Academic, scholar and historian, Professor Selwyn Cudjoe says Trinidad and Tobago has lost its way.
He argues that as a people, we have become disconnected from our own history, too often measuring education by degrees and qualifications rather than by a deeper understanding of the rare and complex journey that shaped our nation's growth, development, and independence.
Now, he is appealing for a return to history as the foundation of true education and identity.
00:00Professor Kujo tells the TV6 Morning Edition, Trinidad and Tobago must urgently develop school programs that challenge young people to think differently about themselves and their country.
00:13He believes that without a grounding in history, identity becomes unclear and the fundamentals of nationhood slip away.
00:20He says, too many of today's youth are growing up ignorant of where we came from as a people, leaving gaps in how we see the future.
00:30Some people don't even know who Eric Williams is. The fact is we do not teach these people. We do not teach what our values are.
00:39We make a lot of noise about taking off Columbus statue and all that. Let's go to. But what do you replace it with?
00:45And so I think we may rename streets. That sounds good. But what do we teach?
00:50What are the core values or the core historical values do we teach our students?
00:56He says, as the country commemorates its 63 years of independence, his call is for more education and community development.
01:05So if I were to make an appeal this morning on our 63rd anniversary of our nation's independence, I would simply say we need to do one.
01:15Introduce history into our schools. Two, we've got to read more. And thirdly, we have to act much more purposefully in our social environment.
01:27And you say, well, where can that start? And I think believe very strongly it has to go back to the communities.
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