Courses offered by the Faculty of Education at the University of Guyana can now be pursued online with the launch of the International Center of Excellence in Education Innovation, Learning and Development (ICEEILD).
This mechanism now allows teachers to acquire higher education without having to leave their classrooms to attend physical courses at the University.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand highlighted that it translates to more trained teachers in the education system.
“The University of Guyana is the premier campus…Anybody anywhere can do all of the courses the University of Guyana offers. What does this mean to the people of this country? What does this mean to children who are currently in the system? What does this mean to children who are coming into the system? It means we are going to be putting more and more trained teachers in the classroom,” the Minister expressed.
The idea was birthed after the intake at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) was significantly increased owing to the establishment of courses online.
Pre-COVID teacher training at CPCE was done face-to-face, and, due to physical space, the College was able only to admit around 535 students per year. However, the pandemic forced the closure of the institution, and eventually CPCE began offering its programmes online.
This has led to the intake increasing to around 2000 students as at 2021, and the number has since been growing. Within that increased number of students, there was an increase in the number of persons pursuing the Associate Degree in Education (ADE) programme at CPCE.
Minister Manickchand has explained that when teachers complete this course at CPCE, they can move on to the University of Guyana, and, after two more years of studying, be awarded a full degree from the University.
Minister Manickchand has said that, with the college now producing more teachers who are eligible to move on to UG to acquire their degrees, this created a problem, since, at the time, the University of Guyana’s Faculty of Education and Humanities could not accommodate such a large number of teachers via a face-to-face mode of engagement.
As such, the University was tasked with revisiting how it offers its programmes to teachers, which led to the establishment of the ICEEILD.
The Centre provides all of the courses offered by the faculty through an online mode within a 17:00h to 22:00h period. This would allow teachers to pursue studies after school hours, consequently reducing the loss of time with students.
Additionally, she said, this means that teachers would no longer have to seek a release to study at the University of Guyana the courses offered by the faculty.
Meanwhile, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Paloma Mohamed, has said the University has been able to craft an avenue to reduce the learning gap by ensuring teachers are no longer leaving the classroom to teach, but simultaneously not depriving teachers of the opportunity to study.
She said that when the relevant data was considered together with the understanding of the type of workforce that would be needed in Guyana in the future, it became clear that the educator, or teacher of the future, needed to be a very different person from what exists today.
“When we did our survey, students and staff basically said that ‘we want to remain online’. We’re now reconfiguring our campus and our offerings to a blended campus, so that many persons who want to stay online can do that. Those who want to come will be able to do that, and those who want to blend, they can do that,” said the Professor.
She said that, within the Centre, two new Units have been added. According to Professor Mohamed, one Unit is going to study, teach and research Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) education with a focus on Technology. The second Unit, she said, will focus on digital technologies and educational technologies.
The Dean of the Faculty of Education and Humanities, Dr Roslin Khan, has said the Centre would lay the foundation for ongoing training opportunities anchored in relevant theories, and provide learning opportunities for academic and professional training within communities.
She said targeted participants would include trained or untrained teachers, and other interested adult learners throughout the length and breadth of Guyana, as well as further afield.
Coordinator of the FEH at the Berbice Campus, Camania Khedaroo, added that the Centre offers educators the learning opportunities and experiences that would allow them to critically engage with current and evolving dynamics in their environment. She said that, for educators in Berbice, the Centre represents renewed energy directed to revitalising the education sector through educators’ engagement with the highest standards of professional development in leadership, management, teaching and learning, innovation and research.