Minister of Education Shaik Baksh says government intends to engage the TSC and the GTU on its plan to hire overseas teachers.
At a press briefing at his Brickdam office on Monday, the minister said the issue will be discussed with the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) and the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) though he made it clear that the ministry formulates, documents and reviews policies, in all its dimensions, not the TSC. According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release Baksh said that since Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon announced the initiative, President Bharrat Jagdeo has very explicitly stated that consultation will be held with the two bodies, rubbishing claims published in the media that a preliminary document prepared by the ministry will be put before Cabinet next week.
Regarding the recruitment of teachers, the minister said, “we must ask the question, is there a need in Guyana? This must be established foremost that there is a need for Mathematics and Science teachers to improve the results we have been getting and to ensure that all students have access to these important subject areas.” He said too that the question must be asked if the nation was prepared to trail for another decade behind “our Caribbean sister countries or should we bring in a core group of people to accelerate our students’ performances over a three-year period thereby strengthening the system?”
The minister also acknowledged that a decision must be taken about incentives for teachers and qualified specialists in the system which must be discussed with the teachers’ union; however they have been reluctant in years past to offer special incentives in key and critical subject areas. The current system must also be considered when determining a remuneration package for the teachers who will be brought from overseas.
According to Baksh, currently 11 per cent of the graduate teachers in Mathematics and 42 per cent of trained Maths teachers come from the Cyril Potter College of Education which means that 47 per cent of teachers in the system are under-qualified.
He said a major constraint is the lack of trained teachers in the hinterland and teachers from the coast are sent into these regions to give support.
In the light of this, the ministry is making the Non-Graduate training programme for teachers of Maths, English and the Sciences which are executed by the National Centre for Educational Resource Development, mandatory in order to boost their skills.
By mid-year another batch of teachers will start the programmes while there about 80 Maths and 100 Science teachers currently enrolled. Baksh noted too a lack of heads of department in 33 schools for Maths and Science subjects poses a challenge for effective delivery of these subjects.
In addition to training for teachers, the ministry is also providing text books and DVDs to schools while there are special workshops for teachers addressing the development of content and methodology, the availability of four teams of specialists and the establishment of the Education Television Broadcasting Service from which many students are expected to benefit.
