Erdiston inks deal with Columbia University

Erdiston Teachers’ Training College and Columbia University’s Edmund W Gordon Institute for Advanced Study have signed a new agreement to provide a suite of advanced teaching courses to support Barbados’ educational reform goals.

At a brief signing ceremony held at Ilaro Court on Friday, Prime Minister Mia Mottley said the partnership with the New York university had been a long time coming but was necessary as the authorities seek to revamp education.

“This partnership with Columbia University was first contemplated back before 2000. We are creating an opportunity that effectively is an airbridge, so that [teachers] can have an opportunity to be exposed to the best that there is in this hemisphere and perhaps the world, without having to leave this 166 square miles,” she said.

Mottley stressed that reform was crucial not only for teachers but for students faced with challenges emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. “Other than those who were victims physically from COVID, the greatest losers of 2020-2023 were the children of the world,” she said.

She added: “The education system we have inherited was intended to allow a few to climb to the top, and the others to…wait for instructions…global citizens, Bajan roots, requires a different approach.”

Erdiston Principal Dr Colin Cumberbatch welcomed the agreement, saying continuous teacher training was vital for reforms. “Professional development…will necessitate that our teachers and school leaders engage in re-training, re-tooling, and upskilling,” he said.

Dr Christopher Emdin of Columbia University said while the past system served well, it must evolve with the changing environment. “As time progresses…the system [must change]. We have research, expertise…how may we exchange these to construct something here that works best?”

The new courses supported by the MOU will start in September, with teachers encouraged to contact Erdiston for further details.