Our increasing active cases notwithstanding, I thank the Almighty that at this time I live in Saint Lucia. Actually, it is precisely because of those numbers that I find myself giving greater thanks and being even more relieved that I, and those whom I love, are alive on this little rock and not (alive or dead!), for instance, in the not-so-mighty United States of America where one observes daily the stunning disunity, widespread confusion and lack of preparedness that is the nature of things là bas.
I again thank the Almighty that I live in St Lucia in the days of an enlightened and united administration; an enlightened and industrious CMO and her effective team; an enlightened and active SLMDA administration—not to mention a calm, confident, intelligent, down-to-earth, servant-leader. Oh, yes, I do.
Now, this is not to say everything is proceeding swimmingly. Or that there aren’t among us some who persist in promoting chaos among our most vulnerable with their farfetched conspiracy theories, so inimical to universal adherence to the recommended protocols. Nor does it mean there are not the ever-present, downright hostile instances of naked political mischief. Oh no, we’ve definitely not been spared that! It also does not mean that the monster virus will not decide to teach us an unforgettable lesson as certain sections of our inherently and majorly undisciplined population continue to disregard its dictates.
But you see, despite those drawbacks, I only have to think of the possible alternative institutional reality waiting impatiently in the wings, and I once again quickly give thanks after an initial spontaneous shudder.
Enough! Shall we move to devices then? No, no, not that!—I mean the material ones. I first heard Senator Ferdinand’s response outside the House, in defence of his party’s laptop/notebook initiative during its last tenure as the government. As usual, he did a good job. He was calm, collected, articulate . . . (Just as an aside, his elevated demeanour is most un-Labour, isn’t it? Always seems to me he’s more cut out for the UWP camp. Hope my words don’t get him into trouble with the mob.) Yes, his words, although well presented, clearly did not tell the whole story.
Then I heard the Minister of Education in an apologetic message where she essayed to erase her earlier vocal stance against the initiative, in my estimation, altogether unnecessary. Instead, I would have expected strong pushback from her, with explanation, given the sad history of the said initiative. She seemed not to outline the whole story as many of us understand it. Here’s what was missing: it was on the face of it a positive initiative. But one is compelled to dig deeper (actually not at all that deep) and examine the rationale, the motivation, the intention behind the giving—and whether the mere act of giving and touting that giving left, right and centre, was sufficient or indeed in any way, shape or form a sensible, useful or purposive thing to do. Where was the preparation? The training for student and teachers? The preparation of the machines themselves? Where was the entailment? The follow-up? Nowhere, that’s where.
The initiative was mere weeks old when one began to hear that many of the devices had given up the ghost or had been appropriated by older adult males for their peculiar viewing pleasure, having quickly got the better of the lock that the day’s PM had assured us was fool proof. Many were soon on view at roadside domino sessions, serving as cushions for worn-out straw chairs. As for the students, what a laugh for them, the ease with which they had accessed supposedly restricted sites. There was little teachers could do, since they were not nearly as versed as their wards in the new technology. Many did not own a computer. The lauded initiative proved a minor disaster, if not an abuse of another country’s generosity!
The word on the ground was that the initiative was indeed purposive, if for all the wrong reasons: conceived by PM Anthony as a winning election ploy, it was also meant to demonstrate that he was at least as calculating as PM Gonsalves. Just for the record, in St Vincent & the Grenadines the programme had not delivered on its perceived potential—as much for the same basic reason of lack of preparation of the actors and their environment (both physical and pedagogical) as for its advertised intention.
Therefore, to my mind, Minister Gale Rigobert never had cause to be sorry for her earlier stance, for what exactly did that SLP initiative achieve? In a word—zilch. Given the prevailing circumstances then, what Dr Rigobert said was nothing but the truth. The current universal, country-wide digitalization drive, a policy of the UWP government, and the outfitting of teachers, students and classrooms spearheaded by her ministry has been thought out in depth. We hear our PM take time to explain to us where his government is headed with the current drive. I especially like the e-book idea, so that parents can receive some measure of relief from the hefty bill associated with having to purchase a small library each year.
The acceleration of the on-going programme has no doubt been necessitated by the realities of Covid-19, but to be clear: many of the preliminaries were already in place, with others moving along nicely. That has facilitated the progress of this initiative in a meaningful way. Will there be hitches? More than a few, I suspect. This is a challenging undertaking, and we must not be short-sighted. We must keep our eyes on the prize, on the rewards which will surely materialise, as this programme is being rolled out with efficiency and for all right reasons.
So, Senator, too little too late? Not at all. There’s not a little, but a lot of varied outcomes to emanate from a well thought out country initiative, with studied preparation (the absolute key!) having begun pre-COVID. But was it too much too soon back in your day? Uh-huh, and that’s why it failed. All that crowing and distributing of gifts for unwholesome motives and minus the requisite preparation took care of that.
Finally, Senator Ferdinand, I would have to conclude that the supposed beneficiaries themselves were not fooled, judging by the message of the 2016 general elections!
This article first appeared in the December 2020 edition of the STAR Monthly Review, available on newsstands and here: https://issuu.com/starbusinessweek/docs/star_monthly_review_december_2020
