The most recent policy meeting on education in Tobago centred on providing more support for teachers in Tobago.

The quarterly meeting was held between representatives of the Ministry of Education and the Division of Education, Innovation and Energy.

“Discussions focused on a couple of things,” Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles said at last week’s (November 28) post Executive Council media briefing. “Some of the areas included greater access to the Diploma of Education programme for secondary school teachers, because this ceased,” Charles said.

Charles said Education Minister Anthony Garcia is keen to discuss this issue with tertiary institutions in this country, including the University of the West Indies, UTT and possibly the University of the Southern Caribbean.

Charles, who is also THA Secretary of Education, Innovation and Energy, added: “We also generally discussed the performance level of some of our schools, Tobago schools in national exams and we agreed clearly, there was a greater need for targeted intervention.”

This will take place in the form of training, monitoring and supervision. Charles said teacher development was the motivation behind the Tobago Professional Teacher’s Centre, which was commissioned in June 2018.