St. Ignatius Secondary, Mackenzie High among 21 schools now offering Portuguese

May 27, 2014 News

The language barrier between Guyana and its largest South American neighbour, Brazil, will soon be reduced as the Ministry of Education is intensifying efforts to have Portuguese taught in schools across the country.
To enhance the capacities of teachers in the education system, the Ministry launched the “Training for Teachers of Portuguese” programme. On Friday last, at Theatre Guild, Kingston, the Ministry revealed its elaborate plan to present Portuguese as a viable modern language option in schools across Guyana.

Section of the gathering at the function at Theatre Guild

The Ministry, through the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) will be creating a teacher training module to better equip student teachers desirous of pursuing training in teaching Portuguese.
According to Deputy Chief Education Officer (Development), Doodmattie Singh, the Ministry introduced Portuguese as a new modern language on the national curriculum, when it initially launched the Portuguese curriculum last year in six schools: Queens College, The Bishops’ High, Saint Stanislaus College, Saint Roses High, Saint Joseph High and North Georgetown Secondary.
She emphasized that an additional 15 schools will now offer Portuguese when the new school year begins in 2014. They are as follows: Brickdam, Christ Church, Zeeburg, West Demerara, Annandale, Bygeval, Madhia, St. Ignatius, Hope Rosignol and Diamond secondary schools as well as Central High, President’s College and Mackenzie High.
Singh explained that this new “Training for Teachers of Portuguese” programme forms part of the teacher professional development programme of the Ministry that will facilitate the training of teachers from the schools identified above in the delivery of the Portuguese curriculum.
CPCE will expand its teacher training in Portuguese as part of its modern language teacher training programme, she added.
Meanwhile, Education Minister, Priya Manickchand, who delivered the feature address, expressed her satisfaction that after nine months, the Ministry can be embarking on a programme of this magnitude that further establishes Portuguese in schools across the country.
“We at the Ministry of Education are very conscious that we have a huge responsibility to make sure we meet the needs of Guyana today, as well as prepare our young people to meet the needs of Guyana tomorrow,” the Minister said.
She underscored the importance of Guyanese children being able to access and learn a foreign language, particularly Spanish and/or Portuguese, which significantly helps in communicating and integrating with neighbouring countries.
Because the world is now a relatively smaller place as a result of technology, more and more businesses are working closely with companies in other countries. Knowing more than one language enhances opportunities in all areas of life.
The Minister was also very pleased to announce that the launch of this programme is in line with the commitment that the ruling PPP/C Government made during its Election 2011 campaign, in which its manifesto irrefutably states that within the next five years it will work at “Strengthening foreign language teaching both in the school system, including at the primary school level and for the public at large, with special emphasis on Spanish and Portuguese, reflecting our country’s continental prospects.”
The Minister further indicated that very soon the Ministry will be reaching out to members of the public through the Learning Channel with specialized programmes to teach Portuguese in very creative and innovative ways.