GOAL programmes aiding in development of education system in Guyana

The programmes offered by the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) are playing a huge part in bolstering the capabilities of the education system in Guyana, as more teachers complete these courses to advance their skills in the classrooms.
Some educators, who have completed certificate and post-graduate diploma programmes shared with the media how their newly acquired knowledge has helped them to deliver education more efficiently.
Andy Cameron who obtained his certificate in Teaching of Reading shared that he can now assist and better prepare his Sixth Grade students to read more efficiently and recognise words in their assessment papers.
“When I was introduced to the course…I said to myself that this will cause to impact, especially on the boys at my school. Recognising that there is a struggle in reading for the boys. This course that I would’ve gone through, I could’ve taken and built them from recognising letters to recognising the sound of the letter, blending the letters…putting them together, and bringing out the word. And so, these boys would have changed and now they are reading the questions from the Grade Six assessment papers,” Cameron highlighted.
Additionally, Ms Marsha Parris, who successfully completed her Post-Graduate Diploma in Literacy Instruction shared that she will now be using her advanced knowledge to teach literacy more efficiently and better the lives of her students.
According to Parris, “Literacy is a passion for me. It hurts me when children…go through the system not knowing how to read. What I have learned…is benefiting the students that I teach every day, because I am able to use the techniques, the methods that they have taught me to put into practice.”
Meanwhile, another beneficiary of the programme, Sir Ganda Soodoo, who obtained his Post-Graduate Diploma in Teaching and Learning with Emerging Technologies, highlighted that as an educator in the field of science, this course will enable him to efficiently execute School-Based Assessments (SBAs) within the three main subjects in his field.
“The programme was very…beneficial to me as an educator, and being a science educator. I was able to integrate the skills that I would have learned from the programme to execute School-Based Assessments within Chemistry, Physics, and Biology with the use of stimulations and I found this to be very beneficial,” he remarked.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand, during the graduation ceremony of the 2022 class of students of the Carnegie School of Home Economics (CSHE) on Wednesday, revealed that over 580 students had graduated this year under the GROW programme offered by the GOAL.
She also revealed that of those 580+ students, 88 per cent of them have joined overseas universities for the first time, as she encouraged the graduates to take advantage of the opportunities the Government has to offer.