The Dominica Association of Teachers (DAT) has been called upon to take up a leadership role to ensure that teachers are heard.
This call was made by Key note speaker and former President of Dominica, His Excellency Eliud Williams during an address of the 18th Annual General Meeting of the DAT held at the Garraway Hotel Conference room on Wednesday.
“DAT must take a leadership role in ensuring that teachers are heard since they are the ones who must help develop the required skill set, work ethics, civic responsibility so critical to nation building,” he said.
Williams stated further that the involvement of teachers in decision-making would reveal that they are well empowered and they are seen as resources with knowledge and experience that must be tapped.
He said one of the fundamental requirements of any modern society is the right of access to quality education.
“Therefore in the context of our political and economic environment, Dominica like other developing states must develop specific education policies aimed at realizing the right to education for every child,” Williams said. “The policies must be so targeted to ensure the provision of education throughout childhood, ensure the quality of education and that it is delivered within learning environments that are respectful of the rights of our children.”
Williams believe that the government of Dominica and other key stakeholders in education must continually invest in the infrastructure to create learning environments and opportunities for high quality education.
This, he said, requires policies that are, “flexible and inclusive so that the specific needs of all children or groups of children can be addressed.”
“The policy making process therefore take account of children who are less visible, those with disabilities, those of migrants…and those with health impairments,” he noted. “These efforts and initiatives can best be achieved with the active involvement and collaboration of non-governmental organizations, community members, parent groups and religious organizations.”
According to him in these types of collaborative efforts, classroom teachers can begin to play a major role in the policy making process.
He revealed that some of the areas that involves policy making and how the classroom teacher might be effectively engaged in that policy making process include; “education planning, curriculum development, teacher training, resource mobilization, physical infrastructure, class sizes…and stakeholder collaboration.”
“Involvement of teachers by specialists in formulating and developing curricular would utilize the classroom teachers experience and learning that could greatly enhance content and help design delivery mechanisms for effective teaching and learning. Physical infrastructure is another area where the classroom teacher can prove invaluable from the point of conceptualization,” he said.
Williams noted that classroom teachers must collectively demand a greater voice for consultation in policy formulation in the training of teachers and more importantly in the development of curricular, in infrastructure development and in the establishment of criteria for promotion, “but that is based on performance which is objectively measured on qualification an experience.”
The AGM was held under the theme: Policy Making Processes: The role of the Classroom Teacher.
I wonder if there was any election at that AGM and whether they re-elected the same executive.
Bright teachers cannot continue to make decisions which work against their best interest!