Ministry Introduces Certification Course for Aspiring Principals

The Ministry of Education, through the National College for Educational Leadership (NCEL), is to launch a course of study geared towards training individuals aspiring to become school principals.

The programme will provide a standard credential, the Professional Qualification for Principalship (PQP), to which the Ministry of Education and school boards will refer before authorising the hiring of principals of public schools.

“The course is set to get started in January 2014 at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus, which will be delivering the programme on behalf of NCEL,” said Principal Director of NCEL, Dr. Maurice Smith.

Dr. Smith, who was speaking at a recent JIS Think Tank, said that the programme “is akin to what an individual will do at Norman Manley Law School, so it is a professional certification. It is the rudiments and the rigor of the job that participants are going to be exposed to.”

The programme has a prescriptive component that consists of a set of modules that must be completed by the participants within 15 months. There is also the practicum component that may be completed between two to three months. The programme is open to all teachers with a first degree and at least five years experience working in a school, and who have aspirations of becoming a school principal.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Education is offering 40 scholarships for the programme. The application process for these scholarships opens on November 11 and closes on December 6, 2013. Application forms will be available on the Ministry’s website and also at the Ministry’s six Regional Educational offices island-wide.

We invite individuals, who are eminently qualified to apply; those who have the conviction that this is what their purpose is in life,” Dr. Smith said.

As of 2015, all persons interested in becoming a school principal must have the PQP in order to be considered for the post of principal of a public school.

Established under the Education System Transformation Programme (ESTP), the NCEL is responsible for developing excellence in leadership as a common denominator in schools and support institutions.