Acting Principal, Mr. Sebro
Members of the School Board
Teachers and other members of staff
Distinguished Guests
The Graduating Class of 2004
Ladies and gentlemen
It gives me very special pleasure to have been invited to address today’s Graduation Exercise. Notwithstanding the fact that the Twenty-Fifth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government to which I am en route, will take place this week-end in Grenada, I accepted the invitation to address you at this Graduation exercise because I wanted to celebrate with you Graduands – soon to be Graduates – perhaps, this most wonderful day of your young lives, so far. I will be doing so as a proud past student of this school – and, yes, as Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community as well.
Graduands, Congratulations!
This is your special day and I hope it would be a wonderful day. I do not intend to spoil it. After the many addresses and remarks that you have already had today, I suspect that the last thing you would want is to be subjected to another address – be it Keynote, Feature or otherwise. Let us therefore agree to call it the Final Address and I am sure that you’re saying, please let it be mercifully short. It will not be too long.
The School Today
It has been many years since I last visited the school. So please permit me a few observations. On my way here, I took the opportunity to pass by the school – perhaps for some inspiration. It evoked such pleasant memories of my youth, of the quality time I spent there, of the teachers who played such an important part in sharing my life, and all in all memories of an institution that helped to mould my life in a very positive way.
I also could not but notice and admire the physical transformation that has taken place. In my student days the school comprised essentially the Assembly Hall and three one-storey wings. Today, it boasts at least three multi-level blocks in addition to the Assembly Hall, and can rival many of the best secondary school structures anywhere in the Caribbean. The School Board, the Administration, Staff, Parents and Donors, deserve the highest praise for so adequately providing for so many more young Tobagonians – over 700 – I gather, to receive a quality education.
And speaking of the student population, I have learnt of the overwhelming predominance of girls. I am happy that you girls are availing yourselves of the opportunity provided for a good education, but I am concerned about the decrease in participation of the boys – less than 45 per cent I gather, of the overall enrolment. This is an undesirable regional trend. Young men, you had better take stock and reverse this trend without delay. Parents, you too have an inescapable responsibility to guide and encourage our boys so that they don’t get left behind: So that their future is not destroyed in the present.
I am delighted to learn that the teaching establishment now numbers more than forty and that the majority are not only Tobagonians, but products of the school. This situation is likely to create stability and reduce the rapid turnover plaguing many schools. But I must hasten to emphasise the need for teachers other than Tobagonians, since the mix will help to widen the students’ horizons and enrich their educational experience.
All in all, my advice to you students is to appreciate and exploit to the fullest the good fortune which is yours – Bishop’s High School, Tobago. From all indications you have already been doing so, for as we know the proof of the pudding is in the eating. This proof is to be seen in the competitive and successful performance of the school in its wide-ranging co-curricular activities, including tennis, cricket, soccer, athletics, netball, drama/speech, scrabble, music, and even calypso competitions.
The school should feel justly proud of its achievements in a number of fields, including the Tobago House of Assembly 2003 Youth Awards Programme. Its recent CXC and A-level results, for which students like Ryan Allaid, Josiah Henry, Jannike Frank, Reinaldo Gift and Kristy-Jo Sebro, all deserve congratulations, provides further proof.
The school is certainly producing students who can, not only cope, but excel, in the nation and the new world. In fact, I thought Bishop’s High School was good in my day but I believe I have to admit that today it seems to be even better. It is against the backdrop of this record and vision of achievement that I must now speak directly to you the Graduands.
True to its motto, “CREDE CRUCI”, Bishop’s High School has provided you with a quality education to serve as your foundation for life.
Some of those who have already passed through the hallowed halls of this institution have given you worthy examples to follow. I recall that one was a President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
Through its various programmes and myriad co-curricular activities you have had the opportunity to learn and adopt many of the values, qualities and attributes that characterise the “Ideal Caribbean Person.” All CARICOM countries have committed themselves to the goal of creating that personality.
In addition to the contribution of this school, your innate creativity and acquired self-reliance, create the basis on which you can develop a healthy lifestyle, a positive work ethic and a commitment to life-long learning.
That’s where you are – or should be. Now where are you going? Graduands, you have all just completed your CXC Examinations and I wish all of you success. Many of you will be going on to A’ Levels and then further studies, while others will be entering the world of work. Irrespective of the category in which you fall, awaiting you out there is an environment you cannot escape. It is one that is appropriately alluded to in the theme for this year’s Graduation Ceremony: “Racing with Destiny”.
What is this “Destiny” all about? It really concerns and involves how well you manage in the complex and rapidly changing, technology-driven world, which is already here and which you are about to enter. It is a world with daunting challenges, but also with exciting new possibilities. You must therefore be prepared for it, because this race with destiny is one that you lose at your peril.
What is so different about this new World?
By way of an example: In my time or your parents’, a few might have gone abroad to study, but the majority did so at one of the campuses of the University of the West Indies. Most then returned home, found a job and remained in the same career until retirement – with the odd promotion now and then – more then than now. International developments have changed all of that. Many of you will not end up at UWI at all or return to live and work here. You are just as likely to end up in environments with which you are today totally unfamiliar and for which you will need to acquire in a short space of time, the capacity to cope.
Right here in the Caribbean which is itself changing fast, the social and economic situation is fast changing in a manner that will impact on your lives significantly. One exciting development in that regard is the establishment of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). I am sure you have heard about it, but as the Secretary-General of CARICOM I have a duty to remind you that it focuses not only on the free movement of goods, services and capital, but provides as well for the free movement of people, especially skilled persons, as you are well on the way to becoming.
One important objective of this venture is the efficient and competitive production of goods and services for both regional and international markets. But an even more important objective of the entire enterprise is the creation of a Caribbean Community worthy of our highest aspirations.
The CSME will provide you with the option of working in any CARICOM country without the hassle of a work permit. The process is already operational for those who fall the first categories of skills listed for free movement – University Graduates, Sports Persons, Musicians, Artists, Managers, Supervisors and other Service Providers.
To facilitate this process, CARICOM has created an enabling environment. The framework involves a social security system to enable those who move from one CARICOM country to another, not to lose their social security (National insurance) benefits and arrangements to ensure that the children of those who move are given access to the educational institutions in the country to which their parents have moved. Moreover, Trinidad and Tobago is not only a foundation member of the integration movement – the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) – it is no less so a member of the Association of Caribbean States – a zone of cooperation of all the states washed by the Caribbean Sea, for it is the Headquarters of that Association. Likewise, it is actively participating in the formation of the Free Trade Areas of the Americas (FTAA) – a trade grouping scheduled to include all the countries of the hemisphere (except Cuba). It is also seeking to host the headquarters of this Organisation.
So, students, your economic space is no longer confined to Trinidad and Tobago but is fast encompassing the entire Caribbean Community, the hemisphere and beyond. At the same time, you will, on the other hand, face competition in your home country, for jobs and other opportunities from qualified persons from other CARICOM Member States, and your products/services from all FTAA member states as well. This, remember, includes from the United States of America. So you must aim to be the best, and you must continue to upgrade your skills – remember life-long learning. This is not simply so as to get a job, but equally as entrepreneurs to create jobs as well.
The international economic environment, like the regional and hemispheric ones awaiting you, is also undergoing considerable, rapid change. Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of the Caribbean Community, for example, no longer enjoy the historically preferential markets for their key exports. As you know, in the past, we had protected markets, especially in Europe for our bananas, sugar and other agricultural goods but this is fast ceasing to be the case. Trade liberalisation and globalisation have seen to that in creating a technology-driven, competitive global environment with an emphasis on services, not only on goods. This means that our goods and services must be of a very high quality and standard to enable them to compete on equal footing with those from elsewhere in the world, not only in international markets but in our home market as well. Another symbol of the change is that today the computer and the internet constitute everyday tools of living and working; the personal cell phone is fast replacing the family phone and as many of you well know, children now go to school with their own personal cell phone. And soon, who knows, not to have an e-mail address could well be the new definition of a vagrant!
Students, you must get ready to play an important role in this fast unfolding global environment to help secure a place for your country and Region. This you can do by equipping yourselves with the necessary entrepreneurial, technical and managerial skills and capacity to enable your country and the Region to withstand the many challenges we must now face. You must, however, be the best if you are to succeed in this as well as in providing your families with the quality of life to which you will aspire.
In this new world, no island is a land unto itself. The future of Trinidad and Tobago and its people is inextricably bound up with that of the international community. Our country must therefore share in the concerns engaging the attention of the global community. For what affects others, now also affects us. It is with this realisation that I must refer to the Millennium Development goals and targets adopted by the countries of the World at the World Millennium Summit 2000 to create a fairer and more stable world.
These goals include combating poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination among women – all goals, the achievement of which will surely impact on your lives. As young persons on the threshold of adulthood, you also need to be aware not only of the economic, but also the social issues associated with this globalisation process. The defence of democracy, of civil and political rights; peace and security; international justice; the struggle against international organized crime and corruption; and the issue of environmental sustainability are matters of no less importance to your lives than the avoidance of poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy. These issues are all central to the quality of life you will experience.
Two particularly dangerous threat to your way of life – indeed to your very survival and therefore ones to which you must pay the utmost attention, is the scourge of HIV/AIDS and that of illicit drugs. You cannot compromise in the battle to eradicate these. They are major concerns with which the international community is now grappling. You, as citizens of Trinidad and Tobago; and more so, as its future cannot afford to remain indifferent to these matters.
Graduands, what I have tried to do is to describe in a nutshell, the world awaiting you, but not to scare you. On the contrary this is the world in which you must not only be prepared to survive, but to excel. Do not therefore be daunted by the challenges. As I leave this podium, I do so assured and confident that not only will those who have already guided you through several hurdles, especially your parents, stand ready to continue to continue to help you to do so. I am equally confident that you on your part will do that which is necessary to make your school, your country and your Caribbean proud. And one can ask no more.
Go forth therefore in confidence, the new women and men of tomorrow from the Graduating Class of 2004 of my alma mater, Bishop’s High School, Tobago.
