Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 09, 2015 News
“It is quality that should be sought after rather than mere quantity. It is application that should be mastered rather than regurgitation,” said Minister of Education, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine. He was addressing the need to improve the curriculum of the public education system.
He stressed the need for the Education system to focus on developing quality citizens rather than certificate achievers. “Indeed this is the approach envisaged in the manpower development plan that is in the making at the level of Caricom,” noted the Education Minister as he highlighted the need to put in place ways and means to enhance the curriculum through interrogative and multi-disciplinary teaching with ample provision for extra-curricular activities.
His remarks were made at a forum to usher in Education Month which is currently being observed under the theme “Quality educational leadership: improving schools from within.”
According to the Minister, the Education Month theme is one that points to the need for effective leadership in the delivery of education and the improvement in the manpower content, together with the manner of delivery.
With leadership in focus, he added that it is anticipated that the managers of the system will be objective oriented and will seek to constantly monitor the system to ensure that all of the required elements are in place and at work.
However, the Minister said that from the manpower perspective, the challenge will be to ensure that the preparation of those within the system is relevant and that they are committed to the task and client-friendly in their attitude.
But from the delivery standpoint, he observed that the issue of methodology of delivery and the technology for delivery will be critical factors. “Content would be the other critical element. It should be focused on depth and breadth, it should provide a sound basic knowledge base in the form of a core of subjects covering the sciences and humanities inclusive of the arts as much as it provides for the development of a rounded person,” said the Minister.
But the challenge in achieving the desired goals, according to the Minister, is for the personnel in the system to refocus and recommit to the delivery of quality education under leadership that is equally prepared to be responsive to the needs of the system.
This, he said, would also require the need for an equitable approach given the geographic, historical and psychological inequities that continue to bedevil the society.
“The beneficiaries of our system are equally challenged to recognize what’s in the system for them and to be equal partners in its management. The beneficiaries may be seen as the clients of the system but should not exclude the employers who rely on the manpower that the system produces.
The parents and guardians of the clients are no lesser stakeholders,” said Minister Roopnaraine.
The role of the Parent-Teacher Association throughout the school system must be energized, activated and allowed to be creative, he added.
“We cannot undertake or believe that the education of our children stops in the classroom. Parents have more time with their children than teachers have with the children and we are calling on parents…
“When I call on parents I want to say that the PTA meetings which I have attended have been exclusively mothers; fathers must begin to play a more active role in the education of their children,” underscored the Education Minister.
“What we have is a challenge and the challenge is for the emergence of a governance model that is inclusive, transparent and equitable. It is only on that basis that the objective of improving the system from within can be achieved.”
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