-consultants for National Teaching Council
Consultations on the establishment of a National Teaching Council in Guyana found that steps must be taken to professionalise teaching at all levels as part of a strategic plan to ensure that teachers remain at the forefront of development.
In his address, Chief Education Officer, Olato Sam, on behalf of Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, told the meeting that she regards the consultation as crucial to development of the education system. Sam noted that great strides have been made in the teaching sector and teacher education and training have featured prominently in the Education Strategic Plan which has provided quality training on par with any other educational structure in the world.
Beyond that, programmes at the Cyril Potter College of Education have been aligned with those at the School of Education and Humanities at UG “with tremendous focus placed on continuous professional development of teachers and the expansion of the range of training and personal developmental opportunities continue to build capacity of our teachers throughout the system,” he said.
However, in order for the nation to obtain maximum benefit from the education system, it must ensure that teachers are consummate professionals. “We expect them to be, as such a paradigm shift is required where teaching and professionalism are so intricately tied that they are almost images of each other … we must create the enabling environment for this to occur,” the Chief Education Officer said.
President of the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) Colin Bynoe agrees that the teaching needs to be professionalized. He said the consultation was held against the back-drop of a another meeting years ago when a task force put together by Caricom travelled to St Lucia to establish the standards for teaching the Caribbean. On hearing about the Teaching Councils at the GTU 2012 conference, the minister asked that consultations be held.
In this regard, Wednesday’s meeting included members of the GTU, the ministry as well as integrated persons from the University of Guyana, Cyril Potter College of Education, Parliament, Teaching Service Commission, teachers, and secondary school students. According to Bynoe, including these stakeholders will help to realise the aims of what is needed in Guyana and lead to the creation of a blueprint for professionalising education.
The consultation was facilitated by Dr Marva Ribeiro and Chief Executive Officer, Jamaica Teaching Council, Dr Winsome Gordon. They examined various concepts surrounding the establishment of teaching councils including their importance, key responsibilities, governance, global trends, challenges, issues regarding the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME), Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) decisions, and supporting views and perspectives.
Participants also engaged in group discussions on management and governance of the council, its scope and outreach, disciplinary processes, teacher assessment and tenure and enabling legislation.
