A two-day session hosted by the Ministry of Education Unit of Allied Arts for 13 Secondary Schools and 22 Physical Education Teachers concluded with a bang Friday at the New Amsterdam Multilateral Secondary.
President of the Guyana Golf Association and Nexgen Golf Academy, Aleem Hussain, held a personalized golf training session and donated golf equipment and balls to all schools in attendance. In addition to golf equipment, teachers were given sports whistles, stop watches and two CSEC PE textbooks to take back to their respective schools.
According to Kurt Braithwaite, acting head of Allied Arts, the sessions were scheduled to be held last October but was postponed several times.
Similar workshops have already been completed in Regions 2, 3 and 4 by Allied Arts which was hosted by their Education Departments with support from Allied Arts. Said Braithwaite, “The reaction of all the teachers to the simple but effective teaching techniques by Mr. Hussain again demonstrated why golf is fast becoming a favorite sport taught by PE Teachers around the country.”
Braithwaite thanked the Region 6 Department of Education, D.E.O Ms. Dainty, along with the Head Teacher and Staff of N.A.M.S for their gracious hospitality in hosting the two-day session.
Bristol (NAMS) and Moakan (BHS), expressed surprise at the speed of learning the sport and at the enthusiasm of all the teachers and students who took part in the mini competition that concluded the golf training. Speaking to the teachers, Hussain said “This is an individual sport that attracts 65% female students and regardless of size, strength or athletic ability, allows everyone to compete on equal footing due to adjustments based on a handicap system. With the emphasis on physical education and sports in schools by President Ali and Minister Manikchand, we believe that the joint effort with UAA and Nexgen Golf will see several thousands of new students taking up golf, especially with our modified training system that allows for teaching and practice in small spaces, even indoors.”
A major shift in focus by the Ministry of Education will see all learners exposed to a sport, foreign language and a musical instrument as a part of developing well rounded graduates of high school. As a result, this PE Workshop series was timely as it prepared dozens of teachers nationwide to immediately implement the new mandate by MOE.
