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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION rffe ~~~vrwc~ f1f rn~ PERMANENT FMPWf' TEA.CffER's Cf!RTJFICATE- PROCEDURES TO BE ADHERED TO Many teachers are experiencing difficulties in obtaining their Permanent Certificates after they have completed a period of training and a probationary period of classroom practice. In addition to this, some teachers even refrain from applying for their Permanent Certificates, as they can be promoted in the school system without these certificates being presented. Many, too, only apply for these certificates to satisfy the requirements of other agencies when they seek jobs thereat. The following proposal seeks to address the aforementioned deficiencies and to outline the procedures to be adopted by functionaries operating at the level ofthg school, the Department ofeducation and the Central Ministry ofeducation in processing applications for the issuance of the Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate. These procedures will apply to the issuance of the permanent trained teacher's Certificate to teachers of both state owned and private schools.
SECTION/ Procedures To Be Adhered To At The Level o{the School. 1. The Headteacher must conduct or cause to be conducted continuous termly assessment of a teacher from his/her first day of assumption at the school. - ~ -jt~- 2. A record of assessment must be kept ofthe teacher's conduct and performance and information/data from this record should be reflected in the teachers' Termly and Annual Appraisal Reports. 3. Whenever there is a change ofheadteacher, Deputy Headteacher, Senior Master/Mistress, Head ofdepartment, Senior Assistant Master/Mistress, the process and record of cont~uous assessment must be continued by the successor. 4. When a teacher, on whom the Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate has not been conferred, has been transferred, that teacher's record of continuous assessment must be forwarded to the school to which he/she has been transferred. 5. It is incumbent on the Headteacher to remind a teacher on whom the Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate has not been conferred to apply for this certificate. 2
6. A Temporary Certificate ceases to have validity after two years. The holder of such a certificate must apply to have the Permanent Certificate conferred on him/her. That teacher MUST attach the Temporary Certificate on his/her application. If the Temporary Certificate has been lost or destroyed, an affidavit, sworn to before a notary public, must accompany the application. 7. Applications for the Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate must be completed by the Headteachers for dispatch within a maximum of 14 days to the Department ofeducation in their respective regions. 8. Time should be allocated each year during the Christmas term (September December) for the processing of applications for the Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate. The work programme and calendar of activities must reflect this activity. 3
SECTION/I Procedures To Be Adhered To At The Level o(the Department O(Education. 1. The Department of Education must ensure that it obtains a list of all Cyril Potter College of Education graduates at the end of each graduation exercise. However, the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) should be requested to supply each Education Department with a list of appointed CPCE graduates. 2. Regional Education Managers must inform and remind their School Administrators of their responsibility to conduct, or cause to be conducted, termly continuous assessment of their teachers. 3. Applications for Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate, received by the Department ofeducation, must be dispatched within one month to the relevant Level Assistant ChiefEducation Officer, Central Ministry. During that month the Department ofeducation must acknowledge receipt of the teachers' applications and indicate dates on which officers would visit the school to assess the teachers' pedagogical competence and conduct. 4. The Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate should only be recommended if a teacher's pedagogical competence and conduct are rated no less than C for each ofthe two probationary years. 4
.. 5. Should a teacher fail to obtain the required minimum grade ofc, such a case must be referred to the Chief Education Officer with the necessary 6. The onus is on Regional Education Managers to organize, or cause to be organized, Orientation Workshops/Seminars for newly trained teachers. SECTION/II Procedures To Be Adhered To At The Level of Central Ministry. 1. Final year student-teachers should be met by level Assistant ChiefEducation Officers to be informed of their responsibility with regard to permanent teacher certification, inter alia. 2. A teacher who has migrated and applied for his/her Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate, if eligible, 'would be considered for the conferring of such based on his/her record of assessment of pedagogical competence and conduct. 1 may include (i) persons who migrated having completed the two year probation period but were not assessed. (ii) persons who migrated having completed five years but were not assessed. 5
3. The Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate would only be conferred on a Teacher if his/her pedagogical competence and conduct for each of the two probationary years were assessed at no less than an average of C. 4. The Deputy ChiefEducation Officer (Dev) must ensure that each Department of Education be in receipt of a list of graduate teachers after each Cyril Potter College of Education graduation exercise. This applies to both in-service and preservice programmes. 5. Applications for the Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate, received by the level Assistant ChiefEducation Officer must be dispatched within one month to the Principal Personnel Officer of the Personnel Division of the Ministry of EducatioiL During this period, the Principal Personnel Officer must (i) communicate with the Heads ofeducation Departments by, (ii) verify information on assessment, (iii) acknowledge receipt of the lists of applications, and on the advice of the ChiefEducation Officer, (iv) indicate the approximate time for the issuance of the permanent certificate. 6
,. SECTION IV General 1. The Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate must be a requirement for promotion. 2. The Ministry ofeducation may replace a Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate if same was misplaced or destroyed under circumstances over which the 'holders' had no control. It is the obligation of the holder to provide the necessary proof In addition an affidavit must be presented and a fee must be paid. The word DUPLICATE must be placed on the certificate. 3. The Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate may be conferred on a teacher who had been released on secondment to serve in any position within the education sector, even though that teacher did not complete the two-year probationary post training period of classroom practice. However a record of assessment must be kept of that teacher's conduct and performance, and informationldat~from this record must be reflected in the Teacher's Annual Appraisal Report. 4. A teacher released to serve in positions outside of the education sector, before completion of the two-year probationary post training period of classroom practice, would NOT be considered eligible for the conferring of the Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate, until the probationary period is completed. 7
'. 5. The Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate would NOT be conferred on a teacher who had resigned before the completion ofthe statutory two-year probationary post-training period of classroom practice. 6. The Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate would NOT be conferred on a teacher who was dismissed before the completion of the statutory two-year ~. 1' ~a-t ~\'+etv probationary post-training period of classroom practice. However the teacher who has resigned may in such case be eligible to be assessed for the Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate, provided two years would have been served after re-employment. 7. The Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate would NOT be conferred on a teacher who would have paid off his/her contract before the completion of the probationary two-year post training period of classroom practice. However, a certified statement would be issued by the Chief Education Officer upon request. ~ 8. The{s u...,e e~ermanent Trained Teacher's Certificate to a teacher on release to pursue a Ministry ofeducation sponsored programme, before he/she would have completed the probationary two-year post training period of classroom practice, may be conferred on that teacher at the discretion of the Chief Education Officer. 8
.. 9. A teacher who is dissatisfied with his/her FINAL assessment rating may appeal in ~~~~e>d~~ writing, through the channel to the ChiefEducation Officer. 1\ 10. Functionaries are expected to adhere to the procedures stated herein, in order to avoid inconvenience to the applicants, and possible action which may be taken by the applicant against the Ministry of Education. (h 4-l.. Any foreign student who would have attended the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) must fulfil all requirements outlined for local CPCE graduates in relation to the issuance of the Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate. The ChiefEducation Officer of that country (the country of the foreign student) must --ltv'densure that the teacher is assessed at the end of the 1- year probationary period, using the prescribed format of the Ministry ofeducation, Guyana. Completed assessment forms must be returned to the ChiefEducation Officer, Ministry ofeducation, Guyana, who will in turn take a decision about the issuance ofthe Permanent Trained Teacher's Certificate. May 2001 9