Francis: The system is the problem

However, he acknowledged that while TT’s education system reflects the country’s colonial past, it has worked reasonably well. “But within that paradigm,” he continued, “there are a number of inconsistencies, a number of inherent flaws. You see, people keep talking about post-Colonial and every time I hear that word I smile, because the colonial baggage is still here; it ‘eh’ really ‘post.’ It’s like carrying ‘colonial’ with you still. In our education system, we’ve been doing that. You know why? Because education was very central to the colonial experiment,” he said.

According to Lovell, the fact that the nation’s education system reflects its colonial past is evidenced in the fact that schools inculcate in children a particular world view and do not allow them to question that view. However, while the education system needs to be transformed, Lovell said citizens also need to take a look at themselves.