Dear Editor,
I read the news in one of the dailies about the launch of the new Education Management Academy established to train teachers to be good education leaders in the schools. This reminds me of the Management Course spearheaded by NCERD and which ran for over two decades in grooming senior teachers in management and leadership roles in their schools. During the early period that the course was in progress, trained personnel ensured that the participants adhered to the guidelines and deadlines and that they attend scheduled tutorials held by their tutors. The management modules were nine in number and had been revised from their original content in order to fit Guyana’s school and education system.
Much praise was heaped on these books (modules) as they satisfied every aspect of leadership in the classroom, and also touched on every aspect of the school and teachers’ activities. In fact it was such a comprehensive document for Guyana schools that one educator referred to them as the Bible for school administrators. This course has empowered hundreds of senior teachers and should have made a difference in the schools’ effectiveness.
Eventually, the course began to have subtle changes, as some of the original trainers would have left for a number of reasons, the potency of the training began to wane. In order to have enough trainees to pursue the training, the entry level for the course was lowered even though the course was designed for teachers who are seniors and who were in leadership positions. Also, some of the new trainers that were appointed/selected/identified were very deficient in their knowledge of the modules. They should have been trained to be monitors and tutors for the course. Then there were times when the supply of relevant materials for the present course were late in reaching the participants. This would eventually result in the shifting of deadlines for assignments and for the submission of monthly reports.
The effectiveness of the programme became compromised when there was hardly any co-ordination among the regions that were offering the course. After the conclusion of examination and results were revealed, in a few regions no genuine support from the Education Departments were made. Some regions had many trainees who belonged to different groups. The trainees were unclear about where and when they would be graduating. In the long run, some regions held graduation for their trainees, some regions and groups had not graduated.
During the earlier period of the management course, the Education Department would liaise with the coordinator of NCERD about graduation of the trainees. So in spite of the new format of Leadership training for teachers, it is difficult to visualize leadership that is not inherent at the classroom level. It is the incidental forum that makes teachers into leaders and decision-makers.