And one concern raised by the teachers union is that as the new curriculum emerges, certain subjects will be merged, and that could put some teachers out of a job.
That concern was raised by the BNTU president today and we got responses from the Ministers:
Elena Smith, BNTU President
"Some teachers who were teaching certain subjects will no longer have that subject to teach because we are combining a few. So, where do I go now? What happens to me now if my subject is being combined with another one? Two of us can't teach the same subject. So, our teachers are the secondary level are concerned that they may lose their jobs in this process. While we have said to them that we will do our best to ensure that doesn't happen, the decision doesn't lie with the union, it lies with the ministry."
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"This will not lead to the displacement or termination of teachers. New training, re-tooling and that sort of thing but not displacement."
Reporter
"So, in a sense we are repurposing teachers for example then?"
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"That may be yes, that may be one of the results of this exercise that we have to repurpose teachers and have them focus on other areas of emphasis that are outlined in this curriculum framework."
Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Min. Of State - Education
"At the secondary level for example we have just a little over 50% of students in the secondary sector. So, as we expand and increase accessibility to students in that sector, we will actually need more teachers, not less."
We'll keep following the implementation.
