Geography teachers, students to benefit from conference

Says Janice Richards, acting vice principal and head of the geography and environmental studies department at Trinity College Moka, recently re-elected president of GATT for a third year: “One of our major objectives is to help source more information for our students and teachers, and to help the students get relevant content material on the Caribbean region, as one of the problems facing our geography and environmental students is the lack of first hand information on the region at the CAPE level.”

Hence the reason GATT is hosting a geographical conference from Thursday to Saturday at the Learning Resource Centre, Mc Bean, Couva. “This is one of the measures for increasing the professional development of the geo/environmental teachers, as mandated by the policies of the Ministry of Education,” says Richards. “We are supposed to organise this conference every two years to boost the profession, but again there has been a lapse since 1985."

About 120 teachers are registered from Trinidad and Tobago, and a few from the wider Caribbean region. Formal registration takes place between 8 and 8.30 am on opening day. Students are invited to join the conference which includes lectures and student presentations from 8.30 am to 2 pm on the first two days. The programme ends on Saturday with a field trip for strictly teachers who have a choice of either going to Fondes Amandes in St Ann's or along the south coast, which must be named at registration,.

A reasonable cost includes lunch and materials for learning on the first two days. Expert presenters on the first morning include feature speaker Professor John Agard of the University of the West Indies in St Augustine; Anthony Ramnarine (Conservator of Forests), Dr Carol James of Asa Wright Wildlife Conservation. A panel discussion takes place from 1 to 2.15 pm on the sustainability of the environment with presenters from Town and Country Planning, Water Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Geological Society of Trinidad and Tobago, Cropper Foundation and the Institute of Marine Affairs.

Half an hour registration on the second day again starts at 8 am, followed by a presentation on Geological Hazards in the Eastern Caribbean – A 21st Century Perspective by the Seismic Unit, with an exhibition of booths so students can gather information. Student presentations of 20 minutes each from at least four schools will take place from 9.45am to 12 noon. After lunch, from 1 to 2 pm, in keeping with the Ministry of Education's thrust there will be a presentation on Integrating technology in the Caribbean by Mr Charles Crota of the International School of Port- of-Spain.

Booths which will reflect the Conference theme "Towards a More Sustainable Environment: A 21st Century Perspective" will be open throughout for teachers/students and participants. .

Richards and her executive of all geography teachers – Stacey Quan Kep (secretary), Enrico Rajah (public relations), Hardesh Johan (treasurer) and Trustees Antoinette Lewis, Barbara Ramdin and Tricia Smith – are very appreciative of the Ministry of Education's approval for this workshop and also for assistance from the Learning Resource Centre, the Curriculum Officers who have helped to spearhead the conference, and corporate citizens' sponsorship.