Teachers Union alleges ‘sinister’ motive in CPCE admission process

Sep 16, 2010 News

The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) is demanding that interviews for teachers to gain admission into the Associate Degree programme at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE), be stopped, unless it is involved.
“Do they have some sinister motive?” Colin Bynoe, the GTU president asked yesterday as he protested the exclusion of the GTU from the process.
He said that the Union has always been involved in the interview process and hence this departure from the norm has caused the GTU to think that there is something to hide in the way the process is now being carried out.
The Union said that when it contacted Acting Chief Education Officer, Roopnarine Tewari, he said that it was not important for representatives of the Union to be at the interviews, and claimed that the “interviews” were in fact “admission” meetings. The Union insists those who were called to the “admission” meetings were asked questions, and so it has to be considered interviews.
Bynoe said the Union’s representative should be there during the interviews to ensure that the criteria for entry are adhered to and not excused.
The Union is also upset that the Ministry of Education has scrapped the certificate programme unilaterally. Bynoe said that the teachers were offered a Class 1 Grade 1 trained teacher’s certificate, but now they are being told that there is no need for such a programme and that it would only be offered in the hinterland.
Bynoe described the move as disrespectful.
According to the GTU President, the Union has always been involved in the interview process for admission to the College. Bynoe said interviews were done for admission into the Associate Degree programme, but the Union was not aware that there was a second interview process.
The Union wants an urgent meeting with the Ministry of Education and the College to thrash out the issues.
Neither the Minister of Education Shaik Baksh nor the Chief Education Officer was immediately available for comment when contacted by Kaieteur News.
CPCE is introducing an Associate’s Degree in Education (ADE), replacing the Trained Teachers’ Certificate Programme at this time.
The ADE significantly reduces the study duration for a teacher to obtain a Trained Teacher’s Certificate and a Bachelor’s Degree in Education.
Students who successfully complete the Associate’s Degree in Education will only have to study for two years at the University of Guyana (UG) to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree in Education.
In essence, with the new programme on board, a teacher can become a trained graduate in four years, unlike under the previous programme where this process required seven years behind the books – three years at CPCE and four years at UG.

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Teachers Union alleges ‘sinister’ motive in CPCE admission process

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