The Ministry of Education said it is set to surpass the 70% mark of trained teachers in the school system before the 2013 deadline set in the 2008-2013 Strategic Plan.
Minister of Education Shaik Baksh, speaking at a recent forum at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE), was quoted as saying that 800 teachers would be graduating from this year and 900 are set to graduate next year. This acceleration has been made possible mainly through the Associate Degree in Education (ADE) programme, which replaced the Trained Teacher Certificate Programme. The new programme reduces the duration of the teacher training programme from three to two years. On completion teachers can proceed to the University of Guyana (UG) to pursue their first degree in education programme in two years.
Baksh, according to a press release from the ministry, told the audience at the CPCE that the new system allows a teacher to become a trained graduate in four years, unlike the former programme where the process took at least seven years. He also noted that teachers who did the Trained Teacher Certificate Programme and have not yet started UG will be upgraded to the Associate Degree level. The ministry will develop a short programme to facilitate this and it is also examining ways to offer the programme through the distance mode delivery. In addition, CPCE lecturers with first degrees will be upgraded to the master’s level.
The minister also suggested that UG discontinue its Certificate in Education Programme, as the ministry has addressed its concerns about the quality of graduating from CPCE enrolling there. He said the ADE programme was designed to address the shortcomings while at the same time modernise the delivery of teacher education.
The release said the education sector is currently implementing programmes to boost the quality of teachers through a US$4.2 World Bank-funded Teacher Education Reform programme. “The programme zeroes in attention on improving the learning achievement of students by advancing the quality delivery of teacher education, placing strong focus on more effective performance of teacher educators and student teachers,” it said.
