The President of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Daniel Bet, Tuesday, called for a region where education is a launchpad for innovation, resilience, and global leadership.
Addressing the 2025 Regional Symposium and Policy Dialogue on Transforming Education,’ Best recalled the vision of the late St. Lucian Nobel Laureate, Sir Arthur Lewis, Nobel Laureate, that the fundamental cure for poverty is not money but knowledge.
Best told the three-day symposium being held under the theme ‘Stronger Together: Empowering Parents as Partners in Caribbean Education,’ that Sir Arthur was right then, as he is now.
‘Sir Arthur recognised that education is the deciding factor between a Caribbean that lingers on the margins of the global economy and a Caribbean that leads, as innovators, creators, and builders of prosperity,’ Best told delegates attending the symposium that has brought together key regional stakeholders to underscore the vital role of parents and guardians in the education system.
The symposium is organised by the CDB in collaboration with the Barbados Ministry of Education Transformation and other partners, and Best said that over the last four decades, global gross domestic product per capita has nearly doubled, and the share of humanity living in extreme poverty has decreased from 44 per cent in 1981 to just nine per cent in 2022.
He said research shows that education accounted for half of global economic growth since 1980, and two-thirds of income gains among the world’s poorest people.
‘The takeaway is unmistakable; education is the most powerful driver of inclusive growth known to humanity,’ best said, adding that for generations, Caribbean parents and grandparents sacrificed, stretched scarce resources, walked miles, and leaned on their communities to ensure their children could enter a classroom.
‘Many of us here today are direct beneficiaries of their determination. Our region’s progress rests squarely on their belief in the power of learning. Now, it is our turn to honor their sacrifices by transforming our systems to meet the challenges of our time. Because, colleagues, the reality is sobering’.
The CDB president said that fewer than one in five adults in the Caribbean hold a university degree with girls dominating tertiary education even as this success is not matched in leadership roles or pay equity.
He said boys were exiting the education pipeline too early, with lasting effects on their well -being and society.
Best said that this year, 44 per cent of the candidates who sat the Caribbean Examination Council’s (CXC) Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) passed five or more subjects, including Mathematics and English, ‘still very much below what we can consider satisfactory.
‘While we continue to produce brilliant minds, too many migrate in search of opportunity, with some countries losing more than 70 per cent of their university graduates. My friends, weak outcomes block the dreams of families and constrain our region’s growth. They erode social cohesion and deepen cycles of inequality.’
Best said he was envisioning a transformed Caribbean region where education is a launchpad for innovation, resilience, and global leadership.
‘A Caribbean where lifelong learning is guaranteed through skills certificates and reskilling pathways. young innovators harness AI and robotics to design platforms that transform the way the world learns, heals, trades, and connects, universities and TVET institutions fuel breakthroughs in renewable energy, climate resilience, and digital entrepreneurship.
‘Our hubs of trade are models of sustainability, and our scientists lead in marine biotechnology and clean energy. Tourism is redefined as sustainable, agriculture is transformed by agro-tech, and our blue economy becomes the Silicon Valley of the Seas, (and) most importantly, where our brightest young people no longer feel they must leave the Caribbean to succeed.’
He said that this is transformation needed urgently and it begins with how investments are made in education development today.
Best also urged parents and first teachers to instill values and build resilience in the transformation, noting that ‘education is a journey that begins long before the first school bell.
‘Parents are the first teachers, the ones who instill values, build resilience, and sustain learning at home. Every child’s success story is a testament to the unseen labor of a mother or guardian, the faith of a father, and the resilience of grandparents who held onto the promise of education against all odds.
‘Policymakers can craft a vision and strategy, but it is parents who bring these principles to life, making them an indispensable part of the education system. One cannot succeed without the other.
‘In our region, it has always taken a village to succeed. It will take the whole Caribbean village, including parents, teachers, communities, policymakers, and the diaspora, to raise this generation into prosperity. That is why parents must have a seat at the table of transformation.’
Best said that through stronger Parent-Teacher Associations, regional alliances, and community networks, ‘we are embedding parents’ voices alongside policymakers in decisions that will shape Caribbean education for decades to come.
‘At this critical juncture, we have a unique opportunity to strengthen the entire education ecosystem by vigorously advancing the participation of parents. Over the next few days, I invite us to rethink how we engage, empower, parents as partners with formal roles, clear access points, and enshrined rights in shaping the future of education.’
He said to guide the conversations, he is proposing what he termed ‘The Big Four Agenda for Parents’ which focuses on parents as partners, protecting every child’s right to learn, preparing children for the future, and passing on a legacy of opportunity.
The CDB president said that the region’s premier financial institution ‘will be right there alongside you, our policymakers, parents, students, educators, and partners.
‘Under our Rebirth Vision, we are designing a new education policy and strategy that will bolster the education ecosystem and further strengthen parent-teacher partnerships, building on our track record to ensure the basics, so that by Grade 3, every Caribbean child can read, count, think critically, and navigate the digital world with confidence, cultivate future skills for renewable energy, resilient construction, agro-tech, health tech, the creative economy, and the digital frontier.’
He said the project will also allow for linking education to jobs and lifelong learning through micro-credentials, modular qualifications, and demand-driven competency-based skills.