Latest update February 4th, 2025 9:06 AM
Importance of competency programme amplified at education forum
A section of the participants at yesterday’s workshop.
By Sharmain Cornette
Not only is the Secondary Competency Certificate Programme (SCCP) intended to offer students in the secondary school system technical competence, but it also serves as an alternative pathway for the acquisition of knowledge.
This notion was accentuated yesterday when Minister of Education, Shaik Baksh, addressed a gathering of senior education officials at a related workshop.
The forum which was of an interactive nature was aimed at providing the officials with the Ministry’s position on the SCCP and information on its implementation and delivery utilising the Competency Based Modularised approach to Education.
Interacting with the teachers was essential, the Minister said, as there seems to be a misunderstanding of the programme both at the level of the schools and parents.
“We want to ensure that there is a clear picture. We now have a booklet developed and we will improve on that within the next few weeks and we will distribute copies explaining what the SCCP stands for and the various components…So teachers will be able to share that with parents.”
The SCCP which was implemented some five years ago is a vocational programme in secondary schools, according to the Minister. However, he noted that the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) which designed a similar programme about three years ago is now urging Guyana to adopt its programme. But according to Baksh, his Ministry is a bit reluctant at this time to do so.
“We are saying we want to embed the SCCP in the school system. We want to get it working because it is closely linked in terms of the electives.
We have done a comparative analysis and we are looking at the curriculum but we don’t want to go with the CXC programme now.”
And since the local Ministry has no intent to adopt the CXC programme just yet, the Minister warned that there is an urgent need to ensure that the SCCP is successful. For this reason, he said that present structure of the programme, in terms of its implementation, may have to be modified.
Baksh related that currently the programme is implemented at the level of grade 10 but may have to be introduced earlier. “We want to make a move…I feel as Minister that at grade 10 it is too late.
We already have dropouts in the system by the time they reach grade 10 and they are gone.” Moreover, the adjustment to the curriculum is being made in order to introduce it at grades seven, eight and nine, the Minister said. This move, he noted, is geared at ensuring that students are able to exit the school system with at least a competency certificate which could enable them to enter a technical institute and have added competency in core areas.
The ministry, Baksh said, will as a result link strongly with industry and commerce to bring more merit to the programme.
But even as plans are being made to introduce the programme at a lower level it will not be ruled out at an advanced level, the minister assured. The SCCP, Baksh said, is designed to keep children in the school system having regards for their various aptitudes and inclinations, even as a variety of core academic subjects as well as vocational subjects are offered.
It was disclosed at yesterday’s forum that the learning environment created by the SCCP provides for the development of manipulative skills which are developed as a result of the application of those skills to simulate a realistic work environment.
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