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Feb 26, 2016 Letters
Dear Editor,
A recent letter to the Editor by “Primary School Teacher” seems unfair to our Chief Education Officer.
The letter writer takes issue on a purported comment of Mr. Sam that he said “teach the pupils and not the curriculum”; the writer has issues with another purported comment, “Why teach new things when children did not grasp the previous concept?”, and issues with Mr. Sam not addressing the point of parent involvement being responsible for student failures, when Mr. Sam allegedly said, “do what you are being paid for six hours a day.”
The issues raised go to the heart of what we need to focus on in the Guyana education system. Educational research shows that the factor most highly correlated with high student achievement is teacher quality. Above everything else, the main reason why the test results are what they are now
is because of the current level of teacher quality.
In many countries of the world, you cannot be a teacher with only 2-year training. That’s an old, outdated Third World model. In the developed countries you have to have at least a Bachelor’s degree and be certified, and then be re-certified usually every five years. In the USA, for instance, you cannot be a public school principal without a Master’s degree in School Administration and completion of a certification process. Most of the 2-year trained teachers in Guyana are not employable in the USA as regular teachers; the most they would be able to get is a teacher’s aide position. Many who are now headmasters and headmistresses in Guyana (with only a 2-year training) will barely be able to get a job as a teacher assistant in the USA.
In Guyana, most teachers have just a trained teacher’s certificate. Some school administrators do not have at least a bachelor’s degree. This state of affairs will not get us into the 21st century. As part of its vision for education, I urge the Coalition Government to work towards requiring a Bachelor’s degree as a minimum requirement for a person to become a teacher, and a Master’s degree for someone to become a school administrator.
If indeed Mr. Sam said, “teach the pupils and not the curriculum,” knowing that he is a smart man, he probably meant that we should take a “whole child” approach to accomplishing the curriculum. Probably “primary school teacher” could not extrapolate and understand what Mr. Sam was saying.
If Mr. Sam indeed said, “Why teach new things when children did not grasp the previous concept?” he is correct. We have to reform the curriculum in such a way that remediation is ongoing and done to help students perform at the required levels. A two-year trained teacher cannot easily do that. The skill sets are not there.
On the issue of parental involvement, Mr. Sam is right again. While parental involvement is a contributing factor to overall achievement, the major responsibility for results rests with the teachers. So if indeed Mr. Sam said, “do what you are being paid for six hours a day,” he is right on target.
It takes many years of teacher education and on-going professional development to reduce the curriculum, instructional and assessment gaps, and to implement school reform designs to accomplish high student achievement.
Dr. Jerry Jailall
Education Consultant
USA
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