Out of Reach

 

 

Hi there Madam Chief,

I heard you used to teach

But what I heard you say today

Is clearly out of reach.

 

For your reform explanation

I give you an “A” for muddle,

Strugglers like me received an “F”

For we are puzzled.

 

I did a little teaching too

Maybe not as high up as you

But if I am lost re what I heard,

How will our children do?

 

You can pull this apart,

I have no doubt you would

But if you can’t explain this reform

This would do no good.

 

Excellence is not created

As in building a new school

Any more than being stubborn

Makes one a mule.

 

 

Excellence is crafted

Through effort and over time

By a teacher’s excellent pedagogy

To stimulate the mind.

 

Excellence is to be aimed for

Regardless of the school

And each school must be enabled

To find this groove.

 

Stop stereotyping children

Based on their local community,

These too are full of promise

And are a thing of beauty.

 

Made in the image of God

And created to succeed,

Like in the heights and terraces

All can believe.

 

Socio-economic circumstances

Need not have the final say

If we all come together

And show them the way.

 

 

Each one help one

Must be part of Education reform

And the upliftment of Barbados

Must become the norm.

 

So that “this is who we are”

May make sense to all

And not only to a privileged few

Who are the “chosen called”.

 

Out of reach, Madam Chief,

Bring it closer home,

This excellence you struggled with

Must be in all zones.

 

Stewart Russell © November 8, 2023