More learning opportunities for teachers

Government has invested millions of dollars to train hundreds of teachers to better manage the online teaching environment.

The Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training has launched the 21st Century Educators Hub, which in its first phase, supports teachers in improving their digital and socio-emotional skills.

The programme is a partnership between the ministry, the National Transformation Initiative (NTI) and Coursera.

Speaking at Monday’s launch of the hub, Minister of Education Kay McConney said the programme will allow authorities to facilitate the training of many educators and give them the competencies that they need to survive in the 21st century.

McConney said the hub will not just enable educators to be consumers of content, but they will also be capable of creating content to meet the needs of Barbados’ education sector.

She noted that Erdiston Teachers’ Training College and its partners cannot possibly fulfill the level of training and professional development needed in the education system.

The minister explained that the collaboration with Barbados and Coursera, through the NTI, was designed specifically to improve the quality of education through the provision of professional development courses for educators and educational leaders.

She said the training is intended to address the skill gaps that currently exist and to also bring innovative content to support national ambition in new and interesting areas.

Minister McConney said during the 2022 Easter Vacation some teachers sampled five courses offered on the Coursera platform through a pilot project. She said the certificate courses are certified by respected international institutions.

“This Government has determined that we will invest in these courses so that financial considerations will not be a deterrent for our educators to be able to access. And therefore, Government will be paying for these courses that are a part of this education hub,” she said.

Director of the NTI, Dr Allyson Leacock said the partnerships represent the potential for 120 000 Barbadians utilising 20 000 licences the Government purchased from Coursera and an additional 20 000 scholarships Google gifted to Barbados.

Coursera is a United States-based online course provider founded in 2012 which works with universities and other organisations to offer online courses, certifications, and degrees in a variety of subject areas. (AH)