So we’re pulling the plug on music and sports in schools, just like that? The Prime Minister says it’s time for a sharper focus and fewer burdens. But when you start quoting guillotines and proposing to “trim the fat” from the curriculum, maybe you should pause before chopping off the legs that carry our children forward.
Music and sports are not luxuries. They are Dominica. They’re lifelines. Really? They can’t be, or they would not be on the chopping block. So then what are they?
Let’s start with music. Bouyon music is no longer just ours. It’s now on international stages, racking up streams, festivals, and brand deals. Asa Banton isn’t just a crowd mover, he’s a walking export. Signal Band, Reo, Triple Kay, and others have created a sound that Dominica owns. And that creativity often starts in a classroom with a drum, a flute, a voice, or a teacher who lets students express themselves.
If this government insists on cutting music from the core curriculum, then it’s not just a policy decision, it’s an attack on one of the few growing creative industries in Dominica.
Now let’s talk about sports. We love to cheer for Thea LaFond. But Thea didn’t get to the Olympics on the back of state support. She got there through sacrifice, determination, and personal grit. Dominica celebrates her now, but let’s not pretend we invested in her early journey. The same goes for Sheran Jno Baptiste, Brent Joseph, and many unnamed cyclists, cricketers, and footballers who are pushing to represent their island abroad. They deserve better than a system that calls their discipline “extracurricular.”
It’s disingenuous to talk about “back to basics” when some of the best education systems in the world are integrating art, music, and physical literacy into their core. The basics must evolve with the times, and our children’s talents must be nurtured, not minimized.
And what about our traditional culture? Where will children now learn about Jing Ping? About Bèlè dancing, drumming, and the historical roots of Cadence-lypso? These aren’t museum pieces, they are living, breathing artforms that still define how we sing, dance, celebrate, and understand who we are.
Cutting these from the classroom means cutting off access to the very essence of Dominica’s identity. It means students will graduate knowing algebra but not knowing how Calypso shaped political resistance, how a tambal drum speaks, or how to write a verse for the Junior Monarch competition. It means creating citizens disconnected from their roots.
Let’s also not ignore the academic value of these fields. Music teaches math and spatial reasoning, sports teach teamwork, physics, biology, and our cultural artforms teach history, storytelling, and critical thinking. How are these not essential?
Back in the day, school felt more balanced. Choirs performed for state visitors, students competed in school calypso tents, and cultural education was encouraged, not sidelined. Reform isn’t about cutting subjects that bring joy and engagement. It’s about rethinking delivery. If bags are too heavy, let’s talk about digitizing content. If teachers are overwhelmed, let’s train more. But don’t scapegoat creativity.
Not every child will be a doctor or lawyer. Some will be performers, producers, dancers, trainers, designers. And they too deserve an education system that sees them, values them, and prepares them.
Reform does not mean removal. It means redesigning the classroom to reflect today’s world, not to erase tomorrow’s artists and athletes.
If we cut the rhythm, the movement, and the cultural memory, we’re not educating.
We’re erasing.
This article is copyright © 2025 DOM767
At first glance, cutting down the number of academic subjects might seem like a strategy to reduce pressure on young students…..This comment was previously submitted and approved on another post. Submitting the exact same text multiple times goes against our community guidelines and has been flagged as spam. Please avoid duplicate submissions.
Sorry about that, I honestly thought it was related to the same topic, so I figured it made sense to keep it in the same thread. My mistake if it was no’t. Thanks for your patience,
Thank you for this powerful and necessary message. What you have said needs to be echoed across every community, every classroom, and every home in Dominica.
Let us be clear, this government’s decision to target music and sports in schools is not just short sighted , it is a direct failure in leadership and vision.
For years, this government has promised to invest in the youth, to build a “dynamic Dominica,” to empower future generations. But actions speak louder than slogans. Slashing the very programs that foster discipline, creativity, national pride, and global potential, that is not empowerment. That is abandonment.
This governments failure to recognize that education is more than test scores and textbooks. It is about shaping well rounded citizens who understand where they come from and have the confidence to go further.
Music and sports have never been luxuries in Dominica, they have been the glue binding communities, the bridge connecting our small island to the world stage. Our global recognition in Bouyon, Calypso, and athletics was not built in Parliament, it was built in classrooms, on courts, in schoolyards, by teachers and coaches working with next to nothing.
Where is the funding for creative infrastructure? Where are the national scholarships for the arts? Where is the sustainable investment in local talent pipelines for athletes, musicians, and cultural ambassadors?
Cutting these programs is not about reducing burdens, it is about offloading responsibility. And it exposes a government that talks about youth development only when cameras are rolling or medals are won. But development means investment, not just celebration after success.
This move tells our children that unless their dreams fit within a narrow academic mold, they do not matter. And that is dangerous. That is erasure!
The DLP government isn’t cutting for spite. They’re refocusing. Too many children leaving school can’t read properly, but we worried about sewo and football? Priorities matter. Let’s build a foundation first, then bring back the extras when our students can compete globally, not just at local festivals.
So let me get this straight, children in Dominica are leaving school unable to read properly, and instead of questioning the system that failed them, you want to punish the children?
Other countries educate their children to read while still allowing them to enjoy sports and the arts. But in your opinion, our Dominican children are somehow too stupid or lazy to do the same? That says far more about your low expectations for our youth than it does about them.
You say the solution is to take away what little joy these children get from school, like sports, rather than fix the broken system that failed to teach them to read in the first place? That’s not leadership, that’s cowardice masquerading as concern.
And let us be honest: you will not blame the system because that would mean holding your precious Labour government accountable. You ca not do that! So instead, you blame the children. The same children failed by a system run by the same party that has been in power for decades. You twist yourself into knots defending failure, then have the nerve to call it “solutions.”
This is nothing more than blind party loyalty at the expense of our children’s futures. You are not protecting them, you are protecting the very people who failed them.
Eliminating music and sports from schools isn’t streamlining; it’s stripping away vital avenues for student growth and cultural expression.
The decision to remove music and sports from the school curriculum is deeply concerning.
These subjects aren’t mere extracurriculars; they’re essential for fostering discipline, creativity, and a sense of community among students. Dominica’s rich cultural tapestry is woven through its music and athletic achievements. By sidelining these programs, we risk disconnecting our youth from their roots and diminishing their educational experience.
Yes, it’s painful to see cuts, but calling it sabotage is inflammatory. Our education system has long struggled with underperformance in basic subjects.
We need engineers, scientists, and skilled tradespeople, not just musicians and athletes.
Until we’re in a place to afford broad programs again, prioritizing core academic subjects makes sense.
That doesn’t mean we don’t value arts and sports; it means we have to make hard choices.
Communities, NGOs, and even private schools can keep culture alive.
But a national curriculum has to reflect what will secure our children’s futures in a competitive world.
Let’s continue to debate this maturely.
You say calling it “sabotage” is inflammatory, but what else do you call decades of mismanagement that leave children graduating without basic literacy? That’s not just a budget issue. That is a failure of leadership, accountability, and vision.
You talk about needing engineers and scientists, but how exactly do you expect to produce them when you are cutting the very programs that keep students engaged, motivated, and well-rounded? You ca not build a generation of critical thinkers by stripping away every outlet for creativity and physical development. That is not a strategy, that is an excuse!
And let us be honest: this whole “we have to make hard choices” narrative is tired. The hard choice is not cutting sports or music, it is confronting the entrenched, and failing system propped up by the same party you are defending. The same system that has had decades in power and now they are concerned about the failing education system that they created and failed to deal with1. And now your solution is to hand even more responsibility over to NGOs and private schools? That is not equitable, it is abandonment. It leaves the poorest children behind while the wealthy supplement their education with private resources.
If you really care about securing our children’s futures in a competitive world, then start by holding the people in charge of it for the past two decades accountable, not the children, not the teachers trying to do their jobs without support, and not the communities scrambling to fill the gaps left by a gutted-out system.
This is no about maturity, it is about honesty. And if you ca not bring yourself to be honest about where the real failure lies, then you are part of the problem.
Ah yes, everything’s the Labour Party’s fault, even the child’s report card. Maybe let’s blame hurricanes too while we’re at it? Or we could face reality: some homes, not just schools, are failing our kids. But it’s easier to scream politics than face uncomfortable truths, right?
I understand the outrage, Dominica’s culture is deeply rooted in music and sport. But I also see that the education ministry may be facing real pressures. What’s missing is transparency. If there’s a justification for these cuts, it needs to be explained clearly. If not, then yes, people have every right to push back.
But until then, maybe we should all pause, ask questions, and engage constructively before rushing to label the decision as sabotage.
2020 Labour “Ah yes, everything’s the Labour Party’s fault, even the child’s report card. Maybe let’s blame hurricanes too while we’re at it? Or we could face reality: some homes, not just schools, are failing our kids. But it’s easier to scream politics than face uncomfortable truths, right?”
Ah yes, true to form, let us go ahead and blame the parents now. Because clearly, it is their fault the education system is crumbling. Let us add the teachers to the blame list while we are at it. And the school administrators too. That way, we can keep protecting the political party that has been in power for two decades and pretend all of this just happened overnight.
That is the Labour Party way, never accept responsibility, and just redirect blame until people are too tired or too poor to care. Let us accuse parents of not doing enough. Accuse teachers of failing. Accuse school staff of being lazy or incompetent. But whatever we do, do not hold the government accountable for allowing this disaster to unfold over 20 years of mismanagement, secrecy, and corruption.
The reality is this, in Dominica, the most important professions, teachers, nurses, police officers, customs officials, prison guards are among the most underpaid and underappreciated. These are the people holding up our society, expected to give their absolute best in the worst of conditions, with little support, few resources, and salaries that do not even reflect the cost of living. They are exhausted. They are burned out. And yet, they show up every day because they care more about this country than many of the people who claim to lead it.
Meanwhile, under the Skerrit government, a small circle of individuals has become unbelievably wealthy. We are not just talking about buying a car or building a modest home. These people are purchasing vast amounts of land, constructing luxury homes, and making money hand over fist, right in front of the very public they are supposed to serve.
And no, maybe you cannot “prove” it with paperwork. Because that is the point, when a government hides information, dodges transparency, and refuses to work with its own people in good faith, there is no paper trail. Just visible proof. Real people seeing real things happen right in front of them. A government that refuses to be held accountable is not innocent, it is just hiding the evidence.
And to those still blindly waving the Labour Party flag because they were given a little something, ask yourself what that really means. That little gift was never generosity, it was a transaction. A cheap exchange:, your dignity for a handout. A shiny trinket in return for your silence. And while you hold onto that, they are keeping the real wealth, the real power, and the future of this country for themselves. That shiny trinket they gave you is nothing compared to what they are keeping for themselves.
And here is the truth, puppets are made to dance when the puppet master pulls the strings. Nothing more. And if you keep defending those strings, keep clapping for the same hands that keep you poor, you are only proving to Dominica that you have been bought, not lifted.
Politics was never supposed to divide us like this. It should never be worth sacrificing friendships, families, or your own community. But if politics has become your entire identity, your entire reason for being, then you better start understanding what that actually means. You have allowed a system built to serve you to turn you into a servant. Not for the country, but for the ones getting rich while the rest of us suffer.
And if you still believe that what you got, a little contract, a few groceries, or a petty promise, is the best you deserve, then understand that your vision of government is not just misguided, it is dangerous. Because you are helping to keep the same cycle alive that is keeping you, your children, and your family down.
Dominica deserves better, and deep down, you know it too!