Open doors Centre eyes staffing assistance from Education Ministry

Dec 10, 2011 News

With the introduction of Continuous Vocational Education and Training (CVET), Manager of the Open Doors Centre, Mr. Arthur Lewis, is eyeing the support of the Ministry of Education in order to secure trained staffers and other assistance to aid the delivery of education to disabled trainees.
It is Lewis’s belief that once the operation of the entity, which is designed to cater to the educational needs of persons with disability, is on par with the requirements of the Ministry of Education much needed assistance will be forthcoming.
He is optimistic that the officials in the Ministry will recognize that the organization is in dire need of persons with a passion for education and development to help solve its existing staffing problem.
“We need persons who have a passion for training and education to get on board with us. At the moment most of our staffers are on part-time employment. We need persons to come on board as full time instructors…” he insisted.
The Open Door Centre first opened its doors in 2001 as a project. Three years later it was handed over to the Ministry of Health after which it was transformed to a full-fledged educational institution. The entity has as its aim the need to promote and help improve the lives of young persons with disability.
“In the past people use to hide people with disabilities; they were locked away and were basically forced to remain out of sight,” Lewis remorsefully recounted.
It was in light of the fact that persons with disability can perform and if given a chance can do as well as their physically normal counterparts that the entity commenced offering vocational training.
Trainees, according to Lewis, are exposed to four main vocational training categories among them, Information Technology, Carpentry/Joinery, Garment Construction and Electronics.
Currently located in C Field, Sophia, Georgetown, the institution, Lewis said, offers normal classes over a two-year period just like any other educational institution. However, the delivery of education is often fraught with overwhelming challenges since many trainees are not exposed to previous educational experiences thus making the process of educating an even greater task.
Many of the trainees, Lewis said, are products of the David Rose School for the Handicapped and the Diamond Special Needs School. As a result, greater emphasis is placed on the importance of establishing and strengthening links with other disability organizations and institutions to help improve the educational process, Lewis said.
In the meantime though measures have been put in place, he disclosed, to ensure that the Open Doors Centre operates in such a manner that “we will hear very little excuses when we approach the Ministry of Education for staffing or any assistance for persons with disability,” Lewis added.
Currently the entity’s educational programming is incorporated into the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) Special Education programme. However, this does not mean that the offerings are limited to educational edification as sessions cater to the trainees’ all-round development, Lewis asserted.
Not willing to be limited by their evident disabilities, 25 young individuals were just last month certified to efficiently delve into the world of work, having completed a two-year skills training stint at the Open Doors Centre.
The occasion represented the sixth graduating ceremony for the entity which saw the trainees undertaking courses in the four disciplines offered by the Centre.

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Open doors Centre eyes staffing assistance from Education Ministry

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