CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC – Fifty teachers from seven Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) countries are not better equipped to identify students with special needs and to use low-cost and low-tech devices to support their learning when school resumes in September.
The OECS, in partnership with the Commonwealth of Learning, executed the OECS Programme for Educational Advancement and Relevant Learning (OECS PEARL), where teachers were exposed and trained in Assistive Technology (AT), which refers to the use of devices or equipment to help improve the functional capacity of people with disabilities.
In the learning process, AT helps students participate more fully in the classroom and allows them access to their education rights within a less restrictive and more inclusive environment.
A statement from the OECS Authority said, “OECS PEARL is committed to the advancement of early childhood education and special education needs (SEN) through the implementation of the OECS Education Sector Strategy (OESS).
“Through the OECS-COL Assistive Technologies for Students with Special Education Needs Course, the PEARL was able to fulfill one of the key goals of the OESS, which is to develop and provide professional training to teachers and practitioners who interact with children with special education needs (SEN).”
At the recent graduation ceremony for the participants, Director General of the OECS< Dr. Didacus Jules, said though education is seen as a core responsibility of the State, one way to assess the commitment of the State to the maxim of ‘leave no one behind,’ is “the extent to which special education is taken seriously” adding that “the OECS Programme for Education Advancement and Relevant Learning, its attention to special education needs is a direct response to the advocacy from OECS Ministries of Education to provide training and resources to serve the underserved in our region better.”
He said, “The PEARL will provide job-embedded Continuous Professional Development to support both mainstream and special education teachers in meeting the education needs of students.
“The emphasis on both mainstream and special education is deliberate because even teachers dealing with mainstream students can benefit from the methodology, the pedagogy, and the sensitivity of special education pedagogy,” Dr Jules said.
Education Specialist Dr. Mairette Newman of the Commonwealth of Learning congratulated the program’s graduates for “stepping up and choosing to engage in professional learning during what is a notoriously busy term in the school year, and secondly, for not just completing the training, but excelling all of them.”
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