4.2 The Goals and Purpose of the OJT Programme

The rationale of the programme, as it appears on all formal programme documents, is as follows: “The rationale of this scheme was to provide CXC and ‘A' Level graduates with employment and training, with a view in the long term of enabling the Ministry to identify trainees with good potential for becoming teachers.”

The organisers of the programme claim that the programme was not intended to be a junior teachers' training college - it was simply meant to expose prospective teachers to theories and practice in teaching. At the opening of the second apprenticeship primary programme in 1994, the aims of the programme were expanded further by the coordinator of the project in the Southern Division as follows:

It is hoped that trainees will:

· Develop a personal philosophy of teaching

· Value and practise exemplary teaching

· Develop and apply knowledge and understanding of curriculum and instruction

· Work collaboratively with supervisory personnel, colleagues, students and the school community, in a responsible and humane manner

· Be committed to self-improvement, life-long learning and reflective thinking

· Become agents of educational and social improvement and work with all students in an equitable, effective and caring manner, respecting diversity in relation to culture, ethnicity, gender and special needs.

The current APC, who was hired in August 1999, summed up the goals as follows:

There are two global goals of the programme. First to empower young people to exercise their full potential as teachers in a controlled environment that is caring and provides them with practical and theoretical experiences. Second, it is intended to give would-be teachers the opportunity to test their vocation and to give administrators the opportunity to observe would-be teachers.

All of these views point to a system where training is provided with the understanding that future employment in the area is a possibility, though not guaranteed.