Quenita Walrond-Lewis is the new Director of NCERD

(September 24, 2020) – Mrs. Quenita Walrond-Lewis has been appointed Director of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) and will take up her post on the October 1^st, 2020. She is an Education Consultant and Project Manager by profession, and has worked with the Ministry of Education (Guyana) to action positive change and development across the three key levels (Nursery, Primary, and Secondary).

In various previous education leadership capacities, she has worked to build collaborative working relationships with education stakeholders nationally and regionally.  In her work in Early Childhood Development (ECD) she has built critical linkages with other governmental and non-governmental ECD stakeholders in Guyana, as well as the regional CARICOM ECD working group. She also liaises with key stakeholders within the Ministry of Education, both centrally and regionally, to inform decisions about the execution of Education initiatives nationwide.

Mrs. Walrond-Lewis holds a Hons. BSc, Psychology and a Masters of Arts in Child Study and Education from the University of Toronto. She has successfully worked with learners from Pre-Kindergarten to University levels.

Before returning to Guyana in 2012, she was a classroom educator in both special education and general education environments; and as an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto (Mississauga Campus). She has worked also as a Parent Educator, instilling and sharing best practices in Early Childhood Education, as well as serving as a critical positive link between families, the community, and the school system.

Upon her return to Guyana, Mrs. Walrond-Lewis began her local professional career at NCERD, where she worked with NCERD colleagues to reignite the then dormant Nursery Unit of the Curriculum Division of the entity. This Unit is now one of the most vibrant areas of the institution. Over the past seven years, Mrs. Walrond-Lewis has developed and co-created classroom-based assessment, monitoring and evaluation tools, and teaching resources to be used at the Nursery, Primary, and Secondary levels by teachers, head teachers, and education officers. She has also provided capacity building experiences for in-service teachers and administrators, as well as education officers, to support their use of pedagogical best practices.

Mrs. Walrond-Lewis has authored publications relating to Early Childhood Education in Guyana, the country’s first Nursery Diagnostic Assessment, and edited the revised Roraima Reader Series. She also co-authored the Nursery Sector Action Plan for the Education Strategic Plan 2014-2018; and co-created an award-winning awareness campaign for the citizenry about the importance of nursery education; and the fundamental role parent engagement plays in this process to foster a strengthened and literate society.

Mrs. Walrond-Lewis describes her return to NCERD in the capacity of Director as “…both an honour and privilege” because she recognises the incontestable significance the institution holds for the propulsion of education development in Guyana. NCERD is rightly described as the ‘nerve centre’ of the Ministry because it should be the locus of education innovation, research, and tangible solutions for driving positive education outcomes for learners throughout the country. It is from the talented and dedicated educators at NCERD, informed by leading national, regional and international research and practice, that pedagogy and teaching methodologies are evaluated. They are then shaped for the unique culture and context of Guyana, and ultimately used to enhance teaching and learning that would provide greater opportunities for students to succeed.

Mrs. Walrond-Lewis has stated that she is grateful for the mentorship and collegial support she has enjoyed from her predecessor, Mrs. Jennifer Cumberbatch. She is looking forward to the continuation of the strong partnerships she has enjoyed with the officers of NCERD, the Ministry of Education, and Departments of Education, as well as frontline educators across Guyana.

The previous Director of NCERD, Mrs.  Cumberbatch, a retired head-teacher who occupied the post for eight years, will be shifting into the position of a Quality Assurance Consultant.

Commenting on Mrs. Cumberbatch tenure as Director of NCERD, whom she recruited in 2012, the Honourable Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand said, “Mrs Cumberbatch has given sterling service to the Ministry and people of Guyana. She steered the NCERD ship through some rough, rough waters and kept it steady and made it look easy. This nation owes her a debt of gratitude.  We are happy she won’t be leaving us completely because we need her expertise still.  I trust her and have great confidence in her ability to help us make sure we put out work that is of very high quality.”