Chief Education Officer Genevieve Whyte-Nedd yesterday urged school managers, especially those at the nursery level, to embrace change even as teachers complained of the current curriculum being too taxing for children.
Whyte-Nedd’s charge came at a meeting of Head Teachers of Education Dis-tricts Three, Four and Georgetown, at the Queen’s College Auditorium. Also present at the meeting were Education Minister Shaik Baksh and Minister within the Ministry of Education Dr Desrey Fox.
At the meeting, a head teacher of a nursery school said she felt that some aspects of the curriculum for nursery school children were too much. “Sometimes the work is too heavy and the children are overwhelmed sometimes so they do not complete tasks,” the head teacher said. That teacher also felt that the Ministry of Education and its officials did not give enough importance to feedback and opined that in some cases those who informed and advised the minister were misplaced.
She also said more needs to be done to improve communication among the departments of education, the ministry and the schools.
Whyte- Nedd said the ministry had learnt that there was some amount of dissatisfaction with the programme as many nursery teachers did not prepare for their lessons and so cut into the instructional time of the children. “To complain that time is not enough, when you cut into this is not fair,” Whyte-Nedd said defending the curriculum and adding that she had come from a background of nursery education.
She said that today’s children are different from yesterday’s and that the thinking behind the change in the curriculum is to deal with the different levels of abilities. “We cannot all be resistors to change; we must understand, embrace and be promoters of change and execute accordingly,” she urged. She added that teachers must help the children at this level so that the children will be better prepared for reading when they enter Grade One.
Several complaints from the floor also touched on the seeming inability of the regional education departments to respond when called upon by teachers.
One head teacher said that many times he has had to send warning letters to teachers who are continuously late for school and when in dire circumstances and the intervention of the REdO is needed, most times none is forthcoming.
In response, Minister Baksh admitted to weakness in regional education departments and said he was planning a series of workshops in July and August to develop those officers professionally.
He revealed that in one region, the REdO had received letters for poor performance of duties and for not supporting the school system. “Nothing is happening at the REdO level, heads sometimes send things for action to be taken and nothing is done,” Baksh acknowledged. The minister promised that every effort will be made to better this situation.
Meanwhile, a head teacher who asked that the role of Parent/Teachers Association be properly explained, noted her disappointment with the new policy issued by the ministry which dictates against head teachers being unable to handle the school’s money and asking parents for financial contributions if necessary. “I felt bad when I saw the circular and I wondered how I would feel if my husband take his money and gives it to another woman to spend it in my home,” the head teacher said, asking that the policy be revisited.
She also pointed to last year’s Education Month theme, saying that parent involvement should be added to ‘Education of the Child – A parent and teacher obligation’.
Responding to this, the ministry’s PTA co-ordinator explained that the arrangement is intended to be a partnership. He too alluded to the concept of change and urged an open-minded approach. However, he acknowledged the concerns of many head teachers whom he said had complained of it being used by parents against them. He said there were some cases that have to be looked into but urged that parents must have some involvement in the process.
