The late Ulric Ferguson's history in education is one of pure sacrifice. He is described as a man who could have been anything that he wanted to be, but that he put his ambitions on the back burner to teach the children of Crooked Island.
It was the legacy of that man that led to the Cabbage Hill primary school in Cabbage Hill, Crooked Island being renamed the Ulric H. Ferguson primary school.
"When Mr. Ferguson was called on by the community to teach, it was agreed that his salary would be one shilling per month, or crabs when they were in season," said Minister of Education Desmond Bannister. "It doesn't take a genius to know that Mr. Ferguson agreed to teach for free."
In an interview with The Nassau Guardian in 1986, prior to his death in 1989, Ferguson said that he always told his students that they are all born there and that they should all hope to live there. And as such they should try to make their best to make Crooked Island, a fruitful place and a beautiful place to live. He said he never failed to emphasize the fact that they all had a responsibility to the island of their birth.
Bannister said it was that patriotism that drove Ferguson and others to establish a school in Cabbage Hill in 1950, to relieve the children of the settlement from having to attend the public school at Colonel Hill which was some distance away. The school began with 40 students.
"What is even more remarkable about Mr. Ulric H. Ferguson is that because of his tenacity and willingness to do whatever it took to ensure that children of this settlement have a school that we are here today."
The minister of education said although Ferguson was not a formally trained teacher or had any academic qualification when he began teaching, he said Ferguson later met the Board of Education's stipulation to acquire his Bahamas Junior Certificate and that it changed the course of education in the settlement.
"It was this singular act that caused this school to move from a grant-in-aid school to a board of education school in 1961. This was significant because it meant that the school's needs and Mr. Ferguson's salary were met by the board, rather than the whim and mercy of the struggling people of Crooked Island."
Ferguson was born to Wilfred and Adrianna Ferguson on March 8, 1920. He was called "teacher Ulric" by those that knew him. His contributions have left an indelible mark on the educational system of Crooked Island and indeed The Bahamas.
The renaming of the Cabbage Hill primary school to the Ulric Ferguson primary school was the third school to be renamed in recent weeks. The Red Bays primary school in Andros was renamed the Bertram A. Newton primary school, and the Bimini All-Age school in Alice Town, Bimini, was renamed the Louise McDonald high school.
The Anatol Rodgers high school and the T.G. Glover primary school were both officially opened.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian