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| A cross section of teachers on Monday 15 during the first session of the education reform process |
Charlestown Nevis (March 18, 2004) Nevisian teachers have been given a chance to engage in an OECS consultation project that is currently being conducted in the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis.
Speaking to the Government Information Services on Monday, Education Official in St Kitts, Mr. Michael Blake noted that the exercise was a part of an OECS wide project organised by the OECS Education Reform Unit.
He said, “The project will engage the various stake holders in education in St. Kitts and Nevis with respect to soliciting their views as to which way we should go pertaining to teacher education.”
“There are a number of issues which relate to teacher education which perhaps are not as straight forward and perhaps not as smooth,” commented Blake. “We have engaged the services of various stake holders in education so that we can get from them what they think in terms of where we stand and which direction we should go.”
The Education Official, in pointing out that the Education Department had met with chief education officers and some principals in the federation, observed that it was time to take the education issues to the rank and file of the teaching profession.
As Education Planner in the Ministry of Education, Dr Bronte Gonzalves told the government press that the consultation was being conducted in two phases, “in order to ensure that all Nevisian educators are fully involved in the consultation regarding teacher education in the Federation.”
The first phase saw teachers from the primary and secondary schools in the Gingerland zone meeting on Monday at the Gingerland Secondary School, while primary and secondary school teachers from the Charlestown zone will meet on Friday.
Mr. Blake who was accompanied by Chief Education Officer, Mr. Patrick Welcome expressed his hope that whatever the teachers’ views were, in terms of programmes and policies, that it would be placed in a package, which will inform decision at the policy level.
He added, “in the end what we will see in fact is an improvement in the way teacher education is run and of course will redound to the advantage of the students at large in the Federation.”
