Moves afoot to scrap Trained Teachers’ Certificate

Nov 07, 2009 News

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The Ministry of Education is prepared to do away with the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) trained teachers’ certificate and is set to phase in an initiative called ‘Two Plus Two’.
The initiative, according to Education Minister, Shaik Baksh, will see teachers in training spending two years at CPCE and a subsequent two years at the University of Guyana in their quest to become fully qualified teachers.
In moving away from the trained teachers’ certificate, Baksh said that an Associate Degree Programme will be designed at the college. “In two years a teacher in training upon his or her exit from college must be able to do so with an Associate Degree status.”
Minister Baksh said that several measures have already been put forward and a concept paper has been prepared by his Ministry to give substance to proposals made. He added that several meetings were held with officials of both CPCE and UG in this regard.
“We have asked for an institutional review for both CPCE and UG to see how these things can be accommodated to look at what changes are necessary to strengthen these institutions to better provide for teacher education and training in our country.”
“I must be frank in stating though that it has been a bit slow. Since June the concept paper was prepared and we had meetings that same month and now it is November. So I am becoming a bit impatient with the pace at which we are moving. Too slow! The pace we are going at is way too slow and so we may not be able to introduce anything in the next two to three years and that is not on my agenda as Minister,” Baksh asserted. The Minister noted that something must be done to accelerate the proposed changes in the system while at the same time ensure that quality assurance remains constant.
“We will be moving a bit faster under my guidance in the Central Ministry of Education,” he assured.
Minister Baksh’s disclosure was made during the opening of a workshop intended to help pave the way to reform the delivery of education in the public system. The workshop which concluded yesterday was held at the National Centre for Educational Research and Development (NCERD), Kingston, Georgetown.
Meanwhile, the Ministry will direct further attention to the CPCE curriculum as part of its effort to boost teacher education and training.
About five years ago through the GBET programme, the Ministry was able to implement a teacher upgrading programme in all regions, particularly in the hinterland areas in the quest to improve the sector.
However, with the culmination of that programme, Baksh said that his Ministry has since sought to continue the upgrade process. He is nonetheless of the belief that the Ministry’s efforts have been too slow in coming to fruition, a problem which is rooted in the fact that a teacher’s training as it is, is a lengthy process.
“We have looked at the CPCE, through a Task Team we have established…and we have realised that the programme there is taking too long. Three years of full time at the CPCE is too long a time and so we have made changes.”
It is proposed that CPCE will offer one year pre-service at the institution and more a school based approach in the second year with intense supervision which is currently lacking, according to the Minister.
“We have to ensure more supervision at the school level in terms of teacher education. This is key to the end product…so changes will be coming about,” the Minister stressed.
It was just a few months back that the Minister announced that the Education Sector is poised to be adequately augmented with aptly qualified teachers. He had then placed emphasis on the areas of Mathematics and English, adding that more teachers would be available in those fields before this year end.
With an 18-month distance mode certificate programme made available through NCERD and CPCE, the teachers are expected to be fully upgraded to improve the level of education delivery.
This newspaper was informed that two cohorts of teachers had commenced the first bout of the programme last year and were expected to complete the intense and comprehensive curriculum last month. Another batch had also commenced the programme January last. According to Baksh, “We had to find innovative ways of bringing in other teachers to address the current shortage of teachers in the system.”
Additionally, he revealed that the Ministry is also seeking to incorporate third and fourth year teachers from the University of Guyana.
Officials of the education sector had for some time now recognised that there is an evident shortage of qualified teachers in the system. As such, he noted that the ministry has engaged a number of initiatives, among them the distance programme, to boost the quality of teachers and by extension the delivery of education.

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