Sixty-seven Dominican teachers are now fully certified as French educators.
These teachers participated in a French teacher training programme which was the result of a partnership between the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, the Dominica State College and the Universite des Antilles et de Guyane (UAG) in Martinique.
At the award ceremony, Minister for Education Hon. Petter Saint Jean stated that the French teacher training programme complements the intention of the Labour Party Government to upgrade the education system by adequately training teachers.
“I am very pleased to note the training programme resonates so well with the dynamic thrust of the Dominica Labour Party Administration to ensure that our teachers are adequately trained to execute the curriculum as masters of the art in all subject areas.”
The Minister says, not only will the training programme strengthen existing bonds between Dominica and its French neighbours but it will also mark a significant improvement in student performance.
“I believe that a trained teacher is an important determinant of educational quality which to my mind is a necessary ingredient in the recipe for educational advancement and maturity. Therefore, the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development anticipates that with almost immediate effect, we will begin to see improvements in the teaching of French both at primary and secondary levels, but even more so at the foundation phase the primary school levels. We anticipate vast improvements at the CSEC level now that our teachers are better equipped to prepare our students for these external examinations.”
The minister congratulated the teachers on their performance and cautioned them to continue improving themselves although the training has concluded.
The programme served to increase the French language capacity of teachers to make them better able to deliver the French language to students.