Principals from various primary schools around the island are participating in a workshop at the Public Service Training Center in Roseau to formally begin the implementation of the Child Friendly School Initiative (CFS).
Speaking at the opening ceremony on Wednesday morning, Chief Education Officer, Stephenson Hyacinth, said that the CFS Initiative places emphasis on quality education and focuses on “child centeredness.”
He said that he wants each school to arrive at a stage where every child succeeds.
Education Minister, Petter Saint Jean, called on principals to take the CFS Initiative seriously and stated that Dominica should no longer accept the status quo.
“The Child Friendly School Initiative helps us examine our practices within the school system. We can no longer accept the status quo but we must engage in discussions in dialougue so that we can become more adaptive in our approach to achieve the best results,” he said.
Saint Jean indicated that his government has been engaged in various initiatives geared at improving the quality of education.
A team of consultants has been engaged to assist with the implementation of the process and will host various sessions with primary and secondary schools. Additionally, a team from Barbados will also be involved to observe CFS practices in Dominican schools as a model of emulation.
The CFS Initiative began in 2009. Thus far, 58 primary school principals out of 60 have received training.
I have been in the education system for so long,i am qualified, yet to be appointed.I can’t eat concrete.It is so frustrating.
thats true observer, and they need to give the trained teachers a better salary too, with all the things they want to force down teachers throat there
I agree, trained teachers should get a better salary. A trained teacher should never get the same salary as a high school grad. It is rather unfair after you have been trained, to be considered an unqualified Temporary Teacher. This to me is gross disrespect! These concerns should be addressed rather that shoving new initiatives down the teacher’s throats.
so were the schools unfriendly before?
they want to put all kinds of initiatives and not give teachers the required materials to work with. They telling you make wish list and then you dont get anything you need to make the programme successful
I think we should start by encouraging individual expression in students and move away from the Victorian era regimentation of school environments. The top-rated education systems in the world have gone past this and allow kids to come to school dressed casually in their own choices, they have real student-centered education in that every child have means to be truly catered for,music, swimming, natural science, life science and so on. Allow our kids to dream beginning in Primary school. We need to break away from the false sense that uniform and regimentation of education brings about greater nationalism and performance. Encourage decision-making and growth of personality. Only that way will we get the diversity of minds and outlook we need to find creative ways of dealing with our problems today in the economy and socially.
Don’t agree with doing away with the uniform. It gives the children a sense of belonging (to the same school/group etc). Also, what about parents who can’t afford to buy nice fancy clothes like their classmates? Individuals can dream and make decisions in their uniforms. It takes imagination, not fancy clothes. Sorry!
The day we do away with the uniform we are in deep trouble. A uniform gives us identity, make us feel that we belong to a certain institution.
If you give them the choice of coming in what they want, Di yiuh know how many parents will go crazy over children who want to wear certain clothes which they can’t afford. Or how others will be left out because they cannot afford to have the latest fashion. Think about that.
Allowing children to dress casually in their own choices. Then what they start showing up to school in tank top, poom poom shorts and bling. Anonymous bite your town you hear; that would be a very, very bad decision to do away with school uniforms. That’s one of the most unique things about schools in DA, a sense of pride. I too like to see the different uniforms tan.
Mr. Saint Jean wants principals to take this seriously, but when is he going to take teachers and principals seriously? Why do they take so long to appoint teachers??