Maxene Thomposon’s road to leadership

IT was at the behest of her brother that Maxene Thomposon took up the challenge and enrolled as a student at the New Amsterdam Technical Institute (NATI), but she had no idea that years later she would become a lecturer at the institution before making the history books as NATI’s female principal.

Thomposon, who has a natural dedication and zest for teaching, is an educator and is one of the many success stories coming out of NATI over the years of its existence. She added that today, many students who have passed through the institution now operate as managers and in other senior positions.

A long road to success
She said, “I did a Diploma in Secretarial Science…I didn’t expect to be where I am today. When my brother posed the challenge to me I played brave and took it on. I wrote the entrance examination and was successful and got accepted and wasn’t serious — of course the challenge was still there.”

Thomposon related that when she took the course back then, shorthand and typewriting were problem courses and were difficult subjects to undertake, but she wanted to prove her brother wrong by proving that she could do it.

The NATI principal said, “I am happy to say I am the first person to acquire a distinction in shorthand after two years and passed as being the most outstanding student in the business department.”

Thomposon told the Pepperpot Magazine that in 1984 after graduation, she was all set on being a court reporter at the time, but she met a senior lecturer at NATI, who was instrumental in helping her to choose her career path.

“I met her at a funeral and she asked me if I was working and I said not yet and she told me to go see her, she wanted to discuss something with me. I came in at NATI and she asked me for help, because two of her staff were on leave for the term. Even then I questioned myself… She moulded me as my mentor and prepared me to teach students in business,” Thomposon said.

She added that she began working at NATI and during the third term, a lecturer resigned and a vacancy therefore arose; she was encouraged to stay on.

Thomposon noted that in 1995 she pursued a Diploma in Marketing Management at the University of Guyana (UG) and returned to teaching and in 2010 she attained a Diploma in Education, also at UG.

She pointed out that the Diploma in Education course is specialised in administration and that prepared her to become a principal.

The educator said by the first year she acted as a senior lecturer and the third year she was confirmed as a senior lecturer. She then acted as deputy principal and in 2015 she was confirmed as Principal of NATI.

The Alumni Canada Chapter
The principal explained that although they get funds when it is limited and that they have the Old Student’s Association of NATI, that is, the Alumni Canada Chapter.

This organisation, Thomposon said, has assisted NATI over the years, in areas where they could not secure funds from the ministry.

She added that the body even helped them to reach the basic percentage that is required for the approval Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) council to pilot courses they are presently offering at NATI.

Thomposon stated that they have donated lots of tools and equipment to reach an 80 percent benchmark for NATI to be qualified to offer these courses.

“We had some problems getting recognition from the TVET Council, but we were encouraged to start and we were training students but they were not certified,” she said.

Pay-to-learn initiative
With the advent of the citizen-strengthening programme, NATI has instituted a special course which gives students a second chance in education and they receive a stipend while they learn.

Thomposon added that the stipend has attracted students and that is a plus for NATI because pupils who could not go to NATI are now attending classes in technical and vocational training and after completion, they can be gainfully employed.

About the New Amsterdam Technical Institute
NATI is a technical and vocational institution that trains persons in these fields and opened its doors on November 15, 1971 offering just a few courses – a general business course, building with engineering and over time they have added more courses.

In addition to the mainstream engineering courses, they are offering the science programme, a diploma in science and they continue to offer courses in keeping with the changing trends.

NATI has 543 students presently, but thousands of students have passed through the institution since 1971.

In recent times they have changed their mode of delivery with pilot programmes, where students take responsibilities for their learning and presently they have eight such pilot courses.

“We have 70 staff [members] including part-time employees. NATI is a government-funded school which admits students with the minimum registration fee. We get money budgeted through the Ministry of Education,” Thomposon said.