Online training launched for TVET educators

The Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) unit of the Education Ministry launched an online training programme on Monday for TVET instructors and lecturers under the theme “Embracing change with innovative technologies for a better quality of education.” The Education Ministry in a release said that the objectives of the training programme are to develop an instrument that can be used to determine the online and ICT training needs of TVET educators, enhance the quality of the teaching and learning process to integrate online platforms to deliver the curriculum and to establish an online platform for educators across Guyana to communicate, share best practices and develop teaching and learning materials.
Delivering opening remarks during the virtual opening ceremony, the Director of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), Jennifer Cumberbatch said that the theme for the training is one that is apt at this time. She said that the training is suitable for the time in which we are living. Cumberbatch encouraged the participants to take the objectives seriously so that the outcome of the training can be rewarding.
Also speaking at the launching was Assistant Chief Education Officer (Technical) Patrick Chinedu Onwuzirike, who said that COVID-19 has changed the way things are done. He said that the world culture that defines the ways people interact especially in the teaching and learning process has changed.
However, Onwuzirike noted that online teaching and learning is not new, neither is distance education. He added that the TVET unit has started preparing the sector to dive into online teaching as it plans to reach more Guyanese with particular emphasis on those residing in the remote communities.
He said that tablets, laptops, projectors, camcorders and portable hard drives have been procured to facilitate this process. He said that it is the expectation that every class, laboratory and workshop in TVET institutions as much as is feasible will have facilities to enable online teaching and learning.
The ACEO (Technical) added that like other post-secondary and tertiary institutions, Guyana’s TVET institutions have decided to use Zoom as the means of classroom conferencing and Moodle for the administration of the curriculum.
“We also know that there are other platforms our instructors have been using, we will encourage them to use what they are comfortable with. Notwithstanding though, every instructor/lecturer will be required to use Moodle to report on the administrative aspects of the learning process like exams, attendance, portfolio, etc,” Onwuzirike remarked.
As it relates to monitoring, the ACEO (Technical) explained that following this initial one-month training, every instructor and lecturer will be monitored to ensure that the requisite skills are mastered.
The Technical Institutes in Guyana are the Mahaicony Technical and Vocational Training Centre, the Government Technical Institute, the Upper Corentyne Industrial Training Centre, Guyana Industrial Training Centre, Carnegie School of Home Economics, Essequibo Technical Institute and the Linden Technical Institute.