    • Create ‘intervention centre’ in each public primary school to identify and assist children with learning challenges

(Read our story on Cayman Crosstalk’s West Bay Central candidates debate here)

George Town North candidate Johann Moxam shared his education platform with us this week for publication. Here are the highlights:

Johann Moxam, George Town North

  • “Our system of public education is broken.”
  • “The Government spends CI$90 million a year on education to disadvantage our children.”
  • “Provide FREE education for all Caymanians, starting a year earlier at 3 years and 9 months of age.”
  • “Ensure all eligible Caymanians receive FREE tertiary education at local institutions”
  • “Provide integrated and coordinated support for children and families in education, health, and human services.”
  • By 30 June 2021:
    • “Organize Education, Employment, Health and Human Services resources into a single fixed Ministry“
    • “Commission a 30-day public-private-civic task force to assess factors impacting Caymanians’ educational outcomes”
    • “Provide free afterschool and weekend programmes“
    • “In all public primary schools, offer supervised afterschool care to 6:00 pm.”
  • By 1 Sept. 2021:
    • “Implement a new model of school governance“
    • “Implement community-based systems to support children’s learning and development”
    • “Regularly measure and annually report on child and adult educational outcomes.”
  • “We owe it to our children, youth and the adults who need retraining and upskilling to stop making excuses and give them the tools they need to succeed.”

(Read Moxam’s education platform here.)

The Chamber of Commerce continues its candidates forums. Here’s this week’s schedule:

  • 15 March – Red Bay
  • 16 March – Bodden Town East
  • 17 March – Bodden Town West
  • 18 March – Cayman Brac East
  • 19 March – Cayman Brac West & Little Cayman

(Visit the Chamber’s website to see a calendar of the forums.)

More from the Current:

Around The Web

The Current is a central resource for education journalism by others, including regional and international news relevant to Cayman education. (Find our running collection of links here.)

The Week Ahead

  • Candidates’ education platforms
  • Chamber of Commerce candidate forums
  • FOI responses: school overcrowding, student exclusions, teacher exit interviews
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