Education Minister Anthony Garcia is committed to providing quality classroom environments conducive to teaching and learning. He says this will be highlighted during the upcoming budget debate over the next few days as part of Government’s long-term mandate to ensure quality education is delivered across the nation.
Delivering the feature address during yesterday’s church service to celebrate World Teachers’ Day at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Port-of-Spain, Garcia praised teachers for their commitment, dedication and invaluable service in molding the young minds of tomorrow.
Beaming as he addressed the primary school students at the function, hosted by the Anglican Board of Education, Garcia reminded the students that once they could read, they should thank their teachers who were responsible for ensuring the development of that crucial factor which was necessary to traverse life.
The minister urged the students to consider how they would cope if they were unable to read. Admitting that teachers are sometimes under-appreciated, Garcia who was himself a teacher for 39 years, reaffirmed Government’s commitment to “ensure teachers are taken care off.”
Referring to the sub-standard physical conditions in which some teachers have to operate daily, Garcia acknowledged that quality teaching and learning could not effectively take place in such an environment.
Revealing his intention to visit the New Grant Anglican Primary School soon, Garcia said the recently repaired institution could be used as a model to guide relevant people in the industry as to the standards that were required for the repair and refurbishment of schools.
Claiming it was now the envy of other schools, Garcia said it would be used as a benchmark for all schools to ensure their physical conditions were up to mark.
Briefly highlighting the hard work of dedicated teachers, Garcia said there were one or two persons who continued to present human resource challenges.
However, he assured that efforts would be made to provide a safe, comfortable and conducive environment for teachers and students.
Secretary of the Anglican Board of Education, Merle Braithwaite, echoed the minister’s praise of teachers as she reaffirmed their commitment to the development of teachers, principals and administrative professionals.
Revealing the Anglican Board had introduced a Code of Ethics for teachers, students and parents, Braithwaite said the recent controversy surrounding the dress code for teachers was not a non-issue as claimed by some.
She added that aspect was covered in the document which also spoke to the deliverance of the tenets of the Anglican faith by the 1,000 teachers they employed throughout their schools.
Pressed to provide information on the file produced by the Teaching Service Commission which contained the names of teachers who were consistently absent and unpunctual, Garcia said they were liaising with the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) to address the matter.
The minister said: “Our role is not be to punitive but develop teachers. If there are problems and difficulties being experienced by some of our teachers, we will want to do whatever we can to ensure they comply with the regulations.
“If there are consistently unpunctual and absent, there are regulations to take care of that.”
Garcia said one teacher’s absenteeism would affect between 25 and 30 students daily. Acknowledging the right of each child to an education, he underscored Government’s commitment to ensuring all schools were functional.