The National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) will this year unfold an improved strategy that will benefit the nation’s children as it continues with its partnerships among the Ministry of Education, school administrators and supportive non-governmental organisations.

This was revealed by the institution’s Director, Mr. Mohandat Goolsarran, during an interview.

“We plan to live up to public expectations and in so doing NCERD has developed a series of plans for 2009,” the Director said.

In the new year, special emphasis is being placed on teacher training to boost the capacity of educators, and also on providing students with alternative avenues for learning such as television series as well as the distribution of electronic mediums and books to facilitate the learning process.

Goolsarran pointed out that the successes of the non graduate certificate courses for teachers in Mathematics and English Language will be built on with the introduction of a non graduate certificate programme for Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Information Technology.

He further explained that this initiative will not only increase the capacity of teachers but will also act as an encouragement for students interested in pursuing careers in the sciences, a ‘plus factor’, in addition to the introduction of the National Science Coordinator Mrs. Petal Jetoo.

“Based on the response by teachers to the non graduate certificate programme, another session is likely to begin in mid January which will help many teachers with the content base of their curriculums, thereby enhancing the delivery of the material,” Goolsarran said.

He also added that as it relates to teacher training, the Education Management Certificate Course for school managers will continue and be expanded, since after the fourth batch, over 600 individuals have expressed their interest in the programme.

Goolsarran also said that to date a total of 350 individuals have successfully completed the Education Management Certificate Course.

The Director highlighted that the course was one of NCERD’s major accomplishments for 2008, in addition to work that was done revising the curriculum of schools and focusing on remedial programmes for Grades Seven, Eight and Nine.

“There are 60 lessons for English and Mathematics available via television programmes at these grades, and the production of a third edition of television series is in the pipelines. However, while the scripts for the Grade Seven lessons are completed, the actual recording is yet to be done,” he revealed.

Goolsarran added that another accomplishment of the institution was the introduction of the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), which replaces the Secondary School Entrance Examinations (SSEE).

“While there were some bumps in the induction stage, there has been growth at all levels and all regions in literacy as well as numeracy. So we can say that the objectives of the NGSA project have been achieved, while we are still focusing on quality of teaching and performance,” he said.

In an analysis that compared the results of SSEE against NGSA across the country from 1996 to 2008, Goolsarran pointed out that in 2008, the results indicate a pass rate of 94.18 percent.

In 1996, the pass rate was recorded at 97.57, which fluctuated throughout the years coming in at its lowest in 2007, with a 90.53 percent pass rate.

The analysis also recorded passes for 2008 in Region One (Barima/ Waini) at 72.3 percent, in Region Two (Pomeroon/ Supenaam) at 93.78 percent, Region Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands) at 94.92 percent, Region Four (Demerara/ Mahaica) at 91.5 percent, Region Five (Mahaica/ Berbice) at 90.32 percent, Region Six (East Berbice/ Corentyne) at 85.38 percent, Region Seven (Cuyuni/ Mazaruni) at 77.73 percent, Region Eight (Potaro/ Siparuni) at 63.83 percent, Region Nine (Upper Takutu/ Upper Essequibo) at 71.66 percent and Region Ten (Upper Demerara/ Berbice) at 99.99 percent.

Goolsarran noted that the results after the introduction of the NGSA showed a marked improvement from the previous year.

He said, “A child may suffer from exam fright and while he or she may be performing well throughout his or her school life, the element of fear may cause the child to perform poorly at the examination resulting in poor grades which would hinder the progression of the child’s academic future.”

He added that later this year an overall assessment of the impact of the training courses for teachers such as the Education Management Certificate Course as well as the Fast Track Initiative (FTI), a massive literacy campaign introduced in 2008 in all the regions, and an impact study of the Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) in Mathematics, will be done to comprehensively asses the success of the institution.