2.1 Overview

Training programmes for teachers at all levels of the educational system are offered at specialised institutions. The growing demand for early childhood education teachers has resulted in programmes being offered by the SERVOL Regional Training and Resource Centre, a non-governmental organisation, and the School of Continuing Studies (SOCS) and the School of Education of the University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine. Training for teachers at the primary level is conducted largely at the two government Teachers' Colleges: Valsayn and Corinth Teachers' Colleges. A small amount of training also occurs at the School of Education, UWI and the privately operated Caribbean Union College. Although the programme of teacher training offered at the Teachers' Colleges is designed to equip the students for practice at the primary level, some students, especially those who have specialised in the areas of the Creative Arts, are allowed to teach at the lower levels of the secondary school system.

Training for teachers at the secondary level is conducted at the School of Education, UWI. A specialised programme for teachers of agricultural science is offered at the Agricultural Teacher Education Centre (ATEC) of the Eastern Caribbean Institute of Agriculture and Forestry (ECIAF). In addition, technical teacher training is offered at the John S. Donaldson Technical Institute. Almost all the initial teacher training is in-service.

Applicants for entry into the teaching service are expected to have at least a secondary level education, with the attainment of a satisfactory level of achievement in five subjects at the GCE O-level and/or CXC examinations. Further, these five subjects must include English language, mathematics and a science subject. It is not part of the requirement that these five subjects be obtained at any one sitting of these examinations. It is therefore possible to qualify for entry into the service by accumulating these subjects over an extended period of time.

Between 15,000 and 20,000 candidates take CXC examinations each year in the major subjects of English and mathematics. Pass rates in these subjects are between 30% and 40%, suggesting that perhaps 5,000 per year achieve the minimum qualifications for entry to primary teacher training (Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, 1998a)⁶. This is well above current capacity and implies that Colleges can be selective over who they enroll.

⁶ Generally, the ‘better’ qualified persons choose more lucrative jobs in the public service and private enterprise, and the residual are employed in the teaching service. This therefore means that entrants to teaching include the least qualified, along with some who genuinely want to teach and enter the profession better qualified.

In 1993, the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the National Training Board, introduced its On-the-Job Training (OJT) Pre-Service Teacher Training Programme. The rationale for this programme was to provide CXC and A Level graduates with employment and training with a view to enabling the Ministry to identify trainees with good potential for becoming teachers. Government schools and denominational authorities identify suitable applicants and propose them to the Ministry, which selects those thought to be acceptable within an overall target number.

The OJT programme extends over a period of about one year. It provides some instruction in the Foundations of Education, the Teaching of Reading and the Teaching of Mathematics. This is followed by placement in schools with mentor teachers. Trainees are required to attend Saturday classes which are designed to meet their needs. A Vacation School is also organised by the School of Continuing Studies of the University of the West Indies to provide experiences in the aesthetic area. To date no evaluation of the effectiveness of the OJT system has yet been conducted. MUSTER has conducted a separate sub-study on aspects of the OJT programme.

The OJT system and the supporting workshops are not undertaken with any input from the Colleges of Education. Workshops for OJTs are conducted by teachers employed specifically for the purpose. They follow a programme which is not linked to College work and which may therefore overlap with subsequent College training. College staff play no role in the selection process for OJTs, or in their subsequent allocation to Colleges for training which is handled centrally in the Ministry of Education.

In summary, students entering primary Teachers’ Colleges have usually have two to three years of teaching experience in a primary school or, in the case of a small number of students, in a secondary school. Available data suggest that about 60% of entrants have between 2 and 3 years experience in schools before entering the college-based training programme. Nearly 40% have more than three years. Students are selected by the Board of Teacher Training on the basis of seniority in the teaching service and sent to the colleges on scholarship. This seniority is determined by length of continuous service in the teaching. Trainees are required to sign a contract on initial entry and, after their two-year tenure at college, they must serve the Government of Trinidad and Tobago for at least two additional years after qualifying. Student teachers are employees of the Ministry of Education and are paid full salaries during training.

Table 6 provides data on enrolment, by gender, in Teacher Training Colleges during the period 1990/91 - 1994/95. There has been a steady increase in the number of students enrolled in these institutions over the period shown. Corinth Teachers' College, which had been closed, was re-opened to cope with increasing numbers in 1994. Typically, the number of female students far exceeds the number of male students.

Table 6: Training College Enrolment 1990-95

	Govt			Private			Total
	M	F	T	M	F	T	M	F	T
1990/91	129	276	405	1	3	4	130	279	409
1991/92	117	304	421	1	9	10	118	313	431
1992/93	168	371	539	3	13	16	171	384	555
1993/94	209	442	651	3	10	13	212	452	664
1994/95	340	372	712	-	-	-	340	372	712

Data for 1999 indicate that Valsayn had 197 students in the first year and 207 in the second. Corinth has 201 and 186 totalling 791 in training. Over two-thirds of trainees are female (1998).

In 1995, there were 38 teacher educators in Valsayn Teachers' College of whom 17 were male and 21 female. All members of staff had professional qualifications, and there were 22 with postgraduate degrees, of whom 9 were male and 13 female. In 1998 in Corinth 20 out of 29 were female and eight had post-graduate degrees. The 1998 establishment for the two teacher training Colleges provide for 38 lecturers at Valsayn College and 28 at Corinth. Valsayn had 32 lecturers in post in 1999 and Corinth 27, with two on sick leave (Table 7).

Table 7: Staff and Trainees and Staff-student Ratios 1999.

	Lecturers	Trainees	Staff-student Ratio
Valsayn	32	404	12.6
Corinth	28	387	14.3

The School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine offers teacher education programmes for different levels in the educational system with different levels of qualification. The four major programmes offered are the Certificate in Education (Cert. Ed.)⁷, the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.), the Diploma in Education (Dip.Ed.), and Higher degree programmes. Only the Diploma can be regarded as initial training, since the other courses require applicants to be trained teachers⁸.

⁷ The certificate programme is not initial professional training. Applicants must possess the Teachers’ Diploma or equivalent from the Teachers’ Colleges. The Cert. Ed. (UWI) is counted as Yr. 1 (Level I – L1) of the B. Ed. Programme. Students may choose to terminate their professional training here if they wish – there is no policy that encourages them to go on. However, they are free to go on for two more years to LII & LIII to complete the B. Ed.

⁸ The difference between the Dip. Ed. and TC students are that the former is on one-day release during the term while the latter are on full-time release. Some of the Dip. Ed. students carry full teaching loads while on the programme. Further, the Dip. Ed. students are also released during the last week of each of the Xmas and Easter Terms, and are also asked to attend classes in the first week of the Xmas and Easter vacations. Four of their six weeks of the July/August vacation are used at the start of the programme

The Diploma in Education programme provides professional training for teachers who hold university degrees and who are teaching at the secondary level. It is organized on an in-service basis. This programme normally lasts for one calendar year. The students, who must be working full-time in an educational institution in Trinidad and Tobago, undertake supervised practice (normally 20 weeks) during the calendar year, and attend the university during the vacation and in term time. Assessment is by means of a combination of university examinations, written assignments, and practical assessment of teaching competence. There has been a steady increase in enrolment in the Diploma each year, resulting in enrolment increasing from 85 in 1993/94 to 144 in 1996/97. Students on this course do not receive salaries and have to finance themselves and pay subsidised tuition costs. Graduates from this course are not guaranteed employment in the school system. Table 8 shows the output of graduates from 1992-1997.

Table 8: Graduates of the School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine by Programme and Gender, 1992/93 - 1996/97

Year	Bachelors			Certificate			Diploma			Higher Degrees
	m	f	t	m	f	t	m	f	t	m	f	t
1992/93	-	-	-	na	na	35	na	na	92	Na	na	8
1993/94	9	25	34	15	29	44	24	56	80	4	1	5
1994/95	2	7	9	13	35	48	26	61	87	3	4	7
1995/96	1	5	6	11	34	45	30	90	120	1	2	3
1996/97	8	17	25	62	18	80	27	71	128	1	3	4

NA = Not Available

The most recent data from Corinth College indicate some of the characteristics of trainees (Tables 9 and 10). About 42% are under 25 years, 41% between 25 and 29 and 17% are over 30. The majority of trainees have CXC and O Level passes. About 37% have one or more A Level passes. Females are marginally better qualified than males (50% with an A level cf 45%).

Table 9: Age Profile of Trainee Teachers at Corinth 1998

Age	Year1		Year2		Total
	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	All
20-24	21	54	18	68	39	122	161
25-29	36	60	24	38	60	98	158
30-34	7	12	4	24	11	36	47
35-39	3	7	1	8	4	15	19
40+		1		1	0	2	2
							387

Table 10: Qualifications of Trainees at Corinth 1998

Qualification	Year1		Year2		Total
	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	All
5 GCE/CXC O Levels; 2 A Levels	18	40	15	46	33	86	119
5 GCE/CXC O Levels; 1 A Level	2	9	5	8	7	17	24
5 GCE/CXC O Levels	45	87	27	85	72	172	244
							387

Some insight into the characteristics of College staff can be obtained from an analysis of those at Corinth (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Age profile of Staff - Corinth

College staff can retire after 33.3 years service or the after the age of 60 whichever is sooner. Retirement is an option for those over 55 with reduced pension rights if they have not completed sufficient years of service. The age structure of staff at Corinth shows that more than a third had reached the age of 50 by 1998

2.2 Output

The total output of new primary teachers is made up largely of those graduating from the Colleges. Small numbers have graduated from the Caribbean Union College (less than 10 a year) and there are a small number of external candidates made up largely of those referred from previous year. Pass rates in the College system indicate that 20%-25% of trainees fail to complete successfully at the first attempt.

Table 11: Number of Passes at the First Attempt in Training Colleges 1993-96

	Valsayn	Corinth	Caribbean Union	External
1993
Entered	213		3	22
Passed	162		2	12
Pass Rate	76		67	55
1994
Entered	329		na	na
Passed	279		na	na
Pass Rate	85
1995
Entered	324		4	32
Passed	263		4	15
Pass Rate	81		100	47
1996
Entered	210	171	6	22
Passed	163	126	4	5
Pass Rate	78	74	67	23

Annual output was about 176 in 1993 and rose to about 300 in 1996 because of the reopening of Corinth. In 1998 the number passing the final examination was about 350. Though not all trainees pass the final examination, most of those who fail are referred and failure is generally a result of non-attendance, rather than poor performance. If this is a result of poor performance on course work they have the opportunity to attend College to retrieve subjects that they have failed. If they fail the final examination they have two years to re-sit as external candidates. As a result most of those referred manage to retrieve their position and become qualified subsequently.

The pattern of examination results indicates that practical teaching is the most difficult of the core subjects to pass (Tables 12 and 13). Some electives have very small enrolments and should probably only be offered in one of the two Colleges. Pass rates for options fluctuate from year to year over a wide range.

Table 12: Teacher’s Colleges Final Examination Results 1998 - Core Subjects

Subject	Entered	Sat	Passed	Pass Rate
Practical Teaching	407	397	309	75.9
Psychology/Sociology	407	400	338	83.0
Principles/Practice of Ed	406	393	356	87.7
English Language	409	391	352	86.1
English Literature	407	393	354	87.0
Mathematics	406	395	338	83.3
General Science	405	393	358	88.4
Social Studies	406	401	350	86.2

Table 13: Teacher’s College Final Examination Results 1998 - Electives

Subject	1997			1998
	Sat	Passed	Pass Rate	Sat	Passed	Pass Rate
Agriculture	52	48	92.3	34	23	67.6
Art	14	13	92.9	12	7	58.3
Craft	22	20	90.9	29	15	51.7
Drama	5	4	80.0	9	9	100.0
Educational Technology	19	18	94.7	23	18	78.3
Early Childhood	21	20	95.2	18	13	72.2
Geography	19	17	89.5	21	15	71.4
Guidance + Counselling	14	14	100.0	12	10	83.3
Heritage	25	25	100.0	21	17	81.0
Home Economics	35	34	97.1	10	10	100.0
Literature	8	7	87.5	6	2	33.3
Mathematics	39	37	94.9	26	19	73.1
Music	21	20	95.2	14	11	78.6
Measurement +Eval.	14	14	100.0	8	5	62.5
Physical Education	29	21	72.4	26	19	73.1
Psychology	6	5	83.3	24	22	91.7
Science	13	12	92.3	8	8	100.0
Special Education	33	26	78.8	34	22	64.7
Sociology	8	8	100.0	8	8	100.0

2.3 The Delivery of the Curriculum

The Colleges are in session for 37 weeks per year during which all the teaching takes place⁹. The three terms vary in length at Valsayn - 14, 12 and 11 weeks. The division of teaching time is illustrated below (Table 14). This shows that 45% of time is allocated to teaching, 24% to teaching practice and preparation, and 19% to examinations. Trainees are timetabled for 40 periods per week¹⁰. Contact hours for trainees are allocated as shown in Table 15.

⁹ The school year for all schools (including Teachers Colleges) in the public system is intended to be 39 weeks, not 37. It is not clear why only 37 weeks are accounted in the timetable.

¹⁰ Note that the length of a session (40 to 45 mins) is typical of secondary schools rather than tertiary level schools.

Table 14: Allocation of Timetable Time - Valsayn (Weeks)

Term	Teaching	Teaching Practice	Preparation for TP	Internal Exam	External Exam	Other	Total
1	10	0	0	2	0	2	14
2	5	4	2	0	0	1	12
3	5	0	0	2	2	2	11
4	5	4	2	2	0	1	14
5	8	0	0	2	0	2	12
6	0	4	2	0	4	1	11
Total	33	12	6	8	6	9	74

Table 15: Timetable Allocations by Subject - Valsayn

	Syllabus Contact Time(hrs)	Periods		Time/ Period	Total (hrs)	Time/ Period	Total (hrs)	Total (hrs)	Difference with Syllabus (hrs)
		Year 1	Year 2	Year 1	Year 1	Year 2	Year 2
Ag Sci	36	2	0	80	26.7	0	0.0	26.7	9.3
Art/Craft	60	1	0	45	15.0	0	0.0	15.0	45.0
Dance/Drama	38	1	0	40	13.3	0	0.0	13.3	24.7
Music	60	1	0	45	15.0	0	0.0	15.0	45.0
Phys Ed	60	1	0	40	13.3	0	0.0	13.3	46.7
Ed 1	120	2	3	90	30.0	120	26.0	56.0	64.0
Ed 2	120	2	3	80	26.7	130	28.2	54.8	65.2
Ed 3	86	2	2	80	26.7	90	19.5	46.2	39.8
Electives	120	2	4	90	30.0	170	36.8	66.8	53.2
Language	111	4	4	160	53.3	170	36.8	90.2	20.8
Literature	86	4	4	180	60.0	160	34.7	94.7	-8.7
Reading	106	2	3	80	26.7	135	29.3	55.9	50.1
Family Life	90	2	0	90	30.0	0	0.0	30.0	60.0
Maths	140	4	4	180	60.0	170	36.8	96.8	43.2
Science	105	3	3	120	40.0	125	27.1	67.1	37.9
Social Studies	90	2	3	85	28.3	125	27.1	55.4	34.6
Self Study	63	2	4	80	26.7	170	36.8	63.5	-0.5
Relig./Guidance/Assembly	74	3	3	135	45.0	135	29.3	74.3	-0.3
	1565	40	40	1700	567	1700	368	935	630

It is not currently possible to deliver the full syllabus with this timetable in Valsayn. In total about 935 hours of teaching time are timetabled over two years. This can be compared to the 1,565 hours anticipated in the existing syllabus. Students are taught according to a blocked timetable for core subjects, which sub-divides each year group of 200 into 3 sub-groups of about 60-70. Electives are taught in small groups. As an approximation there are therefore about 300 periods taught each week across the College during teaching time. This suggests that lecturers on average teach 9 or 10 periods.

Corinth organises its timetable in a different way. It mixes whole year group lectures and introductory sessions (up to 200 in a group) with smaller group tutorial sessions with about 35 students per class. As in Valsayn trainees are fully timetabled throughout the week. Teaching loads seem similar to those in Valsayn. A consequence of the large group sizes and the heavily loaded trainee timetable is that opportunities for working with small groups of trainees are scarce. Most teaching occurs in large lecture size groups, which are likely to preclude some styles of teaching.

Teaching practice is conducted in three four-week blocks in Valsayn. College lecturers undertake at least four visits per trainee during each block. Each lecturer is responsible for about 6 trainees and thus makes a minimum of about 24 visits. If school visits take half a day then this represents about 2.5 weeks work per practice. A slightly different arrangement is used in Corinth that involves initial half-day group visits of 5 trainees who have jointly planned a lesson. Subsequently trainees undertake block practice in pairs and then individually. It is thought that this provides a staged induction into teaching practice that builds confidence and competence. A standard assessment instrument for appraising performance on teaching practice is used in Corinth by all tutors and is made available to trainees.

2.4 Costs of Training in the Colleges

The recurrent costs of training are primarily made up of the salaries paid to trainees and those paid to lecturers. These are paid directly by the Ministry of Education. Other costs make up a small proportion of total costs.

The monthly salary ranges for graduate teachers and teacher trainers for the period 1992-1996 were between $TT 3,731 and $TT 4,941. In 1997, negotiations for improved salaries and working conditions were marked by sick-outs and protests by teachers. A new collective agreement was signed in 1997, covering salaries and working conditions for the period 1996-1998. In addition to the salaries shown, all untrained teachers were awarded a monthly allowance of $200, all trained teachers were awarded an allowance of $300, and all administrators were awarded $400. A flat cost of living allowance of $50 was applied to all teachers on a monthly basis. Thus average salaries for lecturers in the training Colleges were between $TT5,000 and $TT 5,500 at this time. Table 16 shows the salary scales from 1997.

Table 16: Salary Scales for Graduate Teachers and Training College Lecturers¹¹ $TT

	Minimum	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	Long1	Long2	Long3
1996	4053	4208	4344	4455	4565	4676	4787	4910	5022	5137	5263
1997	4134	4292	4431	4544	4656	4770	4883	5008	5123	5240	5368
1998	4258	4421	4564	4680	4796	4913	5029	5158	5277	5397	5529

¹¹ Salary range increments A-G including three levels of longevity increments.

The latest salary agreement designates all teacher trainers as “Teacher Educators” and places them at higher grade levels than school teachers. The salary scale for lecturers at the Teachers Training Colleges remains an important issue since many still feel that the differences between them and teachers who do not hold post-graduate qualifications should be greater.

Data on College expenditure are given in Table 17. These payments were for a total of 62 lecturers on the staff of both colleges, two vice principals and two principals. Teachers in training are on scholarship and also receive a monthly salary. Those trainees who possess qualifications at the CXC/GCE O Level only (Assistant Teacher II) received a salary of $TT 2,411 per month. Those trainees who also possess A-level qualifications (Assistant Teacher III) are paid $TT 2,711 per month. No other allowances are paid to trainees.

Table 17: Expenditure on Salaries, Goods and Services, Equipment and Capital Projects Teacher Education 1994-97

Year	Salaries	Goods And Services	Minor Equipment	Capital
1994	17,418,772	65,456	15,462	1,459,100
1995	18,800,000	210,000	30,000	1,213,000

Since 1995 Teacher Training has not been listed as a separate item in the national accounts. The salary budget will have escalated in line with the number of staff on the establishment and the pay awards that have been made. On this basis by 1998 total salary costs can be estimated as about $TT 27.5 million.

Expenditure on goods and services is minimal and averages about $TT 100,000 per College. This amount does not seem to have increased since 1995. Data from Valsayn indicate that about 20% of this is allocated to maintenance of equipment, 10% to building maintenance, and 70% to stationery and other office consumables. Small amounts of money are raised to supplement this budget but these seem to amount to less than $TT 50,000 per year. Fund-raising is problematic with an adult student body from across the country and no natural community-based groups with allegiance to the College as might be true with a school parent -teacher association. College facilities are sometimes used by community groups for events unconnected with teacher training. It appears that significant charges are not levied for this ad hoc use of facilities. Some corporate sponsorship is received in at least one of the Colleges.

College libraries are supported from a separate vote from the Ministry of Education. In a recent year each College has received between $TT 150,000-250,000 for library books and equipment. This has enabled collections to be updated and the purchase of photocopiers and computers. However these allocations are unpredictable from year. It is perhaps surprising that the allocation can exceed that available for all other recurrent running costs including those directly related to learning and teaching material.

The costs of teaching practice are mainly concerned with travel allowances. $TT 30-40 cents per km is paid to tutors from Ministry funds against claims. This might amount to $TT 200 per lecturer per practice or $TT 600 per year and is therefore marginal to overall costs. Teacher Educators are not “travelling officers” and are only assisted by way of reimbursement for vehicle usage during Practice Teaching. Unlike many other public servants who travel, they are not given government loans to purchase cars minus purchase tax, nor given regular travelling allowances. This can be seen as inequitable.

On the basis of these costs it is possible to arrive at an estimate of the recurrent cost per trainee whilst they are enrolled in the Colleges. Since the staff-student ratios are similar, and non-salary costs are small, there is no significant difference in these costs between the Colleges. Overall it would appear that in 1995 overall unit costs were about $TT 26,700 ($TT 19,040 million/712). In 1998 enrolments were 791. There were 52 lecturers in post (including principals) and about 20 ancillary staff. Based on average salary costs (including the new salary scales) this would give a cost per trainee per year in 1999 of about $TT 35,000 ($US 5,550). Thus a trained teacher would cost about $TT 70,000 to produce over two years¹². This is about three times GNP per capita.

^12. Some of the costs of the Cert. Ed. and B. Ed. (primary) are borne by the student – about 15% of full economic cost. Some B. Ed. students are on scholarships awarded on the basis of their performance in the Teachers’ Colleges examinations; hence government pays full costs for these. Their numbers however, have dwindled over the years to about 10 per intake. Government bears the total cost of the Diploma in Ed. for secondary school teachers.