CARICOM Education Sector Specialist, Dr. Nancy George, outlined that a different type of learner is necessary in today’s world.
CHANGE THE SYSTEM
Fri, 10/28/2016 - 12:00am
“The last vestige of colonialism in the Caribbean.”
CARICOM Education Sector Specialist Dr. Nancy George used these words to describe the region’s educational system, while giving her presentation at yesterday’s Consultation on Regional Education and Human Resource Development Strategy at the Caribbean Examinations Council’s (CXC) headquarters in the Pine.
“Although we have CXC and we have CAPE, it is built on a British model and it still deals with, as has been said, that 30 per cent at the top of the food chain from a 19th century model where in the 19th century you train the best and the brightest to take over control of the rest and you train every body else to work in the factories or someplace where they are under obedience to somebody else.
“The fourth industrial revolution is digital and demands a completely different type of worker, a different type of thinker, a different type of participant in the workplace and a differently prepared adult for the world and for our communities and for society. So this is a very great thing that Caricom is doing in terms of saying ‘let’s actually look and see how we can revolutionise the system’ but it’s not going to happen overnight!” she stressed.
Speaking on the development of the 2030 Strategy, she stated that the document would be a major cultural revolution for the region in how education happens, in order to produce outputs that are going to change the system.
Pointing to challenges being experienced in the system, George said that one area of concern was how quickly new teachers were leaving the profession in high numbers because their expectations were extremely different to the reality of what was required in educating students.
“There has to be something beyond having a piece of paper to be a good teacher. The interesting thing is how many teachers are in teaching because that was there first choice… People use teaching as a stepping stone to something else,” she continued, while stressing that teaching was a skill.
She therefore suggested that an induction year should be required for all new educators, before being considered a teacher.
“Teaching is not about academics, it is about skills training,” George highlighted.
(JMB)