Rose Hall girl tops CPCE
─ at largest graduating class in college’s history
The largest cohort of graduates recorded by the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) so far graduated Wednesday, with Rosehall, Canje’s Jessica Seeraj emerging as valedictorian at the college’s 87th graduation ceremony.
Some 843 student-teachers received their certificates in a range of programmes during the ceremony, which was held at the institution.
Seeraj-the Best who read for an Associate Degree in Education, said she was shocked when she received the news of her accomplishment. She said she could not have done it without her strong support system.
She said she is most excited to share her knowledge with her students.
“To make them realise that, especially my students, that it doesn’t matter where you come from, it doesn’t even matter if it is a small village like Canefield in Berbice, you can still top the entire country”, so just think of yourself as somebody who can achieve it all,” said Ms. Seeraj.
CPCE’s principal, Dr. Viola Rowe, A.A gave a breakdown of the graduating class.
“Of the 843 students,198 pursued the trained teachers certificate programme and 645, the associate degree in education programme. Of the total number of students presented for this period 86 per cent are females and 14 per cent males compared to the last reporting period with 84 per cent and 16 per cent for females and males respectively” she noted.
Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Education, was Chief Education Officer, Dr. Marcel Hutson. He said the 843 new teachers being added to the work force will help ease the burden currently faced by teachers and students.
He also alluded to the number of teachers currently receiving training at the college, noting the importance and impacts this will have on Guyana’s population.
“And I wish to say also that from the principal’s report, we have discovered that we have over 2000 students who are currently in training and when they would have graduated, we’re talking about two thousand more teachers to be added to our workforce. Which means that we could very well move along the Finland model where we have at least two teachers in a classroom and that is the projection in some point in time, to deal with our students who may very well have learning difficulties” he said.
He said further, that with the teaching population being complemented by such numbers it would aid in efforts to discontinue ‘multi-grade teaching’.
“Because that in itself has been a heavy weight on our teachers. Too carry several subjects at a particular grade skillfully” he noted.
The graduation ceremony was celebrated under the theme: ‘remaining steadfast and determined in this new dispensation of education.”