Dear Editor,
To the best of my knowledge, via a circular to schools from Ms Genevieve Whyte-Nedd, then acting Chief Education Officer, the Interactive Radio Instruction Programme was identified as the source for the mathematics curriculum for Grades 1-3.
If this still holds, then I wish to posit the following questions:
-Has this programme been recognized by the Ministry of Education as containing the official curriculum package to the extent that it has been fully sustained?
-Have teachers been trained to oversee the implementation of the programme, inclusive of their participation?
-Are the current trainers of teachers trained to instruct teachers in relation to this programme?
-Are the assessments from Grades 1-3 based on the content of the Interactive Radio Programme?
The following are the implications if the above is not the case:
-All schools may not be doing the programme and as such they may have resorted to the printed curriculum guides, which are far removed from the scope of the Interactive Radio Instruction Programme.
-The Guyana Learning Channel, via its Grades 1-3 aired programmes, may be presenting a parallel curriculum conflicting with the Interactive Radio Instruction Programme with respect to scope and sequence.
-The trainers of primary school teachers in terms of their pedagogical approaches will not be equipped to answer the needs of the teachers under training since they themselves will have limited knowledge of the programme.
-Those setting questions for internal assessments may deviate from content expectations if the content of the Interactive Radio Instruction Programme is not focused on.
The Grades 4- 6 mathematics curriculum guides would have to be constructed for alignment to the Interactive Radio Instruction Programme with respect to content.
I believe there are three persons in Guyana, including myself, who are equipped to train trainers and offer meaningful assistance in this area. Excluding myself, for I cannot contribute, that leaves two. The Ministry of Education knows who they are. Of course, there may be others I do not know about.
These, if they exist should have a strong knowledge base, including evaluation experience. I humbly suggest that the Ministry of Education utilize the expertise of these people if they have not already done so.
A better approach would be to invite the consultant of the programme to train a core batch of trainers to address the training of all teachers.
The establishment of an Interactive Radio Instruction Unit, appropriately staffed, may be a valuable move.
However, if the Interactive Radio Instruction Programme has lost its status as the Manifest (Official) Mathematics Curriculum for Grades 1-3, then this letter can be totally ignored, since it will be irrelevant.
Yours faithfully,
Krishna Nand Prasad
