80 Early Childhood Teachers Graduate from Training Programme

Some 80 early childhood teachers and practitioners from the parishes of Clarendon and Manchester are now better qualified, having successfully completed the Advancing Childhood Education Programme (ACEP).

The teachers, who completed the one-year programme in February, were presented with their certificates at a graduation ceremony held on February 24 at the Wembley Centre of Excellence in Hayes, Clarendon.

ACEP, which was introduced in October 2013, is the brainchild of Jamalco, and involves collaboration with the Early Childhood Commission (ECC), the Mico University College, and United Way of Jamaica.

The training covered the teaching of literacy and numeracy, human exceptionalities, child development, child psychology, and behaviour management.

Jamalco’s Manager of Corporate Services, Donna-Marie Gordon, said the programme has become so popular that the company decided to provide funding for a third cohort of participants.

Speaking with JIS News, Executive Director of the ECC, Dr. Joan Reid, hailed the various partners for the opportunity provided to the teachers to improve their qualifications.

Graduate Winsome Barnaby said the certificate programme was comprehensive, and will better equip the beneficiaries to deliver quality education to their students.

ACEP is designed to increase to 80 per cent, the number of students achieving proficiency in reading and writing in the Grade 1 learning Profile test in Clarendon and Manchester.

Graduates earn eight credits towards a Bachelor in Education programme at The Mico University College.

The ECC has a record of 6,962 early childhood teachers with qualifications ranging from NCTVET Level I to a Master’s Degrees in Education.

This figure represents 69.1 per cent of all persons currently teaching in the early childhood sector.