More than 960 teachers receive special training from SEN Unit so far for 2022

National Special Education Needs (SEN) Officer, Savvie Hopkinson (Photo: MOE)

The Ministry of Education’s Special Education Needs Unit was able to carry out training to strengthen teaching capacity in schools across eight regions in Guyana throughout the year, in an effort to make learning more accessible for all children with physical or intellectual limitations.

For the January to October period of 2022, 967 teachers across Guyana benefitted from training in the areas of Special Education Needs sensitisation, autism awareness, learning disabilities, behaviour management, braille and sign language.

Nursery school teachers benefit from Behaviour Management Workshop (Photo: NCERD)

This includes 21 teachers from Region One, 17 from Region Two, 74 from Region Three, 310 from Region Four, 58 from Region Five, 220 from Region Six, 25 from Region Seven, and 53 from Region Nine.

National Special Education Needs Officer Savvie Hopkinson said more training workshops are still to be held and currently ongoing. They are being administered to teachers in both special schools and mainstream schools.

“Because within our mainstream schools we also have children with learning challenges. In the mainstream schools, some of our children may have learning disabilities. Things are not typically developing for them in that setting. We know that children learn differently and they must be engaged in ways that will help them to maximise their learning opportunities.”

She therefore aims to give all teachers the tools they need to ensure they can adjust their strategies to children’s unique learning needs at all levels.

“I always tell teachers, whatever strategies you use with children with special needs or children who have physical limitations – they are suitable, good and applicable for every child.”

SEN unit training session for parents with special needs children (Photo: NCERD)

Hopkinson says these trainings have the potential to result in wider reaching social acceptance and understanding of persons with disabilities.

“Then what happens in the classroom gets filtered down in the homes. Someone in the home may learn too, then who knows, maybe there’s someone in the workplace who has a hearing impairment. Then That then filters down into the community as well.”

The Special Education Needs Unit continuously advocates and works to implement innovative teaching methodologies across all schools in Guyana, to develop a more inclusive and accessible approach to education.