Opposition will continue to work with gov’t to improve education delivery – Granger

– Education Minister urges teachers to change culture of school system

By Lakhram Bhagirat

Acting Minister of Education, Dr. Frank Anthony, has urged graduates of the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) to change the culture of Guyana’s school system and to always ensure that the various subject areas are covered in the way they are supposed to.

A section of the CPCE graduates

 “It is remarkable and historic that CPCE is sending off this number of students,” said the minister, referring to the 862 newly trained teachers who graduated on Tuesday at the National Cultural Centre (NCC). The graduates were a combination of the first batch of teachers, totalling 197, from the Associate Degree in Education (ADE) programme, and 665 from the Trained Teacher Certificate Programme.
Minister Anthony noted that Guyana is rapidly improving education by making huge investments in the sector. He underscored the need for teachers to focus on delivering quality education, pointing out that the profession is more competitive now, as it is more difficult to gain the attention of students.
Of the total number of graduates, 103 were males. The best overall graduating student was Khemwattie Algoo from the Rose Hall Centre in Region Six. Fourteen teachers obtained distinctions.
“I am overwhelmed and didn’t know that I was the best student until they called me on stage… I worked hard and this was much unexpected, but well deserved,” Algoo told Guyana Times International. “I want to urge all those studying now to make sacrifices, sacrifice the unnecessary things and success will be yours.”
Delivering the charge to the 78th graduating class, Opposition Leader, Brigadier (retired) David Granger, assured the teachers that they can expect opposition parties to continue working with government to ensure they eventually become university graduates as well. He said Guyana has changed significantly over the years, and is now a country with “bright prospects”.
Granger said efforts will continue to ensure that teaching becomes the most respected and highest paid profession in Guyana. “We want Guyana’s best teachers to remain here…not go into The Bahamas and teach,” he said.
“I offer this charge to the graduates of CPCE here today, contribute to the country of your birth, but contemplate a better future for the country in which you want to live… live in your own community, but think on a countrywide scale, share the knowledge and enjoy a unique cosmopolitan society,” he said.

Rewarding
CPCE Principal Deborah Thomas said the students’ stint at the college was both challenging and rewarding.
She noted that they were faced with a shortage of qualified lecturers; the lengthy process one has to undergo to renew their contract, but her staff was committed as some of them even worked without vacation.