These days candidate Shalene Starke, on a yet-to-be-determined position on the MEP list spends all her time going from house to house, knocking on doors, campaigning, listening to people, connecting with voters.
“Everywhere I go, I see young people, unemployed,” she says, ”Our educational system failed them, and neglected to prepare them for life in 2017; the whole system must be rebooted,” she adds.
It’s school summer vacation now, and Sharlene who has been a teacher of 13 years makes time to further her understanding of voters’ wishes and needs. Her own kids under grandma’s watchful eye are spending the summer vacation in Europe, allowing her the freedom to develop a solid following of voters.
Sharlene reports eight years ago, she already postulated herself on a political list of a small party. It was a positive experience, but it did not result in a political career, so this year she is trying again, affiliating herself with the largest opposition party. She likes the party leader, a strong, educated female, and enjoys the solidarity of other fresh and dynamic candidates, who make sure to communicate on an ongoing basis, to further the cause of their Social Democratic organization.
MEP candidates, she explains, are all accomplished professionals, and I am proud of the company I keep, though it is unfortunate that one of them abandoned the organization just recently.
Sharlene grew up in a business environment. Her mom and other family members dedicated their life to work, making enormous personal sacrifices along the way. As an adult Sharlene wanted more balance and opted for teaching, so she could spend time with her children.
As an elementary teacher, she taught all grades, and over time, with education frozen and static, the idea to affect change by means of political involvement came to her.
“I still write with chalk on a board, we still photocopy work sheets, we have frontal classrooms, it is frustrating, education on the island is perceived as boring and old fashioned by students, parents and teachers. There is no innovation, no vision. I decided to run for office in order to change that,” she says.
The two previous MinEdu did not come from education and did not understand the enormous task ahead of them; Sharlene believes a former teacher does.
While kids here are burdened with overwhelming social challenges, many teachers are overwhelmed by their student’s social challenges, resulting in stress, burnout and inability to cope.
And all that teachers hear is: We have no money, just do your best.
“Education,” Sharlene concludes, “must be rebooted on the island. Children, teachers and parents perceive it as outdated, and de-motivating, and we must do things differently.”
Not just that, Sharlene reveals, Parliament must undergo a reboot as well, right now the rubber stamp legislators follow the executive branch, the ministers, who lead the way, making biased decisions, with public debt, currently at about 85% percent of GDP, possibly much higher.
“Come campaign with me this weekend,” she said,” it is very interesting, go for the entire day, or only a few hours, you will learn a lot.”
I accept the invitations.
