– former Chief Education Officer, Olato Sam returns as education specialist

QUENITA Walrond-Lewis has been appointed Director of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) and former Chief Education Officer, Olato Sam has returned to the Ministry of Education to serve as education specialist in the Office of the Minister.

Walrond-Lewis will take up her post on the October 1, 2020. She is an education consultant and project manager by profession and has worked with the Ministry of Education (Guyana) to effect positive change and development across the three key levels (nursery, primary, and secondary).

In various previous education leadership capacities, she has worked to build collaborative working relationships with education stakeholders, nationally and regionally. In her work in Early Childhood Development (ECD) she has built critical linkages with other governmental and non-governmental ECD stakeholders in Guyana, as well as the regional CARICOM ECD working group. She also liaises with key stakeholders within the Ministry of Education both centrally and regionally to inform decisions about the execution of education initiatives nationwide.

Walrond- Lewis holds a BSc, Psychology and a Masters of Arts in Child Study and Education from the University of Toronto. She has successfully worked with learners from pre-kindergarten to university levels.

Before returning to Guyana in 2012, she was a classroom educator in both special education and general education environments and as an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto (Mississauga Campus). She has also worked as a parent educator, instilling and sharing best practices in Early Childhood Education, as well as serving as a critical positive link between families, the community, and the school system.

Mrs. Walrond- Lewis describes her return to NCERD in the capacity of Director as “…both an honour and privilege” because she recognises the incontestable significance the institution holds for the propulsion of education development in Guyana.

NERVE CENTRE

NCERD is rightly described as the ‘nerve centre’ of the ministry because it should be the focus of education innovation, research, and tangible solutions for driving positive education outcomes for learners throughout the country. It is from the talented and dedicated educators at NCERD, informed by leading national, regional and international research and practice, that pedagogy and teaching methodologies are evaluated. They are then shaped for the unique culture and context of Guyana, and ultimately used to enhance teaching and learning that would provide greater opportunities for students to succeed.

Mrs. Walrond- Lewis has stated that she is grateful for the mentorship and collegial support she has enjoyed from her predecessor, Jennifer Cumberbatch. She is looking forward to the continuation of the strong partnerships she has enjoyed with the officers of NCERD, the Ministry of Education and Departments of Education, as well as frontline educators across Guyana. The previous Director of NCERD, Cumberbatch, a retired head-teacher who occupied the post for eight years, will be shifting into the position of a Quality Assurance Consultant.

Meanwhile, Sam is an educator, administrator and leader in the education fraternity with over 25 years of service in the field. His leadership abilities have effectively organised, directed and enhanced education systems, institutions, policy structures and programs in various institutions.
During his years in the sector, Sam has demonstrated success in programme management while keeping pace with educational innovations. He is a strong motivator and team-player with a developmental approach towards improved education output.

Sam holds a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Sociology, Anthropology and Education from Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania and a Master’s Degree in International Education/Concentration in Latin America and Caribbean Studies from New York University. He is now a Ph.D candidate of the University of the West Indies, Mona Jamaica where his thesis on Education Policy and Planning is under examination.

Sam began his career in education as a high school teacher in 1991 at the Walton High School, Bronx New York, USA. In 1999, he became an elementary school teacher at the Our Lady of Grace Elementary School in the same district until 2002. He was also a graduate tutor at the New York University Metropolitan Centre for Education.

LEADERSHIP
In 2007 he took up office in Guyana as a technical adviser to the Minister of Education until 2010 and in 2011 to September 2016, he served as the Chief Education Officer for the Ministry of Education.

During his tenure as CEO, Mr. Sam provided leadership to the professional arm of the Ministry, devised education policies in collaboration with the minister of education, education officers and other stakeholders.

Sam is currently a lecturer at the University of Guyana for the Masters in Education and Bachelors in Education programmes. He has served as chairman of the Guyana School of Agriculture; commissioner on the Teaching Service Commission, Guyana; a member on the Caribbean Examinations Council’s Final Awards Committee; chairman of the Board of Governors of the Cyril Potter College of Education; member of the CARICOM Taskforce on Teacher Education and Training; and as a member of the CARICOM Task Force on the Establishment of Teaching Councils.