Individual Achievements of African Caribbean Males - Dissertation Example

The economy of the Eastern Caribbean generally rests upon natural sources such as the sugar industry and the banana industry. Historically economic development in the Eastern Caribbean has not relied on education and skills teaching but rather on the use of natural resources. The importance of education is more affixed on its label than its utility.  Education functioned more as a luxury and signaling mechanism than as an essential input into economic development. Status attainment has been the chief aim of education. Formal Education in Eastern Caribbean is seen more as a way to gain social elevation, which in particular seems to be the case for higher education. Education is used as a screening device for white-collar positions in civil service and trading without regard for the effectiveness of the screening for actual jobs in the productive sector. The overemphasis on academia leads to an education system that does not necessarily impart skills related to the labor market. The production of degrees thus leads only to greater unemployment ( Blom and Hobbs, 2008, pp.14-15).

Worrel (2004) puts forth that a challenge still being faced by CXC is to determine what relationship must be established, in the curriculum, between the canonical knowledge of /Europe and North America and other forms of knowledge that may be of equal importance to the students and the society (Patricia Worrell, 2004, p.2). Roberts V (2003) puts the same concept more simply, ‘Contemporary Caribbean secondary education should give young people survival skills thereby enabling them to lead healthy and productive lives through production of graduates who are technologically and artistically literate (Vivienne Roberts, 2003, p.20).

Students excluded from schools are more likely to fall prey to antisocial practices.  Excluded young blacks are more likely to commit a crime and at times violent crimes too (House of Commons, HAC, 2007: p.202). The capitalist societies of the Caribbean have been experiencing a particular type of development based on exploitation. The so-called group of exploiters uses the marginalized black youths for their interests. The profit-centered pattern of development through more underdevelopment enriching a few and leaving many in peril is ascribed to black youth crime. Their survival strategies (Daphne, 2010: p.199) are obligated to be based on antisocial practices such as violence and wretchedness. That is, those exploiters are capable of identifying what these marginalized youths possess just to fulfill their (exploiters’) needs. It means, the universally objected to bodies of exploiting groups understand what they need from these marginalized groups and usurp that much energy and use it for their interest. How come great administrations like governments fail to identify the potentialities of these black boys? Poor governance is not at all the correct answer to this question. It would not give a complete explanation for this problem. Ascribing lack of willingness or inclination to identify latent potentialities of black boys on the part of administrations may sound like a pungent charging against governments. But the exploration of facts would certainly bring out this aspect of diminished inclination at least to some extent. The House of Commons Report of 2007 (p.200) has daringly stated, “The government is placing a sticking plaster over gaping wounds of underachievement (in education) about African Caribbean students”. Although authorities of the UK are now slowly beginning to admit their prejudices against the Afro-Caribbean community, social repression against them in Britain seemed to have been the order for decades (Iwunze, 2009: p.64-65). This trend of constant repression forms part of the social structure, which exacerbates their low achievement. Unfortunately many white communities ascribe the low-level achievement of Afro-Caribbean youths to their immigrant generational status as a sole determinant. Unmindful of SES – social-economic status – ethnicity, age, and family structure, which influence their performance in schools, a wrong connotation is being affixed and believed for a long time (Anekwe, P.N., p.30).

In this survey, attempts are made to focus on the achievements of Caribbean youths in education amidst the extremely pulling down environment in which they live. Data are collected through many primary and secondary sources on the shortfalls in their achievements as well as their excellence in achievement. Their successes are used as the parameter of their achievement and their failures are used as the parameter of their underachievement. Both these two aspects are subjected to the RQs and answers to those Research Questions are arrived at for each achievement and failure. The review of literature is made to cover as much success and failure of Caribbean youths. Answers to the RQs which go in line with the hypothesis are taken as the confirmatory conclusions of a research paper. Answers which do not correspond to the hypothesis are left for future research.