Less criticism and more supporting of teachers

Aug 05, 2009 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Integrating the University of Guyana (UG) with the Cyril Potter College (CPCE) of Education (two institutions which are operating under heavy constraints) is not the best decision the Ministry of Education can make. In fact, merging the two would create an even bigger problem.
The university and college, to my view, have both been severely neglected by the government, especially the latter. The training college, which has been in existence for over 80 years, has dished out every single trained teacher that this country has ever had amidst the shortage of resources, administration problems and staff-shortages, problems at the various centres located country-wide, etc.
Government’s attitude towards teachers in Guyana has been evident in the manner of how teacher-trainees are treated at the main campus at Turkeyen. At Turkeyen, hundreds of teacher-trainees are being trained, but yet so many complaints are heard from those who wish to speak out. There should not be a shortage of food and adequate security, not to mention water services, at the college. That college is a tertiary learning institution akin to UG, but I believe we forget that from time to time. And I don’t think that government treats the situation with CPCE as serious as it ought to be treated. We are not encouraging potential persons wishing to join the college with what’s currently happening at Turkeyen.
Now, rehiring retired teachers and extending the retirement age, which should’ve been done ages ago, would certainly benefit the already fragile education system. For one, it would reduce the need for young, just-out-of-school teachers we have joining the profession these days. They bring their level of immaturity and vast inexperience in dealing with people’s children to the classroom and that is very unhealthy for the children of Guyana.
So, I fully support that decision by the Minister, but wish it would not take ages to be implemented. Additionally, the Ministry should not expect seasoned teachers in the system to stay and teach beyond normal retirement without additional compensation and benefits. I hope the Ministry is preparing a package to that effect.
Next, the other day, the Minster met with Regional Education Officers from the various regions and, from the reporting that was done, gave them several warnings. In other words, he came on hard to them. And they, in result, would come down hard upon teachers come September. I believe the defaulting Education officers should be dealt with individually. It’s time the Ministry stop being so hard on teachers and give them the support they so badly need.
Opening and closure of schools should not necessarily be done on Mondays and Fridays respectively. That is why we have school openings for the next couple of years (as it has been in the past couple of years) during the month of August. Schools open and close any day of the week in North America and other countries. All it takes is some time for ‘the big ones’ to sit down and properly allocate these dates.
I think more focus needs to be put into the Education system as it is the most essential of all systems in our country. More needs to be spent on not just building spanking new school buildings but on teachers’ salaries and benefits, smaller class- sizes, less paperwork for teachers and even head teachers, less criticism and more supporting of teachers, and a serious revision of the curriculum being taught at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE).
What really happens at CPCE is that trainee-teachers are being taught the high school subjects of English, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. While teachers who are in training need to specialise in one of those four areas, I believe, in this present day and age, a lot more needs to be addressed in this college when it comes to child psychology, helping trainees to be better record keepers in the schools, setting tests for children, dealing with undisciplined children and other hard pressing classroom situations. It is these down-to-earth situations that the CPCE curriculum needs to address. Real, practical situations which teachers are bound to face on the job itself needs first priority. Of course, content areas in the teacher’s area of specialisation (one of the four listed above), must be taught as well. Then and only then can well-rounded persons leave the college and function effectively in their respective schools. I hope the Associative Degree being offered in 2010 leans heavily on those criteria. And although the Distance Programme has been working for years now with the Early Childhood (Nursery) teachers, I strongly reject the idea of training Secondary school teachers using the Distance Education mode. Secondary school teachers, (to my view)  are the most important level of teachers in the system with the most challenging tasks to the most challenging age groups of children, and so I do not believe distance learning would be in their best interest. Face-to-face lectures and training is a must for this category of educators in training.
Leon Suseran

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