| Teachers throughout Anguilla returned to their various schools and classrooms on Monday, September 5, probably very much encouraged and charged up after a rousing 9th Annual Appreciation Ceremony. The event, which began with inspirational music, singing and clapping, was held at the Rodney MacArthur Rey Auditorium under the theme “Teachers Making a Difference”. The chairperson was Anita Martin-Ruan, Careers Coordinator. |
The morale of the teachers wasgiven a much-needed boost by Minister of Social Development, Edison Baird, who told them they were making a great contribution to national development in a noble profession.
“The work that teachers do is so integral to shaping the fabric of our society, that your profession is considered the noblest of professions,” Mr. Baird told them. “Teachers are what I call ‘frontline workers’. Every day in your classrooms you are guiding, directing and moulding Anguilla’s future. Many people don’t recognise it, but you are arguably the most influential people in society – more influential than politicians.” He personally thanked the teachers for choosing the teaching profession and assured them that their work was deeply appreciated. “I take this opportunity to say thanks for a job well done to all of you who contributed to the success of our students who did our reading tests, Test of Standards, CCSLC, CSEC and CAPE examinations,” he went on. “When I say all of you, I am not only referring to class or subject teachers. I mean all of you from pre-school to secondary school because each of you is a link in the chain that ledto the students’ success.”
The Minister advised the teachers, however, not to become complacent. He urged them to embrace opportunities for personal and professional growth and for upgrading their skills. “If you are to adequately prepare our students to function in this rapidly changing technological world, where knowledge becomes quickly outdated, you too must be prepared,” Mr. Baird said.
“The students who enter your classrooms today are vastly different from the children who entered years ago. These students come to you having had exposure to the world right at their fingertips. They are used to things happening at the click of a mouse. They sit next to each other, but communicate via text messages or BBM. They have Facebook pages. So if your teaching method is only one of ‘chalk and talk’, you have an uphill battle trying to reach today’s children and getting them to stay focused. Because the students are different, it means that teachers have to do things differently. You have to help them to use the same technology in productive and positive ways for their own educational development.” Minister Baird said that over the years the Ministry and Department of Education had made strides in increasing Information Communications Technology (ICT) access in classrooms. He stated that not many teachers were sufficiently ICT literate and as a consequence the Ministry and Department had embarked on an initiative to provide such training for teachers for their personal and professional development. He emphasised that after the training no parent should receive a hand-written report from the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School when there was a computerized reporting system available there. Other speakers were Natasha Welcome, Vice President of the Early Childhood Education Association; Emma Ferguson, President of the Anguilla Teachers Union; Acting Chief Education Officer, Veda Harrigan; Education Officer, Exams, Colleen Horsford; and Pastor Dexter Welcome. Community worker, Lana Hoyoung, who chaired the ceremony, emphasised the importance of discipline and the need for students to show love and respect to each other. She assured them that their parents, teachers and other persons in the community cared about them and that it was in their best interest to work towards good behaviour and excellence in the classroom. The students were then escorted to their various classes where they were further addressed by a number of persons drawn from the church and community. |
