“Each teacher needs to be trained” – Education Minister

…as CPCE to be further expanded

Before the first term of the PPP/C Government comes to a closure, the objective is to have 100 per cent teachers trained or in training, and preparations are underway to support this aim.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand shared this position during the yearend press briefing on Monday, where she highlighted that some teachers in the classroom are currently untrained, since they did not attend the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE).
She said two categories of untrained teachers currently exist in the education system: those who are eligible for admission at CPCE and those who are not. The latter group, she said is being upgraded, so that they can enter the college programme. It supports the aim of ensuring all educators are aptly trained in education delivery.
“There are teachers who are in the system right now that are untrained and we have said to every teacher who is presently teaching in the classroom right now untrained, that each teacher needs to be trained…Our aim is that before the end of this first term is to have 100 per cent trained teachers in the classroom, either trained or in training. We do not any more want a place in Guyana where we’re stagnated at 70 per cent of our teachers trained,” said the Minister.

She noted that there was a “remarkable” drop in the number of hinterland teachers admitted to pursue the Trained Teachers Certificate (TTC) programme. However, this is justified with a higher number of persons enrolling in the Associate Degree programme, offered by CPCE instead since it was offered online.
“We’ve seen a remarkable drop in the number of teachers in the hinterland doing the TTC programme. That causes some worry. When we checked, what it really was, was reason for celebration not worry. The teachers who were forced to do only the TTC are now doing the Associate Degree programme because they have the qualifications. We just never offered it to them before.”

Expansion of CPCE
Moving forward, the Minister announced a further expansion to CPCE, to sustain more students. With the operations fully online, there was a surge of 2500 new students within the first year. Manickchand projects that in the coming years, this will be advantageous to Guyana when other countries are recording lower numbers.
She told the media, “CPCE will be expanded further. The Cyril Potter College of Education is the only teacher training college in the country. Usually, about 535 students are accepted for face-to-face learning every year. This year, because we have gone online, we have more than 2500 students who have begun their first-year learning. That means in four years, when teachers around the world are going to see diminished numbers, Guyana is actually going to defy that. We’re actually going to put out more teachers.”
Last month, it was announced that a project management team has been deployed to the CPCE to specifically assist the college with its expansion of teacher training services to Guyanese. That team had met with the Education Minister to discuss the way forward.
In the coming months, there will also be a revision of all local books from Grades One to Six. A Trinidadian firm has been contracted to upgrade the “outdated” books currently being used. The community-based literacy programmes will also be expanded in all education districts for dropouts and out of school youths, targeting at least 2500 children to improve low literacy rates. (G12)