TEACHERS and administrators on Tuesday participated in a workshop geared towards the implementation of positive disciplinary measures in schools.
The workshop was held at the National Centre for Education Resource Development (NCERD) under the theme: ‘Accelerating the Use of Positive Discipline in Schools through Efficient Monitoring and Coaching’.

The seminar is a partnership between the Education Ministry and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which Education Specialist at UNICEF Audrey Rodrigues says is a telltale sign of the government’s commitment to ensuring that schools are safe learning environments.

Rodrigues said in her remarks, that it is UNICEF’s desire to see every child in school willingly participating in activities and once this vision becomes a reality, performance levels and behaviours are likely to improve. “This is what we want for Guyana. Happy children in spaces that are warm, inviting and protective, so that they feel comfortable and that they can concentrate and interact very smoothly with not only their peers, but with the teachers who are there,” she said.

Parents too, the education specialist indicated to the administrators, must be involved in the work of positive discipline outside of the classroom, in order to stimulate the very best of results.

“The intention is that we don’t only work with our teachers and the children in our classes, but we also work with those parents. We realised that if we practise positive discipline in schools and we do not have that kind of support in the extension of positive discipline in the home, our efforts may be stifled,” Rodrigues said.

Finally, she reiterated UNICEF’s perpetual willingness to assist the Ministry of Education and by extension all the regions of Guyana as a part of its mandate to create a better world and education system for children.
Meanwhile, addressing the group of individuals specially selected to attend the workshop, Assistant Chief Education Officer (ACEO), Owen Pollard said that the issue of indiscipline in local schools has remained stationary over the years.

He stressed that it is time for corporal punishment, often mistaken as discipline, to be taken “out of the system” and highlighted child-friendly classrooms and around-the-clock engagement as preferred methods of positive discipline.

“We are in modern times and as such, it is time that we employ modern methods of dealing with issues within our schools… the best thing to do is to ensure that we fully occupy the students’ time, so that there would be no need for disciplinary measures or actions to be taken,” Pollard advised.

The ACEO then beckoned the administrators to pass on the knowledge they received with others, to make their presence felt in their respective schools and to cause a positive change by creating a climate that is conducive to all.

“I trust that when you would have returned to your schools, you would not keep the knowledge gained here to yourself, share it with your counterparts…the time is now for us to realise that the change is necessary and you are in the forefront, you are especially chosen for this purpose,” he said.

At the same function, Regions Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) were commended by Monitoring Officer attached to the Ministry of Education, Eleatrice Davenport, for their great show of interest and exemplary performance in previous training sessions in the area of positive discipline.

Davenport also presented to the attendees a checklist for positive discipline and allowed the participants to make recommendations and suggest any needed additions to the list to ensure its all-roundedness.