Yesterday afternoon, 1,796 teachers graduated from the CPCE, the largest cohort ever, according to the Ministry of Education.
It was also said to be the largest in the Caribbean, according to a release from the Ministry of Education. This is another step towards the Ministry of Education’s goal of having 100 per cent trained teachers in classrooms across the country, the release said and moves the country’s trained teachers from 65% to 79%. This means that 99.5 per cent of teachers in classrooms are either trained or in training.
Of the number, 477 teachers graduated from the Cyril Potter College of Education’s (CPCE’s) Early Childhood Education Programme, 841 from the Primary Education Programme, 238 from the Secondary Academic Programme and 240 from the Secondary Pre-Vocational Programme – a total of 1,796 trained teachers.
Of the graduates, 66 graduated from the Trained Teachers’ Certificate Programme, while the remaining 1,730 graduated from the Associate Degree Programme.
Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand urged the newly graduated teachers to add value to every child that they come into contact with as they advance their teaching career.
According to the release, she noted that 87 per cent of the graduating teachers are women. More than 20 per cent of the graduates are from the hinterland and riverain communities, while 35 per cent of the teachers are from Region Four, 11 per cent from Region Ten, 14 per cent from Region Three and 12 per cent from Regions Two and Six.
Further, some 238 trainees are graduating as Secondary Academic teachers, 78 per cent are English trained, 75 per cent are Math trained, 35 per cent are Science trained, 31 per cent are Social Studies trained and 9 per cent are Spanish trained.
Delivering the feature address, Prime Minister Mark Phillips reiterated the Government’s commitment to fostering quality education by investing in tangible initiatives including improving educational facilities, expanding the use of information and communication technology in education, enhancing TVET facilities, and increasing scholarship opportunities, among others.
Meanwhile, CPCE Principal, Noella Joseph, urged the newly trained teachers to be professional in the execution of their mandate.
