Primary School Teacher Receive Training
We all want a good education; there is absolutely no doubt about that. And we all agree that education is an intricate matter that includes and involves all teachers, parents, students, government, and the community. Recent successes in education will confirm that quality education is on the rise, and rest assured that this good trend will continue to rise.
At present there is a fairly large number of primary school teachers who are engaged in studies at the University of Belize acquiring pedagogical skills for certification in education. This excellent move is something to be complimented and all administrations are certainly urged to see to it that their teachers are trained and qualified. This will only serve to improve the quality of education delivered at their schools.
During the summer vacations some 20 teachers coming from The R.C. School, Holy Cross Anglican, Isla Bonita and New Horizons Seventh Day Adventist School took courses with UB that will upgrade them with a certificate in Primary Education. And now these same teachers/students are working as interns in the Island schools in their field experience training. They are being supervised by renowned educators who will coach them in their internship as well as grade them in their lesson planning and delivery. In the end the University of Belize will make its final assessment to certify the successful teachers.
In 2009, recognizing the chronic, severe shortage of trained primary school teachers, the Ministry of Education and Youth launched this specially targeted Certificate in Primary Education (CPE) Program. This CPE program targets some 860 primary school teachers who have associates degrees in fields other than education and seeks to equip them with the necessary pedagogical skills to effectively deliver education to primary school around the country.
We say kudos to the Ministry of Education and Youth, the University of Belize and UNESCO (for providing funding support) for coming up with this wonderful program, congrats to the teachers who signed up and are making full good use of the service, and thanks to the supervisors who are giving invaluable time in assuring good pedagogical skills of our Island teachers. That is why we say with confidence that education will only get better. Our teachers are better qualified and equipped and we look forward to that day soon in the future when we will have 100% certified professional teachers.
