CARICOM Secretariat, Guyana Education Ministry partner to deliver IT Teachers’ Symposium
As the first term of the 2017/18 school year comes to a close, the Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) of the CARICOM Secretariat partnered with the National Centre for Educational Research Development (NCERD) of the Ministry of Education, Guyana, to co-host the Ministry’s fourth bi-annual Symposium for IT Teachers under the theme ‘Innovative Explosions in Education Delivery 2017′. The Symposium was held on 13 – 14 December 2017 at the Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown.
More than 100 teachers of Information Technology, and Electronic Document Preparation Management representing all ten Regions of Guyana, came together to participate in the two-day symposium.
The objectives of the Symposium were to highlight innovations being used to improve and enhance education delivery locally and discuss innovations that are emerging globally; introduce a new APP that will help teachers to be producers and not just consumers of digital content; educate teachers about the notion of ICT across the curriculum and not only as a subject; and publicly recognise deserving teachers for their contributions over the last three years.
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Deputy Programme Manager of ICT for Development, CARICOM Secretariat and co-facilitator Ms. Jennifer Britton, reminded participants that as IT teachers, their role was also to act as “the glue that holds the school together”, helping other subject area teachers to incorporate technology into their teaching as well as in administration to perform more effectively.
Dr. Marcia Thomas , IT Officer of the NCERD, and co-facilitator of the Symposium, informed the teachers that after working so hard during the past years, they deserved to come together to learn from each other and be appreciated for their great work and contribution to the development of the nation.
Over the two days of the Symposium, the teachers engaged in a number of group-building activities: including presentations to demonstrate how technology can be incorporated in the classes for various subject areas. They were also exposed to the use of the Smart Class Guyana – a newly established smart classroom designed and managed by NCERD, which would facilitate virtual teaching and training for education and other sectors.
The CARICOM Secretariat continues to partner with the public sector in bringing technology to the people and helping them to become digital citizens, which contribute to the development of the CARICOM Single ICT Space.
As part of the Symposium, a small exhibition was held by the CARICOM Secretariat, the E-Government Unit, Ministry of Public Telecommunications; Ministry of Education, and Digicel.