Chief Education Officer Olato Sam saluted all teachers and educators for their tireless contributions to the education sector and was particularly pleased that 336 more graduates would soon be joining the system, after graduating from the Cyril Potter College of Education’s (CPCE) on Thursday.
Sam said enrolment at the CPCE is increasing and the graduates must reflect the quality of investments being made in their training to complement investments being made in upgrading schools in order to advance the education system. He encouraged the graduates “not to be complacent and let others denigrate your chosen profession, stand up, especially to those who don’t have any idea or understand the sacrifices that you go through to make a difference.” Sam also reminded those
who had been successful to continue studying to add to their learning and those who will benefit from their teaching.
The convocation ceremony was held under the theme ‘Transforming dreams into reality’, a press release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said.
CPCE Principal Viola Rowe said “We are confident that our graduates are capable of providing high quality instruction to students in urban and rural classrooms of Guyana, contributing to the national development goal of our having a competent citizenry,” she said. According to Rowe, 788 students initially registered for the 2012-2013 academic year: 17% men and 88% women, for the Associate Degree, Trained Teachers’ Certificate and the Teacher Upgrading programmes.
The principal said the institution has encountered a number of challenges such as attracting adequate part-time staff so full-time staff has been meeting this shortfall. The dearth of technology support in some schools and the inability to incorporate ICT in the teaching /learning situation has also been difficult, though the ministry has been trying to address this issue and equip all schools with computer laboratories. Rowe also said it has been challenging to get some stakeholders to “buy-in” to the need for regular attendance, resulting in some trainees withdrawing from the CPCE.
Rowe also listed a number of successes including the design of the Induction Year Programme, course reviews and development, the use of the Teaching Practicum (a semester and classroom observation instrument), the procurement of furniture for the CPCE’s library, an emergency generator to power the campus, two ICT laboratories, an electronic student records system, closer links with other institutions such as the University of Guyana and the National Centre for Education Resource Development, continuous staff evaluation and human resource development programmes which enabled some staffers to pursue further studies.
Seventy-four of the graduates are now trained in early childhood teaching, 110 in primary level teaching and 156 are certified to teach at the secondary level.
UG Vice Chancellor Dr Jacob Opadeyi delivered the charge at the convocation. He told the newly qualified teachers that although they had chosen a high-stress career they must strive to be sympathetic, kind, bold, consistent, good role models and keep their faith steady as they go into the classroom.
He too urged the teachers to keep advancing themselves and hinted that the university would soon be launching an online degree programme which they should take advantage of and pursue.
