Dr. Judy C. Deterville-Jacob has recently graduated from UCAM Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia (Spain) with a Doctoral degree in Business Administration. This is value-added in motion, and even for those who may be described as the “new” forty-something… age must not be seen as a barrier to education, which surely can change the world.
The journey to a quality education is fraught with so many challenges. When one is young and comes from a family that already values classical education, the choice to continue with formal education may be easier and more attainable.
If on the other hand, one does not have the care, attention and guidance that fosters an innate positive relationship with education, the choices are not as simple and it becomes easier to fall into the proverbial cracks that lead to non-performance and self-destruction.
In a small country like Saint Lucia, with a population of 179, 875 (worldometers.info, 2024) knowledge acquisition must become the business of everyone, at every age. There should never be a time when a person is too old to learn.
A person can easily decide to end their educational pursuits after the fifth form level, if one is fortunate enough to write for the CXC or CAPE exams. But we must make sacrifices. We must push the boundaries. We must do more. Nelson Mandela captures the thought succinctly in his quote, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
As October draws to a close, Saint Lucians are still euphoric over the celebration of Jounen Kwéyòl. This is truly a success story. Initially recognized as just a dialect, the Creole has finally gained respectability as a language and from a near death experience in the early 80’s, Kwéyòl has evolved, and some might say it has become acceptable to be spoken and written. It has found its place in parliament and now, if policy is implemented as anticipated, into our schools, as part of the official school curriculum. However, as a society, time will judge us on this one. We have a powerful weapon. But some of us have let ourselves become too old and we have not yet learned how to use it.
Fortunately, there are those among us, call them Gen Xers if you will, who are willing to go the distance and despite step after excruciating step, will stay the course. We congratulate our forever learners who appreciate the value in knowledge.