We need many social workers too

THE EDITOR: It seems we are still stuck with a template of doctors and lawyers as the preferred professions for our top students. At least that is what is emerging when we look at the scholarships that were granted after the CAPE results.

Obviously, this could not be the absolute truth because the majority of students who will be going to university may present the nation with different qualifications on graduation.

Unfortunately, the narrative as presented when the academic accolades are awarded still remains rather daunting. My problem is that I do not see students seeking undergraduate scholarships for such courses as social work.

The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) says, “Social workers aim to improve people’s lives by helping with social and interpersonal difficulties, promoting human rights and well-being. Social workers protect children and adults with support needs from harm. From helping keep a family under pressure together to supporting someone with mental health problems, social work is a varied, demanding, often emotional and very rewarding career.”

Without prejudice to the career choices of the law and medical students, we also need students who undertake vocations toward lives of social work. Right now we have a surplus of lawyers and a large number of doctors.

In the current phase of our (un)development, we need the professionals who can establish preventative and remedial programmes that can save us from being absorbed further into the maelstrom of social dysfunctions that are threatening us.

March is International Social Workers Month. On March 5 TT observed Social Workers Day and the theme was “Co-building a New Eco-Social World: Leaving No One Behind.” The Ministry of Social Development and Family Services hosted a number of activities.

There are many social workers who have graduated from several institutions. There are social workers assigned to schools which need them in larger numbers than ever. Some are employed at the Family Courts, the judiciary and the hospitals.

But when they enter government service they suffer from disincentives like lack of prestige and the abysmal allocation of salaries to employ them.

However, there are social workers who have established multi-disciplinary private practices.

Franklyn Dolly heads Dolly and Associates. Dolly holds Master’s degrees in public administration and social work from Syracuse University, New York and a BA in social work from Ryerson University, Toronto.

Likewise, Hanif Benjamin is a Master of Social Work, licensed by the New York State Office of the Professions, and a member of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress and the National Centre.

He was head of the Children’s Authority, is president of the TT Association of Social Workers and he has established the Centre for Human Development Group of Companies Ltd.

Benjamin feels strongly that social workers should be given recognition for the roles they play in developing and supporting members of the population and that they be awarded the positions for which they have been trained.

He says social workers are in the front line just as the healthcare workers.

Where tuition is concerned, The UWI offers the BSc Social Work in the Department of Behavioural Sciences. A new programme will be taught online at The UWI Open Campus from September.

COSTATT has a Bachelor of Social Work degree which prepares graduates to function as professional social workers in the education, social services and national security sectors.

UTT has the Bachelor of Education – Special Needs and Primary Education which offers a foundation that graduates have used as the basis for graduate studies towards careers such as school psychologists and school social workers.

The Bachelor of Arts in Social Work at Caribbean Nazarene College is a four-year programme which will prepare students for the profession of social work.

The Bachelor of Science in Social Work offered at the University of the Southern Caribbean prepares graduates for generalist professional practice and/or the opportunity to pursue a Master of Social Work degree.

When will our leading students take advantage of these institutions as well as seize the opportunity to raise the prestige of social workers?

AIYEGORO OME

Mt Lambert