Secondary school teachers benefit from training in Printmaking Techniques

The Ministry of Education on Saturday said it recognises that creativity and innovation must be carefully channelled to meet the needs of society.

As such, educating the nation in the arts, particularly Visual Arts, contributes significantly to developing creative and critical thinkers. Creative and critical thinkers are necessary to resolve complex situations in our everyday society.

In congruency, the Ministry is positioning its teachers and educators through consistent training to meet the needs of the 21st Century learner.

The mandate of integrating the Expressive Arts (Dance, Drama, Music and Visual Arts) is the responsibility of the Unit of Allied Arts. In rolling out its mandate, the department has engaged the services of the CSEC Chief Examiner – Wayne Branch to address the needs of the CSEC Visual Arts programme.

In this regard, Branch conducted a three-day Printmaking workshop from October 11 – 13 and a one-day Syllabus Sensitisation Training on October 14.

Some 25 Specialist Secondary school teachers from education districts 3, 4, 5, 9, 10 and Georgetown benefited from training in basic and advanced Printmaking Techniques.

The workshop aimed at providing teachers with basic and advanced skills in CSEC printmaking techniques and fostered the expansion of knowledge in the art form to aid teachers in preparing students in the Expressive Form.

The Revised Syllabus Meeting exposed 35 teachers from education districts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10 and Georgetown to the CSEC Revised Visual Arts Syllabus effective for examinations from May-June 2024.

This training allowed teachers to carefully examine the syllabus and note major changes with the view to transitioning from teaching the current syllabus to the revised syllabus.

The initiative of pieces of training is a collaborative approach aimed at bridging the gaps to enable teachers to expand their competencies, knowledge, skills and concepts.

This expansion will equip learners to acquire the skills necessary to respond to global standards successfully. The training should not be seen as a comprehensive programme but rather an impetus for an in-depth investigation into various aspects of the subject.