Erdiston Teachers’ Training College wants to attract more men 

Erdiston Teachers’ Training College (ETTC) is exploring the possibility of introducing programmes that will attract more men, as records show they are being outnumbered by women in accessing continuing education.

Principal Dr Patricia Saul said introducing programmes that are more appealing to men is necessary, given that statistics show that out of the 263 people who accessed 12 courses delivered by the college between the academic year 2018-2019, 256 were women and only seven were men.

“This is a clear indication that females are still taking greater advantage of continuing education opportunities,” she said, as she delivered a report during last night’s Continuing Education Graduation ceremony 2020, held at the College’s Pine Hill, St Michael location.

“Two hundred and forty-eight persons successfully completed the programme giving an overall pass rate of 94.3 per cent. This statistic is suggestive of the level of commitment to the programme, which the participants have demonstrated,” Dr Saul added.

The principal also indicated that as the Division of Continuing Education seeks to improve its programmes, it was working towards offering some of its courses online, being aware that through mobile devices, electronics, networking, social media and online courses, adult learners can have opportunities to learn anytime and anywhere.

She said ETTC has already trained a cadre of full-time staff in practices for teaching in the online environment, and is now in the process of expanding the training to part-time tutors.

“This will provide a wider cadre of persons innovative possibilities to realise lifelong learning, reducing the dependency on face-to-face modalities,” she said.

The principal also revealed that through involvement of relevant stakeholders in education, the college has been able to negotiate reduced rates for teachers, and, additionally, as an indication of ETTC’s commitment to continuing education all employees of the institution can access courses without having to pay fees.

“There are some public and private organizations, which depend on ETTC to provide continuous professional training for staff. Currently, we have a cadre of prison officers who are participating in this year’s programme. Our courses have also provided professional training for staff of certain businesses and hotels such as Gildan and the Barbados Hilton Hotel, to name a few,” she said.

Delivering the feature address at the ceremony, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education Technological and Vocational Training, Senator Dr Romel Springer said while there was no doubt that the Continuing Education programme currently being offered by the college was varied, there was room for the inclusion of more general interest and skill based subjects, once the resources were available.

Dr Springer said the introduction of additional relevant courses would ensure a greater balance between areas targeting teachers in the system, perspective teachers, and people who may not want to join the teaching profession but want to enter the industry.

“Graduands you have successfully completed your courses and are here to receive your certificates of achievement, best wishes are offered to every one of you as you continue on the path to self fulfillment whilst you continue to contribute to the national development of Barbados,” Dr Springer said. (AH)