CPCE gets 1,900 students as Education Ministry reopens college online

As the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) better known as the Teacher’s Training College prepares to roll out online classes this week, it has seen a record number of 1,900 students including untrained teachers who were already practicing.

Education Minister Priya Manickchand told the BIG Smith News Watch in this week’s edition of ‘Focus’ that the Ministry is cognizant that there will be an increased need for trained teachers post COVID-19. This she said along with calls from applicants have influenced the decision to move courses online.

“Five years from now, hopefully, the world would’ve gotten COVID under control and] we wouldn’t have this problem we’re having. If we don’t let students into CPCE now and teach them now, then five years from now when we should’ve gotten 800 students graduating to come back into the classrooms, we won’t have that, so we would have a deficit [for some years],” Education Minister Priya Manickchand told BIG Smith News Watch.

The Minister pointed out that CPCE was closed in 2020 with no plans for its reopening, the reopening possibilities online mean that resources and tutorials had to be shifted to the internet as well as a library. The ministry also took into consideration the access to the internet of all applicants coupled with the ability to mark examinations online.

Manickchand however explained that online learning does not mean solely online.

“Fully online means you’ll be able to do the whole course online and bearing in mind that there are some teaching practice that you have to do to finish the programme. But we will also have face-to-face engagements for students who wants to come to the college and don’t want to study online,” she explained.

Over the next three years, the Ministry is looking to ensure that all of its untrained teachers who have started practicing will be formally trained.

As such, the Minister said the Teacher’s Certificate programme will be offered online as well as the Associate Degree programme and upgrading programmes for those who are not qualified for either.