"It is not an arrogant government that chooses priorities, it's an irresponsible government that fails to choose." - former British Prime Minister Tony Blair We are approaching the end of summer, the beginning of a new school year for many thousands of students and the commencement of the political season that will stimulate the sensibilities and passions of many. We thought that this would be an opportune time to reflect on an issue that often escapes so many of us in our individual and national lives, namely setting priorities.
Therefore this week, we would like to consider this: what are our national priorities? What are the things that matter most to us in our national endeavors and how do we determine the order in which to fulfill them? At the most fundamental personal level, from the time that homo sapiens first emerged on the planet, our existential priorities have been satisfying our most basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. Arguably, with a few exceptions, most Bahamians are generally satisfying those basic needs.
In his 1943 exposition: A Theory of Human Motivation, Abraham Maslow set out his hierarchy of needs which is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid, with the largest and most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom, and the need for self-actualization at the top. Maslow's theory was more fully developed in his 1954 book Motivation and Personality which still makes interesting reading, even today.
However, we would prefer to focus our attention this week on our national priorities, something which our leaders do not often discuss except at election time. Thereafter, at least until the next campaign, they seem to prefer to ignore the fact that setting national priorities requires a deliberate and dynamic dialogue which should take place in the off-political season if we are going to focus properly on our national goals and priorities.
At the macro-level, we can all agree that if we are to develop civil society in a manner that will enhance the quality of life for our citizens, we need to find mechanisms that will ensure that our personal and national security, education, and health care, just to mention a few, remain at the pinnacle of our national hierarchy of needs. Notwithstanding this, we tend to address these issues at a very superficial level. The national discourse on these subjects is not encouraged in any meaningful way in order to arrive at solutions to ensure that we collectively identify or build consensus on how to achieve meaningful and measurable milestones in order to determine whether we are progressing as a nation on such matters.
Take education for example. Earlier this month, the nation received the national scorecard for examine results for The Bahamas Junior Certificate (BJC) and The Bahamas General certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE). The BJC examination was re-introduced in 1994 and the first sitting of the BGCSE was administered in 1993. Unfortunately, the national discourse of the "deplorable" examination results of the latter examination will ensue for the next few weeks and it will end there. However, even a cursory look at the statistics will reveal some very disturbing facts.
For example, although there were about 1,000 more candidates for the BGCSE exams this year as compared to 2008, the results were hauntingly similar, basically reversing what had been an upward movement in these grades in the intervening years of 2009 and 2010. In 2011, there were a shade more As, Bs and Cs than in 2008, but while there were less Ds and Es, there were also more Fs and Gs. What does this show us about the small amounts of progress that had been shown in 2009 and 2010 but not continued in 2011? To be brief, it demonstrates clearly how we are depriving our children by not setting priorities in Education as we should, by concentrating on only our annual hassling about one set of grades, instead of focusing on the larger picture of how to fully educate our children.
Additionally, the examination results should cause us to pause and reconsider: how relevant are the BGCSE examinations in the context of national development for the 21st Century Bahamas? We are not suggesting that we should dispense with such examinations, but rather that we must expand the national dialogue as to whether our high schools are providing most of our students with a strong foundation and adequately preparing them for life experiences when they leave high school. The time is long overdue for us to take stock of our national priorities for our future development, and then to formulate an educational program that will prepare our students for their greater, active participation in society once they have completed their high school studies.
If we continue on this course, when our students leave school, the lack of useful, practical skills that are not provided in primary and secondary school will relegate them to menial tasks in society, if they can find employment at all. Worse yet is the likelihood that they will ultimately become discouraged workers because they lack the skills to meaningfully and actively participate in our 21st century society and community. It is urgent that we reassess our national priorities relative to education.
Let us also consider several decisions that are taken by government at several levels. Most pressingly, exactly how does a government decide what investments it makes in capital projects? How does it set its priorities? Let's briefly review several capital projects that have recently been undertaken by the Government. Traditional wisdom suggests that in the midst of an economic recession, it is prudent for governments to stimulate the economy by investing in capital projects for the benefit of its citizens. We have witnessed this in the Lynden Pindling International Airport, the national stadium, the deepening of the harbour to accommodate world-class cruise ships and the controversial road works program.
Generally, if these projects directly benefited Bahamians, in the first instance through jobs created during their construction, there would be little objection, except perhaps for a debate on the extent that such projects are funded by astronomically increasing debt. One could persuasively argue that these expenditures are justifiable if long-term jobs are created for Bahamians upon completion of such projects. But recently, our national priorities seem to militate against such endeavors because they have failed to achieve significant and meaningful short- or long-term employment for Bahamians.
In the case of the national stadium, very few construction jobs were created for Bahamians by this project and the jury is still out on the long-term benefits that will inure to our citizens. The same observation can be made for dredging the Nassau harbor, where millions of dollars were spent with a foreign company and its workers in order to entice mega-cruise ships that transport many to our shores who sadly leave little in our stores and economy.
The most egregious example of setting national priorities can be found in the ill-conceived, poorly executed and disappointingly disorganized road works program all over New Providence which has displaced thousands of employees and deprived countless enterprises of badly needed business activities, especially now during these inordinately difficult economic times. As we know, the New Providence Road Improvement Project is being done by an Argentinian company with foreign and Bahamian workers.
And we now observe that countless scores of Chinese have been employed to construct the corridor from the Lynden Pindling International Airport, as they did the national stadium, while Bahamians are experiencing record level unemployment rates. In the final analysis, road improvement projects have created very few jobs for Bahamians in the short-term and even fewer when the projects are completed.
Too often, we seem to be incapable of thinking through the nuances of our national needs and priorities for the benefit of our citizens, often resulting in ramifications that deprive our citizens of the full benefits that they should enjoy and ultimately relegating them to second-class citizenship.
As we continue to develop our nation, greater consideration must be given and more voices from all sectors of society must be added to the national dialogue: first to determine which priorities we should establish and pursue to secure the best and most superlative organization of our nation and then what must be done to achieve them.
Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Galanis & Co., Chartered Accountants, Forensic & Litigation Support Services. He served 15 years in Parliament. Please send your comments to pgalanis@gmail.com.
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