Basseterre: St. Kitts, April 09, 2021: On April 07 and 08 the Ministry of
Education, hosted its Easter In-service Training Programme for the new staff
who began teaching at the start of the 2020-2021 school year in September.
The sessions were held the Immaculate Conception Catholic School
Auditorium.
The primary focus of this professional development session as noted by
Minister of Education, Honourable Jonel Powel was the continued promotion
of professionalising the teaching cohort in the primary and secondary schools
in the Federation.
“I see it as two-fold. I see it as an opportunity for us [Ministry of Education] to
help to further develop you as teachers and your ability to pass on the
knowledge and teach the children…but at the same time we see it as
important for your own personal development”, he said.
The teachers were exposed to many core values and guiding principles that
are outlined in the Education Sector Plan which includes classroom
management, the writing of behavioural objectives and inclusion in the
classroom amongst others.
Ms. Denisha Abbott, teacher at the Basseterre High School in speaking on the
content learnt about Inclusion in the classroom explained that teachers should
ensure that the content being taught is received by all students regardless of
their different learning styles and abilities.
Mr Wricherley Gumbs, a trained teacher at the Verchilds High School
expressed how timely, necessary and advantageous the presentations were.
“I have benefited tremendously from being apart of this training course
specifically as it has been a refresher…the content and experiences gained
help to reinforce some concepts that I would have learnt in Teacher
Education.
The Ministry of Education continues to invest in the professional development
of its teachers as a mobilizing force to improve the development of education
within the country.