The National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) has launched its online Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Pro-gramme that would enable teachers at every level of schooling the opportunity to further develop and upgrade themselves.
According to a Ministry of Education (MoE)/ NCERD release, the programme was virtually launched yesterday. Direc-tor of NCERD Quenita Walrond-Lewis was quoted as commenting that professional development for teachers at every level – nursery, primary, and secondary – was necessary. “It means that you are continually giving yourself opportunities to improve your practice over time. Anyone and everyone regardless of your experience in the education system, whether you’ve just joined the profession or you’ve been in the profession for 30 years can benefit from continuous professional development,” she was quoted as saying.
She said the team at NCERD had to undergo six months of intensive training and preparation to be able to present the courses, which included training in learning design and instructional design. Instructors had to learn how to technically operate within the module space as well as think about the end user, and teachers, and how they could design course offerings that are engaging and interactive. The result, she noted, was a very flexible programme that allows teachers to learn at their own pace, whether after work or on the weekend.
Meanwhile, Chief Edu-cation Officer Saddam Hussain was quoted as saying that the start of the CPD was an “historic moment” in the education system in Guyana and expressed his elation at the programme coming on stream. He informed that MoE will be partnering with the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) to allow CPD to benefit every teacher. According to the release, Hussain also explained that in the coming week, the Education Systems Committee was due to meet and decide on several matters as it relates to the CPD. MoE is hoping to connect the programme to the senior promotion system, the issuance of permanent certificates from CPCE, as well as use it as a pathway for crediting the master teacher process.
The release said he also urged all mathematics teachers at the secondary level to enrol in the Secon-dary Teachers of Maths Upgrading Programme on the CPD platform and that they should be able to complete the course by May this year.
Secretary-General of the UNESCO Office-Guyana and former Education Specialist Dr Olato Sam called the launch worthy of celebration and widespread recognition. “We embrace the idea that teachers upon exiting CPCE and completing their initial training are not trained for life. And so, continuous professional development provides the wherewithal for them to expand their scope, on their skills, and recognize and incorporate more contemporary ideas, concepts, and approaches to their pedagogy and development as educators,” he was quoted as saying.
Guyana Teachers Union Deputy General-Secretary Heathcliff Peters encouraged teachers to take advantage of the opportunities provided by NCERD. He said that the GTU intends to promote CPD and encourage all teachers to enrol in the programme to upgrade themselves through the online platform, the release said.
Design Consultant on CPD Dr Schontal Moore said she was able to help the team at NCERD develop, design, and deliver courses. She disclosed that this process took six months of continuous work in a purely online environment, addressing how to convert a course from a face-to-face modality to be delivered online.
According to the release, it was explained that officers had to analyse their courses in terms of how to convert the materials for effective online delivery before they began the design and development of the actual online course. Moore noted that at the end of the six-month period, 24 courses were developed.
According to Moore, there might not be many such programmes in the Caribbean region and opined that this accomplishment should be promoted and highly commended as a progressive and forward-reaching step for NCERD and Guyana, the release added.
