Local Math teachers to get help

Aug 18, 2022 News

…as Education Ministry, Canadian Government embark on training exercise

Kaieteur News – Underscoring the importance of having teachers equipped to teach the various subjects areas, the Ministry of Education on Tuesday launched a programme to train specialist Mathematics teachers.

Canadian High Commission Mark Berman engages participants at the training programme for specialist Mathematics teachers

The programme is being hosted in National Centre for Educational Resource Development – NCERD’s auditorium and is in collaboration with the Government of Canada through the Canada Caricom Expert Employment Programme (CCEP).

The programme aims to prepare primary school teachers to serve as Specialist Mathematics Teachers of Grades One to Four curriculum and develop a repository of resources for them to utilise when planning their sessions.

Under the initiative, a total of thirty teachers from across Region Four will be trained to be Specialist Mathematics Teachers over a four-day period.

Facilitators for the training include Hylin Mclaren, a specialist from Red River Valley School Division in Canada, along with NCERD Specialists, Leslin Elliot, Kathleen Parasnath and Vishnu Panday, who is also Head of Mathematics at NCERD.

During brief remarks, Director of NCERD, Ms Quenita Walrond-Lewis said that the programme plays a significant part in the rollout of the renewed curriculum. She explained that while the new Mathematics curriculum is guided by international best practices, it is contextually prepared for Guyana. “We are not plucking and transplanting. We are assessing what is good, what is quality, and what is best for our indigenous setting because that is the only way that these initiatives work. When we take the best that we can find around them and adapt for our context,” Walrond said.

She added that also aligns with the education sector plan to create citizens who are critical thinkers, problem solvers, and who are future stewards of this nation.

“So, we are excited because we get to do a new thing in primary mathematics education where we bring learning back to the hearts of children, back to play, back to pedagogy that requires us to be curious, experimental, ask questions and seek answers in ways that are endemic to the ways that children learn naturally which is through manipulation and experimenting implementation.”

Chief Education Officer, Dr. Marcel Huston deemed the programme as transformative for primary education and urged the participants to view the sessions as such. “When we look at our strategic plan 2021-2025 Vision 2030, you will see that Mathematics is central to what we need to do in terms of reforming the school system for better results.”

High Commissioner of Canada to Guyana, Mark Berman highlighted this is the first in-person technical assistance initiative through CCEP being carried out in Guyana. He further expressed that this will be the first in many areas of expertise Canada can bring to Guyana to work with professionals in several sectors. “We’re delighted to be able to organise this and bring an expert here to work with you all; it couldn’t have come at a better time. Guyana is at a significant point in history and growth, so we are extremely proud that at this pivotal time, CCEDM is here to help,” Berman said.