Petrina Francis, Education Reporter
Dwight Baugh (right), president designate of the Kiwanis Club of downtown Kingston, presents Dr. Claude Packer, principal of Mico College, with a plaque. The occasion was the Kiwanis Club of downtown Kingston's luncheon, which was held yesterday at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston. - CARLINGTON WILMOT/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
DR. CLAUDE Packer, principal of The Mico College, said yesterday that while the licensing of teachers was imperative, it will take a long time to upgrade the 17,000 teachers who do not have a first degree.
He was speaking against the background of the task force on education report, which recommended that all teachers should be licensed, and hold a bachelor's degree.
When asked how long he thinks it would take to upgrade the teachers, Dr. Packer told The Gleaner that it was difficult to give a time line but noted that all nine teachers' colleges will be networking in order to upgrade the teachers.
He declined to comment on whether the length of time that it will take to upgrade the teachers will hinder the licensing process, but noted the importance of licensing to achieve quality.
According to Dr. Packer, education has become dynamic and if the society is serious about growth and development, the education system has to be re-engineered and educators will have to aim for excellence.
"Our teachers who teach in the system for the next decade must recognise that they will be under the microscope, they must provide quality," he said.
He was speaking at the Kiwanis Club of Downtown Kingston's luncheon yesterday at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston.
DIPLOMAS HAVE NO CURRENCY ANYMORE
Dr. Packer suggested that The Mico College will be the finest teacher education college in this region. He told Kiwanians that for more than 100 years the college has been training teachers at the diploma level. ("However) diplomas have no currency any longer across the world (and) if we are serious about growth and development we must now train people at the degree level," he stated.
Dr. Packer noted that only 6,000 of the island's teachers have a first degree. "We therefore must play a significant role in enhancing the development of our teachers, so that they can empower themselves to create and give quality to students," he said.
The Mico principal asserted that one of the weaknesses in the degree programmes is that many of them do not have content, which he suggested was one of the reasons why children were failing especially at the CSEC level.
To this end, Dr. Packer said, Mico was restructuring and reorganising its programme to ensure that it can deliver content.
