BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AS FAR BACK AS 1997 as CARICOM was formulating a vision for the Caribbean future and how to produce creative and productive citizens for the twenty-first century, they produced a document stating what the Ideal Caribbean person should look like. This document had already been approved by the Standing Committee of Ministers responsible for Education (SCME) in May 1997
Unfortunately, after initial airing, that document got lost among the multitude of documents produced by CARICOM.
But fortunately Educators were reminded of it by featured speaker, Mrs. Susan Sarah Owen, at the Opening Ceremony of the 22nd OECS Ministers of Education Meeting held here in St. Kitts on Tuesday May 22, 2012.
Before going on to inform and remind educators of the opportunities provided by the Open Campus of the University of the West Indies, and the benefits it provides to students and countries alike, she listed the criteria provided by the CARICOM document indicating what would be expected of the ideal Caribbean person.
Bringing awareness to these criteria is very important... imagine everyone in the Caribbean being guided into thinking about what expectations of greatness would be required of them!
Why then has this document not been popularised? Why has it not been made into posters and distributed to every school, public place and rum shop?
Well, generally the media, or some sections of the independent media, came to the conclusion that the language of the document was not such that it would be easily understood by the common man and that it was too “ponderous and pedantic”.
The language used to outline these criteria was described as ‘bureaucratese’, ’unedifying’ and ‘stilted’ and there was no rush to publicise it or hold it up for perusal.
However, apart from the language, the standards the document contains for describing a wholesome ideal Caribbean person ought not to be completely lost, and now, maybe more than ever, we need to hold up the picture of what an ideal Caribbean person ought to look like.
Here, then, is a simplified version of the document:
THE IDEAL CARIBBEAN PERSON
Is a person who
• Respects human life
• Is self confident
• Believes in family life and community unity
• Lives in harmony with the environment
• Respects his cultural heritage
• Can speak more than one language
• Is independent in thought
• Analyses beliefs and practices of the past for present day effective application
• Sees differences in religion, race and gender as a source of strength and richness
• Is morally responsible and accountable to self and community
• Applies science and technology in creative problem-solving
• Uses his/her creative imagination in economic and entrepreneurial spheres
• Demonstrates a belief in the moral value of work i.e. has a good work ethic
• Has the capacity to create and take advantage of opportunities to improve his physical, mental, social and spiritual well being
• Contributes to the health and welfare of his community
• Develops his full potential and seeks to do the same for others
Although we all aspire to the ideal and no one can be totally regarded as such, we can use these to ascertain whether our leaders in every sphere are striving to reach this ideal. It is an important yardstick by which we can judge ourselves as well.
(To see copies of the original document go to http://www.caricom.org/jsp/communications/meetings_statements/citizens_21_century.jsp )
