Dominican teachers are to be trained in using online resources and internet technologies for teaching purposes. With the coronavirus situation in Dominica and across the world, students have had to study from home via the internet and the effectiveness of teachers in using the internet for teaching purposes will go a long way to ensure that students excel when they learn online.
Assistant Chief Education Officer, Dr. Jeffrey Blaize, disclosed that the Ministry of Education had put measures in place to train teachers on the use of online resources for teaching needs before the COVID-19 lockdown in the country. He however added that teachers are currently undergoing training at the moment and this would go a long way in helping students learn remotely, as well as help the education ministry achieve strategic milestones in its education roles.
We have embarked on a series of training programmes for our teachers and as we speak teachers are being trained. Initially, previous to the closing of schools in March this year, we had already started our training.
Dr. Jeffrey Blaize: Assistant Chief Education Officer
He noted that school teachers already skilled in information technology and digital resources were selected for the training, and they will in turn be tasked with training other teachers during subsequent trainings. He noted that the Google platform will be utilized for the training and this lockdown period is the best occasion for the online training since teachers will not be travelling much during the summer season.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Octavia Alfred has chided parents for doing too little to encourage their children towards online learning during this coronavirus period. She decried a situation where students with digital devices and internet service come online for lectures but would not complete assignments, saying teachers cannot perform the roles of parents when children are at home with their parents.
No one can replace parents. Teachers can be excellent teachers to your children but teachers cannot be parents to your children. Parents have to get more involved and take up their roles. The Ministry of Education promises to continue conducting training sessions for parents in how to assist their children in academics.
Octavia Alfred: Education Minister
This article is copyright © 2020 DOM767
