Training vital for teachers: TSC

The National National

By Glenda Awikiak
IT is compulsory for teachers who have been working for more than four years to undergo professional development training, according to the Teaching Service Commission (TSC).
TSC chairman Baran Sori said it was one of the priorities this year that teachers must have the right skills and knowledge.
Sori said it would be compulsory “for all our teachers who have taught for more than five years to go for professional development training.”
“All our teachers at every level who have graduated and gone out teaching for longer period of time have to go for training,” he said.
“This has not happened for years, thus has contributed to the decline in the quality of education in our system in previous years and we want to improve on that.
“This is part of the commission’s response to the government’s call for quality education.
“Teachers have to be competent in the way they are teaching children and must follow teaching standards set by the teaching commission and have to be on par with the changes in the standards and curriculum of our education system.”
Education Secretary Dr Uke Kombra recently said there was a public outcry over the quality of education in the country and the government proposed the review and change of the education system in 2012.
“The specifics of defining quality education is for a teacher to know the aims of the subject, the relevance of the subject and how much time the subject requires in preparing and teaching the students.
“Training is vital for the implementation of the new programme initiative and the training is to ensure the teachers put into practice and make improvements in their teaching methods.
“The success of the standard-based education/curriculum depends on teachers and training.”
He said other priorities of the commission this year would be on teachers’ salaries and allowances and setting up teaching service offices in provinces.
“2019 is the year of negotiation and we want to be effective in the management and coordination of our members’ benefits and welfare.”