Providenciales, 12 Jun 2015 – When the Deputy Premier and Minister of Education mounted a platform at the Caribbean 2030 conference held in London at Wilton Park from June 1-3, she explained that the Turks and Caicos Islands Government is ready to transition school leaders into being visionaries as opposed to only administrators. Hon Akierra Missick said: “What we have found in the TCI is that a lot of decisions regarding schools are made through the Director and team. In many instances school leaders see themselves, not as leaders, or persons responsible for setting objectives and targets for their schools. They see themselves as administrators and so little decisions are sent up the chain.”
The Education Minister believes principals can be more like CEOs, with teachers being a core management team and the PTA and schools boards supporting this more modern structure. Hon Misick told the conference that she believes teachers can be more accountable for the goals they set, that teachers can broaden their skill sets for increased abilities and better pay and teachers can be professionally better due to higher levels of educational training and personal accomplishments. Hon Missick said: “Receiving the invitation to speak at Wilton Park was an honour. I presented on the improvement of education standards in the Caribbean, which focused on continuous teacher development and support, parental involvement in learning and developing an adaptive curriculum approach to learning.” Caribbean 2030 was held in association with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Caribbean Policy Research Institute Foundation and the Caribbean Council.
