The National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) has launched a series of continuous professional development courses geared at empowering teachers to meet the changing demands of the school system. The series of some 50 programmes offer a more organized approach to the professional upgrading of teachers and the Ministry of Education has identified Guidance and Counselling, Professional Ethics, Continuous Assessment Methodology, Classroom Management and Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) from the set to commence during the August vacation.
These programmes are also expected to provide teachers with current and relevant training in foundation courses that will impact positively in creating a conducive learning environment.
Education Minister Shaik Baksh, speaking at the occasion held at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), said the initiative which is not new to NCERD, is the first complete programme and the current framework will be submitted to all schools.
He told the gathering, which included Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) President Colin Bynoe and teachers from the various regions, that more programmes will be offered shortly and he called on head teachers to request programmes that they would like to see teachers undertake.
The Guidance and Counselling course, he stressed, will be of great assistance to teachers as it would equip them with the necessary skills to promote positive, acceptable and non-confrontational behaviours in school.
Importantly too, the minister mentioned, the other programmes are geared to instill positive work attitudes in teachers, improve their delivery and students outcome, as well as to build students’ confidence and self-esteem.
Baksh announced that the HFLE programme will soon be extended to another 30 schools across the country, and he noted that training of teachers to impart the course will be done in their respective regions.
He disclosed that the two credit courses will also give teachers an advantage when they apply for promotion and posited that the promotion of teachers to senior positions should not be automatic.
Baksh said he supports the view that a teacher must accumulate a certain amount of credits to be promoted to a position of senior master/mistress, and he will be meeting with the President of the Union to discuss the matter.
He observed that many teachers are being promoted to senior positions without going through any professional development.
The new criteria for promotion will adequately prepare them to handle the demands of their new portfolios.
Baksh noted that the continuous professional development courses are part of a wider programme to continuously upgrade teachers to improve their delivery and outcome in the classroom.
The Associate Degree in Education, which will begin at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) in October, will include 17 new programmes and existing courses will be revised.
That programme will bring a paradigm shift to education delivery in Guyana.
He noted that trainee teachers will have to score at least 80 per cent to pass their practicum and will be closely mentored to adopt the requisite attitude to take up the important task of educating the nation’s children.
The minister was also of the view that the time has come for establishment of a teachers’ Council and stressed that this position has already been endorsed by the education ministers of CARICOM.
Bynoe said the courses represents a red letter day for NCERD and the Ministry of Education, as teachers will be better equipped to deliver in a more competent way, meet the needs of learners, and to keep abreast of the current demands of the education system.
On that note, he urged teachers who will undertake the courses to use the knowledge and skills they would acquire to improve the performance of their charges.
NCERD Director, Mohandatt Goolsarran, reported that there was an overwhelming response from teachers to pursue the courses now being offered. These programmes will be facilitated by personnel from the University of Guyana, CPCE, NCERD and the Central Ministry.
Some 1200 teachers have completed the NCERD Education Management Programme and according to Goolsarran, they have been making a positive impact at their respective schools.