The Cyril Potter College of Education is calling for more men to enter the teaching profession given that the current ratio is six female teachers to every male.

In remarks at the General Assembly held to mark `75 Years of Teacher Education in Guyana’ at the CPCE Turkeyen Campus on Monday morning, principal Cheryl Foster, herself a graduate of the CPCE, noted that men as teachers were becoming an endangered species.

Other issues the college is focusing on are the issuing of a certificate of education; the ability to offer the bachelor of education programme; and accreditation to the University of Guyana.

The CPCE would also like to have greater access for teacher education through improved technology to areas in the country made difficult by geographical location; the construction of a sports stadium on the CPCE campus; improved remuneration for staff; sabbatical programmes and exchange visits among other schemes for teachers.

Noting, too, that the CPCE should be entirely responsible for teacher education in Guyana, Foster suggested that the CPCE should issue `Certificates of Education’ instead of a `Trained Teachers Certificate’ and the CPCE should offer the Bachelor of Education degree programmes.

Foster also urged that students seek graduates of teacher education from the earlier batches as well as principals and former staff of the various institutions that offered teacher education in Guyana.

Today the CPCE is an agglomeration of teacher training programmes that have been offered over the past 75 years. They include the Government Training College, the In-service Teacher Training, the Lilian Dewar College of Education and the Hinterland Teacher Training Programme.

Among those present were past students and staff from Guyana, the Caribbean and North America.

Among those from the earlier batches present at the assembly was Agnes Jones from the seventh batch of students in the 1930s.

It was a morning of recollection for many who recalled their experiences in moving from downtown to Turkeyen. Many of the experiences were comical such as the batch that was engaged in cutting rice and those students who had to do National Service at Hope Estate.

In an overview of teacher education in the country, Director of the Institute of Distance and Continuing Education and former vice principal of CPCE, Samuel Small noted that other institutions such as the Carnegie School of Home Economics, the Government Technical Institute, the Guyana School of Agriculture and the University of Guyana were among institutions which should also be credited for the professional development of graduates of teacher training.

Following the assembly, former principal Edna Cadogan unveiled the plaque to mark 75 years of education in Guyana and former librarian Sybil Wiltshire opened an exhibition tracing teacher education through the decades.