Roseau, Dominica – July 6, 2010…… The Government of Dominica, in its continuing thrust to improve the quality of education on the island, on Monday formally launched the Dominica Education Enhancement Project.
This project is funded by the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank at a cost of US$4 million.
In his welcome address at the ceremony, Chief Education Officer, Mr. Stephenson Hyacinth told the large gathering that the Educational Enhancement Project “is a continuation of a process to transform the educational landscape of Dominica, which began with government’s declaration of Universal Secondary Education”.
In his address at the launching ceremony, Minister for Education and Human Resource Development, Hon. Petter Saint. Jean stated that the project focuses on three major areas of focus of the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, namely: the development of human resource capacity; the improvement of quality in education provision and plant construction and maintenance.
The project involves the development of the human resource capacity of the education system by providing scholarships to some sixty(60) teachers. These scholarships will provide degree level teacher training in Technical Vocational fields as well as support services such as counselling and special education. One person will be trained as a clinical psychologist to assist in the identification and treatment of students with learning or behavioural problems.
A number of short-term training workshops and courses will be offered to benefit large numbers of primary and secondary school teachers. These courses will include training in the use of instructional techniques that will assist teachers in dealing with students with different levels of attainment, training in the area of multi-grade schooling, support for ‘at risk’ students through the development of early diagnosis, identification and intervention systems for learning disabilities and support in the teaching of mathematics through the provision of a numeracy support programme.
The project will also appreciably enhance the quality of the learning environment through the provision of basic equipment and supplies for primary and secondary schools. A Special Education Unit, District Educational Offices and the Curriculum Unit will be resourced. Primary and Secondary Schools will benefit from audio visual equipment, photocopiers, computers and software.
Under the project, the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development will receive assistance in upgrading existing school plant to cater for technical, vocational education and training.
According to Mr. Nicholas Goldberg, Senior Education Officer, Curriculum Measurement and Evaluation, the Education Enhancement Project addresses “some of the salient gaps in the system that need to be addressed to fully implement a modern curriculum in schools”.
It places particular emphasis on Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) and equipment as these were seen as places where gaps were widest, Mr. Goldberg explained.
“The Dominica Education Enhancement Project is unique in the sense that it is primarily a ’software’ project. Rather than large sums of money being spent on the construction of buildings, most of the financing is for the development of the country’s human resource and the equipping of schools to enable this human resource to function more effectively. This project, I would contend, represents another major step by government to take education to the next level,” Mr Goldberg concluded.
The feature address was delivered by Acting Prime Minister, Hon. Rayburn Blackmoore. Ms. Deidre Clarendon represented the Caribbean Development Bank.
