The largest ever batch of teachers – 843 – yesterday graduated from the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE).
According to a release from the Ministry of Education, this was announced by the Principal of the CPCE, Dr. Viola Rowe while presenting the Principal’s Report at the 87th Graduation Exercises of the College.
The release said that the Graduation Exercise was held in a hybrid format, with participants and graduates using Zoom and those receiving special awards attending the ceremony in person.
According to Dr. Rowe, this batch was engaged by face-to-face instruction, the blended print-based and face-to-face hybrid as well as the online modality. She said that the January 2022 Graduating Class comprises 198 Early Childhood instructors, 404 Primary level teachers and 241 teachers for the secondary level.
The release said that 198 of the batch pursued the Trained Teacher’s Certificate (TTC) Programme and 645 matriculated for the Associate Degree in Education (ADE) Programme.
Dr. Rowe said that during the reporting period the College experienced a huge demand for teacher education with an enrolment of 2664 first-year applicants.
According to the release, the Principal noted that before the 2021 reporting period the online application was unavailable which perhaps restricted applications. She added that enrolment size was restricted due to physical space and dormitory capacity for pre-service students.
Dr. Rowe said that the increase in teacher demand is also credited to the call by the Minister of Education Priya Manickchand for all untrained teachers to register at the College in keeping with the plan to have 100% trained teachers in the education system.
The Principal said that the College continued to operate its 19 centres across the ten administrative regions with some programmes being expanded. The ADE programme was previously offered at eight centres but is now available at nine additional centres while the TTC is now being offered at 16 centres compared to the 11 centres in the previous reporting period.
Chief Education Officer, Dr. Marcel Hutson said that it is the Ministry of Education’s vision that the college becomes the premier teacher training institution in the region.
Some of the awards and prizes are as follows:
The President’s Award for Excellence
The Best Overall Graduating Student on the Two-Year Asso-ciate Degree in Education Pro-gramme – Jessica Seeraj (Rose Hall)
The Prime Minister’s Prize
The Best Overall Graduating Student on the Trained Teacher’s Certificate Programme – Millie Henrito (Kamarang)
The Minister of Education’s Prize
The Best Overall Graduating Student on the Two-Year Associate Degree in Education Pre-Service Secondary Academic Programme – Donette Adrienne Nicholson (Turkeyen)
The Minister of Agriculture’s Prize
The Best Overall Graduating Student on the Two-Year Associate Degree in Education Secondary Pre-Vocational Programme in Agricultural Science – June Ann De Abreu (Georgetown)
The CPCE’s Prize
The Best Overall Graduating Student on the Two-Year Associate Degree in Education Secondary Academic Programme in Social Studies – Govinda Samaroo (Rose Hall)
The Vice Principal – Curriculum & Instruction’s Prize
The Best Overall Graduating Student on the Two-Year Associate Degree in Education Secondary Pre-Vocational Programme in Home Economics – Tamika Alfred (Georgetown)
The Deputy Chief Education Officer – Technical’s Prize
The Best Overall Graduating Student on the Two-Year Associate Degree in Education Secondary Pre-Vocational Programme in Industrial Technology – Jhansham Latchman (George-town)
The CPCE’s Prize
The Best Overall Graduating Student on the Two-Year Asso-ciate Degree in Education Secondary Pre-Vocational Programme in Information Technology – Rayan Nathaniel Kharajpaul (Turkeyen)
