Several pairs of mothers & daughters, husband & wife among 1,500 new trained teachers

By Telesha Ramnarine

A total of 1,502 teachers graduated from the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) on Friday and will be heading back to their respective villages and communities across the country.

The graduates included several pairs of mothers and daughters and at least one husband and wife.

It is the second largest batch of teachers to graduate in Guyana, with a ratio of 86 percent female to 14 percent male.

At the ceremony, held at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence, East Bank Demerara, teachers from all walks of life were decked out, eager to collect their certificates, and especially happy to hear an announcement that they will all be hired as of October 1.

Leslie Thompson of Mabaruma, Region One, is heading back to the Hobediah Primary, located up in the Aruka River, and couldn’t be happier that he’s reached this point of graduation.

Of course, like many other teachers, reaching this point did not come without its challenges. For Leslie, access to the internet and having to travel each week were two of the biggest hurdles he had to cope with.

“One of the biggest challenges I had was internet connection. In those hinterland areas, connectivity is a major issue. Also, traveling out of the riverain areas to central Mabaruma to do classes on the weekends; that was a bit tiring,” he told the News Room.

For Parmeshwar Harrylall, of the Vreed-en-Hoop Centre in Region Three, making full use of the technology available helped him with his studies, along with effective teamwork. “Tertiary education is mostly dependent on teamwork; we work as groups, study as groups and that would help us to get through successfully.”

Education Minister Priya Manickchand pointed out how this trained batch of teachers will significantly help to bring down the ratio of trained teachers to pupils.

As just one example, she disclosed that in 2023, there were 9,762 learners in Region One with 208 trained teachers, which meant a class size of about 50.

With 88 more trained teachers going to the region now, the class size is expected to be around 32 pupils to one trained teacher and can be reduced further by next year.

“The whole idea of training was not to say as a big headline, ‘We’re training many.’ It was to reduce the class sizes…and it was to make sure we have a higher quality in the classroom,” Manickchand said.