Prime Minister Freundel Stuart stands ready to help teachers establish their own service commission and reach full professionalization.
Speaking at the Barbados Union of Teachers’ (BUT) annual general conference on Monday night, Stuart, himself a former teacher, said if teaching was to be brought into line with the established professions, there was need for a calculated focus on the quality of teachers and the quality of their teaching.
“Any attempt to improve the professional status of teachers in Barbados must be achieved through the establishment of a mechanism for quality assurance and control with regard to the delivery of education,” he noted.
Stuart said this would involve the establishment of a body responsible for advancing the teaching profession, and having in its mandate regulation, professional development, adherence to a code of ethics, and effective teacher-management information systems to ensure informed policies and practices.
This body, he added, should be internally driven, with educational practitioners at the centre of the process, and should establish and manage professional teaching standards.
“I believe that just as other professions take responsibility for enhancing their credibility, the teaching profession must do the same,” he said.
Noting that the establishment of a teaching service commission was proposed by National Hero and former Prime Minister Errol Barrow in 1974 – the same year the BUT was formed – he said consequently “an ineluctable responsibility devolves on the union and other stakeholders to complete this maturation process”.
Stuart said, however, that teaching differed from other recognized professions in that it was mainly a public sector occupation. Some teachers could enter the field untrained and there was no compulsory requirement in Barbados for teachers to participate in continuous professional development.
The BUT’s theme this year is Improving The Professional Status Of Teaching: A Necessary Imperative. (RJ)
