862 teachers graduate – Associated Degree graduates among batch – as CPCE holds 78th exercise

THE Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) has made history, in that it has graduated its first batch of teachers under its Associated Degree in Education (ADE) programme.

altOf the 862 that graduated Tuesday afternoon in the institution’s 78th Convocation exercise at National Cultural Centre (NCC,) 197 graduated under the ADE. The remaining 665 completed the Trained Teacher’s Certificate programme.
The ADE programme comes under the comprehensive US$5.12M Guyana Improvement Teacher Education Project (GITEP) that was initiated by the Ministry of Education, with funding from the Inter-American Development Bank that aims to address quality of delivery in the classroom by first attending to the management of teacher education and programmes offered at the Cyril Potter College of Education and the University of Guyana.
One component of the GITEP featured the introduction of the ADE programme at CPCE with the aim of shortening the time spent acquiring a degree. The programme allows for teachers to obtain an education degree in five years instead of the usual nine years.alt
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport and Minister of Education (acting) Dr. Frank Anthony, Chief Education Officer (CEO) Olato Sam, and Opposition Leader David Granger were present as the teachers were presented their certificates.
PM Hinds called on them to be good citizens, to seek to serve the education sector and only strive to provide service of which they will be proud.
Government, cognisant of the need to have an educated human resource base to build the nation, has been investing substantially in education. Over the years, government’s investments have allowed for universal access to primary education and extended coverage in the area of secondary education.
altGovernment has also created more opportunities for technical and vocational training through infrastructure development and expanding vocational training across the country. There have also been extended opportunities at the level of the University of Guyana.

Minister Anthony, delivering the feature address, reminded that government investments have not excluded the teachers, and it is to this end that government implemented programmes such as the GITEP and formulated an Education Strategic Plan (ESP) 2008-2013. The latter has the primary goal of achieving at least 70 percent of teachers trained by 2013.
He said that the country will either succeed or fail depending on attainment in the area of education, and underscored the key role that teachers play in moulding children.alt
Minister Anthony also urged that as the teachers go forward, they focus on that quality of education they put into the system as this determines what comes out. He said, “We can have all the infrastructure, but if we don’t have the teachers going into the class rooms, ensuring that they are teaching the curriculum, and that the management of our schools are not supervised properly to see that we are able to obtain the objective that we set, then we will not be able to improve the quality of our education.”
He counselled that if the foundation is not laid in the early stage, then the results will “come back to haunt us later down the road.”
Olato Sam reminded teachers of the role they must play and the faith that the government is placing in their hands. “Each of you must internalise the fact that you are now teachers, you are transformational agents and should regard yourself as such. If we are to effectively equip our students with skills, knowledge and attitudes that will enable them to attain their aspirations, and in the process, transform their communities, and by extension, this nation we all love, it altmust start with each of you,” Sam said.
“Your mission, therefore, should go well beyond your education and penetrate the walls and bring sweeping behavioural change… you must now usher in a new age in education…this journey embarked on must be driven by a strong sense of your place in the larger effort to move this nation forward,” he added.
Opposition Leader Granger delivered the charge to the graduates.
Hemawattie Alga, who completed the Secondary School, ADE, at the Rose Hall branch of CPCE, was named Best Overall Student.
Of the 862 graduates, 103 were males. Each graduate of the ADE programme is to be presented with a laptop.

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