Most of the world looked onas pop icon Michael Jackson was sent off today - half a world away scores of ere contemplating a sending off of a different kind.What am I talking about? Two bees in my bonnet really- (1) News that the Education Ministry is now saying it is not countenancing online degrees! (2) The booting of scores of unfortunate teachers from their positions. Please tell me somebody is lying or at least talking out of turn or just doesn’t understand this administration’s commitment to ‘the march towards modernity’.Or could it be that they have so resigned themselves to the very real possibility of losing the next general election that they don’t care too much about the suicidal decisions they are making? Honestly, I’d like to hear what the opposition spokesman on Education has to say about this one. Correct me if I’m wrong- but didn’t the minister reputed to be ‘arguably the brightest... in the ULP administration’ acknowledge that education delivered via distance modality would help us make the goal of at least one university graduate in every single household in this country by 2025?After all this talk about this country ‘consolidating and deepening’ the education revolution, it’s the last thing you’d expect. Now don’t get me wrong , I believe teachers must be suitably trained, but if we accepted the pre-trained ‘teacher 1’ and used them to instruct our children in the secondary schools that they will ALL be reassigned to the primary school system come August 1. Then to add insult to injury they are threatened to “get qualified by 2012 or else ...” Then they turn around and the rug is pulled clean from under them with fresh info that the Ministry is not accepting online degrees... Imagine Education officials telling people ’bout ‘online ting is jus’ like buying your degree!’ And hear this—dem tell the people they mightn not get paid at the end of August! Things really that bad? How deh could do all dem nonsense deh with such boldfaced audacity?
Well if they go through with this crazy plan, mark my word - there will be a barrage of problems awaiting the reopening of school in September – 10 teachers from one school and they’re not filling those vacancies. You ever hear ‘rubbishness’ like that? And all that investment in the UWI Distance Education Programme is a farce? I refuse to accept that. This one clearly can’t end like this so we wait...
à bientôt.
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9 comments:
Ah joke you ah mek. No man ah wrong thing yo ah talk. All ah we ah wait, bbecause thing ah go happen. Thing really ah go happen. Teachers might have to block the road again. Somebody tell me where I could find ah big BLACK CAT! Mek it spread off in the road.
VC i been incommunicado for few days... i'd heard about the T1 teacher being reassigned, but the whole online education thing is news to me...
can this be true? how can they say something like this? almost every university is investigating the online learning modality - from top all the way down... is which minister or PS said that they ain't worth nothing???
wow... lucky thing for me i been foreign to get my few lickle piece of paper...
Typical of those backward thinking sorts who think that their way is the only way. I wonder who came up with this gem. Talk about absence of joined up thinking. There is a major partnership going on with Ministry of Education and a well know UK university to provide Masters on-line for teachers. And what about the most recent big thing in the papers 30+ UWI Open Campus graduate Vincy Primary Teachers.
Let's ruin the primary schools by forcing disaffected and disrespected teachers on the smallest ones.
VC,
Is one step forward and ten steps backward. This seems to be a suicidal move. I am not sure of the reasoning behind placing Teacher 1 in primary schools. Maybe I am a little slow, but what will happen to the void left in the secondary system when they are reassigned? Is there going to be a wave of new qualified teachers to replace these ones at the secondary level? I guess I will have to make a call and get some clarity on this issue.
Also, as Vincentina said, it makes no sense to place these already under-qualified teachers to teach primary schools. SMH
Anonymous dear, if you are a teacher you must know that you'd have a problem finding road block partners especially as the leadership of the teachers union has been neutered; better luck with the black cat...
Frankly Will, I think this is just the latest ploy aimed at trimming the teaching service - if you can't pay folks, that's an option. Backward thinking doesn't even begin to describe this idiotic move - This is one time I'd be only too happy to hear that I've been misled...
Vincentina, I see you're guilty of thinking logically...I wonder if all the high-ups in the MoE are on board with this partnership thingie with the UK University? And of course if the untrained teachers are not good enough to for the sec. schools, best place to dump them is the primary school system where they will produce the raw materials to fuel universal access to secondary education! That is so rich...Somebody should pull out the union bosses on this one...
Yeah Empath, I'm with you all the way. Please hurry up and make those calls and come back to tell me I got it all wrong...This one needs to be straightened out.
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