Dominica: The University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus, Dominica has been making significant progress in ensuring that programmes are put in place for the development of the human resource required to guarantee that plans for universal early childhood education are successful, according to a Dominica NewsOnline report.
The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme was started at UWI Open Campus, Dominica in 2009 and is divided into two components: ECCE for Administrators, which is a one-year certification course and ECCE for teachers, which is a two-year certification course. Both ECCE Programmes are based on curriculum planning and assessment in reference to the principles of child development, classroom management, establishment of and adherence to quality standards and the involvement of parents and the community.
The DNO report said that the Coordinator of the ECCE Programme, Mrs. Denise James, who became involved in the programme when she began doing research for the Masters of Education in Early Childhood Care and Education at UWI Mona, stated “We had the challenge of getting suitable tutors, but we did find them, and they have adapted very well to the needs of our students…UWI has also provided the learning materials that our students need in order to focus on the high scope methods of developmentally appropriate practices of early childhood education.”
Dr. Francis O. Severin, Head of UWI Open Campus, Dominica, believes that the establishment of the ECCE Programmes at the institution is indeed crucial. “The system of Early Childhood Education that we have in Dominica has been somewhat inchoate and disorganized although there has always been a deep sense of passion by its practitioners,” says Dr. Severin. “Yet, while having the passion is always good, UWI believes that the administration and teaching of Early Childhood Education is a science, so practitioners must be trained and quality standards must be upheld.” According to Dr. Severin, the ECCE Programmes at UWI Open Campus, Dominica will have tremendous benefit for the society in the long term.
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