WITH the new innovative and technological means of education delivery that the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated, the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) sees the need to bring its system more in line with the modern-day practices, and is moving towards offering Online programmes.

College Principal, Viola Rowe recently noted, “The plan to offer courses Online will expand beyond curriculum.”
She added: “The college is a powerful learning institution, which will continue to seek ways of demonstrating resilience and flexibility in carrying out our mandate to provide trained students. We acknowledge that the college must find new ways to provide access to teachers. I would like to applaud the Ministry of Education for charting the course for the college to offer fully online programmes.”

CPCE offers teacher training programmes for persons who are desirous of pursuing a career in teaching, with the programmes including a two-year Associate’s Degree in Education, with specialisations in early childhood, primary or secondary education; a three-year Trained Teacher’s Certificate; and a one-year Associate’s Degree in Education.

Programmes at the college are government- funded, with the students who would have successfully completed their studies at the college being expected to serve the government for a specified contracted period at an assigned public school.

The College last month held its 86th convocation ceremony, where some 501 students graduated, the largest graduating class for the school.

Rowe noted that it was a particularly challenging year for the institution, given the restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw schools and other learning institutions being required, by law, to close.
“Educational institutions in Guyana went into lockdown in March 2020. At that time, the College was engaged in two critical areas: Processing of January results, and completing delivery of curriculum. The lockdown affected both areas; we did not have the necessary infrastructure to do curriculum,” Rowe said, adding:

“What the pandemic has done is reveal the College’s vulnerability concerning quick and active response in a social health crisis. To ensure relevance and equity, we embarked on a data-gathering exercise.”

She noted that the needs of the COVID-19 era caused the school to fast-track its need to modernise with a particular focus on Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

“We must take a critical and robust look at our ICT department; if we have to catapult our college, ICT must be brought to the nucleus of the discussion. The CPCE continues to cherish the opportunities amidst the threat of the pandemic to fulfil its mandate. The demonstration of resilience and flexibility to challenge times is not new to the college,” she said.