Teachers and principals across the Caribbean are set to benefit from the Learning Recovery and Enhancement Program – Let’s REAP. The programme will see 15,000 educators from the Caribbean receiving professional development training to enhance student learning amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The program was inaugurated in July 2021. It is a collaborative initiative of the CARICOM Secretariat, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). The training course will last 45 hours and will focus on leadership and accountability, formative assessment, and the community of practice.
The closing of schools in several Caribbean countries at the start of the pandemic had a significant influence on the education of Caribbean children. The program is part of a comprehensive response to the pandemic to expand equitable access to high-quality education and training, improve students’ learning outcomes, and help children fulfil grade-level requirements.
Director, Human and Social Development Directorate of the CARICOM Secretariat, Mrs. Helen Royer, said Let’s REAP is designed to help principals, teachers, and the rest of the school community use available resources to improve student learning. “Let’s REAP is not a project but a school transformation programme that is part of the common core school improvement process. It pays attention to good practices being engaged and supports the documentation of same,” Ms. Royer stated in a release from the CARICOM secretariat.
The Let’s REAP program has nine areas of action that schools are encouraged to focus on for their improvement and goals for student learning acceleration. These areas are teacher support and cooperation, formative assessment, leadership and accountability, management and communication, inclusion, learning impairments and wellbeing, resources and curriculum, parents and families, community and organizations, and national and regional partnerships.
To ensure its sustainability, the University of the West Indies Joint Boards of Teacher Education will invite teacher training institutions from across the Caribbean region to participate in the implementation of the training programme.
