In a gesture to improve the quality of teacher training, the science laboratories at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) have been further enhanced with a gift of equipment from the People’s Republic of China.
According to a Ministry of Education release, it all began with a conversation in 2017 between President David Granger and China’s Ambassador to Guyana Cui Jianchun where the Ambassador enquired about the ways in which the People’s Republic of China could assist Guyana in developing its education system.
In response, the President singled out the CPCE and the equipment was subsequently procured, with the formal handing over taking place yesterday at the College’s Turkeyen campus.
The President, who delivered the feature address, said that it is important that teachers are educated in an environment that is conducive to academic achievement and that training is essential for teachers, necessary for upgrading skills, acquiring knowledge, and to make studies interesting.
“Trained teachers are the sinews of the education system. They are central to achieving the education standard which will produce graduates equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes and the values for their personal development,” President Granger declared.
He added that teachers of today must be geared to train the generation of tomorrow and they must be prepared for the important role in educating students to become citizens of the 21st century.
“The teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics [STEM] is being given priority. It will allow the entire country to develop a more technologically competent workforce essential to the establishment of this digital state of which I speak. It demands the re-orientation of the education system with placing greater emphasis on technology.”
The embattled President who is under pressure to hold swift general elections after a successful motion of no confidence against his government, emphasised that the primary mission coming out of yesterday’s event was to ensure that the training of teachers is done at an exceptionally high standard to enable the college to graduate teachers who are capable of providing service of an exceptional quality to the public education system.
He said that Guyana looks forward to continued international cooperation in the education of friendly countries such as the People’s Republic of China, particularly during the decade of development from 2020 to 2029.
According to the President, during that decade there will be a greater focus on education particularly to satisfy the constitutional requirement of free education from nursery to university.
Minister of Education, Dr Nicolette Henry during her presentation said that she does
not doubt that the equipment, consumables and reagents will enhance the science capabilities of CPCE to more effectively discharge its mandate.
She observed that focussing on science is becoming more and more imperative as science is creating wonders almost every day. “In keeping with this reality, our educational institutions are mandated to upgrade for the betterment of our human resources, skills, capacity building and emerging industries,” the Minister noted.
Henry added that education is a strong area of cooperation between the two countries since the Chinese government has continually provided scholarships and training opportunities to strengthen capacity.
She said that improving the standard and support systems at CPCE should allow both lecturers and students to have an improved experience. “The benefits of this will gradually be filtered into our school system as the quality of teachers is the most significant school-based determinant of students’ outcome,” the Education Minister stated.
Meanwhile, Jianchun said that it was President Granger’s focus on education that made the gift of science equipment to CPCE a reality. According to the Ambassador, China is more than willing to advance teaching and learning in Guyana and the equipment handed-over to CPCE is an important contribution to the development of the institution and as such, he looks forward to the continued cooperation between the two countries, the release added.
