– PM, Education Minister at Caribbean Science workshop

PRIME Minister Samuel Hinds yesterday expressed concern that the science and technology sector is not being harnessed in the Caribbean.

Speaking at the two-day Caribbean Science Foundation’s third annual science workshop at the Grand Coastal Hotel, he noted that the sector can be improved at several levels.
The workshop was hosted in collaboration with the Ministry of Education of Guyana and the Caribbean Diaspora for Science, Technology and Innovation.
PM Hinds expressed concern that while the Caribbean does not share enough of its education for the development of its people, this may be due to the system not being sufficiently harnessed to lead to the development of Guyana and the Caribbean.
He urged that persons in the field engage in closer collaboration, and create improved networking between those at home and in the Diaspora.
PM Hinds also observed that while the workshop would generate in students the realisation and challenge that their contribution would help them advance, there is potential in having revised methods in the presentation of education.
Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, in her presentation, noted that while Guyana is bringing home the science prizes at the regional level, there is lot more to be done locally and regionally. “As a Region, we cannot be satisfied with the level of science, technology and mathematics education,” she said.
She explained that in Guyana, a larger number of students needed to be attracted to the field, to be able to accelerate national policy. Pointing out that science classes need to have the old traditional method of teaching replaced, the minister said that secondary school students lose their way because of the way the subject is taught.
She explained that this has been recognised in the draft National Science and Technology Policy, and while initiatives have seen the introduction of the subject in Grades 5 and 6, where great results have been recorded, the curriculum is also being reviewed to make improvements.
Micro science kits are being used in 40 secondary schools with the others slated to receive theirs by the end of 2015. She explained that for the policies drafted to be adopted and to be successful, partners are necessary.
She noted that the workshop was taking place at an opportune time, bringing together experts in the various fields of science. “Power of collaboration will propel our development as a country, as a people and as a Region,” she concluded.
Professsor Arnoldo Ventura, of Mico University, Jamaica, said the workshop will stimulate improved understanding, without which chronic and emerging problems will remain unresolved. He observed that while the workshop will provide methods and information that are appropriate in all jurisdictions, it will also focus on the Caribbean, because of its special culture and problems.
The topics during the first day of the workshop will cover highlighting science and technology in the Region, Math and Science Education initiative (STEM) teacher training in the Region, trends in modern biology, implications for the Caribbean, inquiry and project based learning, and STEM, in addition to a focus on entrepreneurship.
Day two of the workshop will see the presentation of reports from the Caribbean Diaspora for Science, Technology & Innovation (CADSTI) branches within the Diaspora, including the United Kingdom and the United States of America; and reports from the regional network of Caribbean Science Foundation (CSF) which will include Guyana, Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda.

(GINA)