By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

PUBLIC school teachers are reporting an uptick in students who do not understand English, according to Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) president Belinda Wilson, who warns the language barrier is now disrupting learning, behaviour and basic classroom readiness across multiple campuses.

Mrs Wilson said schools are enrolling a large number of non-English-speaking newcomers — mostly Creole speakers — many of whom did not attend preschool and arrive without key foundations, even toilet training in some Grade 1 cases. She said limited English proficiency is driving low reading, writing and comprehension scores and fuelling classroom disruptions linked to students’ frustration.

The union, she said, has written to Education Minister Glenys Hanna Martin seeking the government’s plan and proposing “constructive discussion” to build a clear, funded response. Mrs Wilson said that a previous approach placed newcomers in dedicated English instruction before mainstream enrolment. “Before the children used to go somewhere else and do the English and then be enrolled in the school. I don’t know what happened to that programme,” she said.

Director of Education Dominique McCartney-Russell has said the ministry employs a buddy model for students behind in English. “We would place that student with a buddy, and we will provide support as best we can so that the child learns the English,” Mrs McCartney-Russell said recently.

Mrs Wilson, however, said teachers have not received guidance, training or resources for any formal buddy system. She has asked the director to provide the written policy, identify where it is in operation, and explain when and how it was implemented and who was consulted. She said schools need a structured programme, specialist support and a clear timeline to help non-English-speaking students catch up quickly while easing pressure on classrooms.