Barbadian students will have access to scholarships to study at the George Brown College in Toronto, Canada.
In addition, a nutritional labelling system will be introduced and educators will also get the opportunity to develop professionally, says Minister of Educational Transformation Chad Blackman.
He shared those details yesterday at the ministry’s headquarters, Elsie Payne Complex, Constitution Road, St Michael, at a signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with officials at George Brown College.
“We know access to international training can be life-changing, not just for the students who benefit directly but for the communities and industries they will return to. This is capacity building in its truest form and certainly the country will benefit,” Blackman said.
There will also be a partnership with Erdiston Teachers’ Training College and George Brown.
“If we are to transform education in Barbados, we must first support the transformation of teaching. We also aim to expand professional development and opportunities for educators, thus giving them tools and confidence to embrace new methodologies and technologies in our classrooms,” the minister added.
The George Brown College of Applied Arts and Technology is a public, fully-accredited college with three campuses in downtown Toronto.
Blackman said one of the key components of this MOU is the development of a nutritional labelling system for the School Meals Department in collaboration with the George Brown Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts.
“This initiative will help us improve literacy to promote healthier eating
habits amongst our students and to also give parents and schools information to make informed decisions about nutrition,” he said.
Blackman, Minister of Training and Tertiary Education Sandra Husbands, Permanent Secretary Kim Belle and principal of Erdiston Teachers’ Training College Dr Colin Cumberbatch attended the signing. President of George Brown College Dr Gervan Fearon and other officials participated virtually.
Fearon said they were very pleased to continue their partnership with the Government of Barbados and the ministry. He added they were eager to lend their knowledge and to learn about Barbados’ skills development needs.
“Work has already been done and the MOU being signed today reflects work that has been [put] together collaboratively over a time period. The teams have been building capacity already, not only in terms of delivering outcomes, but learning how we can identify opportunities and deliver results,” he said. (TG)
