Government says it is taking decisive action to ensure academic success of every child in Dominica.
As part of this the Ministry of Education on Monday embarked on a five-day multi-grade training workshop for educators on the island.
Twenty-five principals and 60 teachers are participating in the workshop which, according to the organizers, is one of the many initiatives under the Dominica Enhancement Project.
Education Minister Petter Saint Jean told the start of Monday’s workshop that developing skills and strategies in students that allow for a high level of independence and efficiency in learning, either individually or as a group, is most essential in the multi-grade classroom.
“It is with this foundation that government see it fit to equip our teachers with necessary skills to improve student achievement and maximize the potential of every child accessing our schools,” he said adding that the best possible education outcome must be achieved by every Dominican child.
“In many Dominican schools only a few multi-grade classrooms do exist,” St Jean said, further pointing out that “an average primary school in Dominica is ill equipped to handle the multi-grade situation”.
Meantime, Permanent Secretary in the ministry of Education Chandler Hyacinth said for students to learn effectively in multi-grade environments, teachers must be well trained as these classes pose a particular challenge.
“As teachers you must hold positive attitudes to multi-grade teaching. In some instances we see in some schools that there is a negative approach towards multi-grade teaching. It is also seen as second class … but we have to adapt because multi-grade is a reality to us,” she explained.
Negative attitude towards multi grade teaching?? hmmm
Workshop should focus on multi-level teaching or teaching to multiple abilities because even in a single grade classroom, you will find multiple levels and multiple learning abilities and styles. That being said, we are moving in the right direction.
This is not new. We have always done this from time immemorial. But, these days something seems to be wrong with our teaching style. More teachers are trained now, but since the Dominica Teacher’s College became part of the State College I personally have seen deterioration in the quality of teaching in our schools both primary and secondary. The teacher’s curricula have been watered down, the qualification for entry into college is questionable in many instances, the quality of work in other cases is left much to be desired. There is need to review the curricula for teachers in training, the entry requirements for teachers and go BACK TO BASICS so our teachers can perform as well as they did in the not too distant past. I think however the Ministry of Education is doing the right thing. They must also ensure that the specialists in the department do their work to help the schools.