On November 21st 2011 ten representatives of companies on St. Eustatius received their specialist teacher certificates. The presentation of this certificate brings an end to the first three-day basic training for specialist teachers.
The training is an initiative of Beatrijs Keiser from the Kenniscentrum Calibris who on assignment of the Ministry of Education, Culture & Science (OCW) has given shape to a structural cooperation between the local business community and education. This in anticipation of the establishment of a local ROA (Raad Onderwijs Arbeidsmarkt) which is a council for education labour market.
The specialist teachers training forms part of plans on St. Eustatius to start with intermediate vocational education (MBO) and is the first series of planned trainings. Good vocational education necessitates good involvement of the business community. This can be realized by among others the offering of good training places where students can gain practical experience.
A training specialist is someone who provides guidance to the student in a company where the student is doing work placement. The trainings are meant as support for local businesses that want to provide similar work placements for students. During the training attention is placed on among others how training companies can provide good guidance to their apprentices. This way training companies are expected to hold account with the learning style of students and that in the workplace there is time for guidance discussions. The trainings also details the manner in which these discussions takes place and the agreements between the training company and the school.
The band new teaching specialists come from all sorts of different local companies, among which Buzzy Bees day care center, Golden Era Hotel, Statia Housing Foundation and the agriculture company Hazel Vegetable Garden. Specialists teachers at the Gwendoline van Putten School were also trained. Catering during the trainings was provided by students of the Gwendoline van Putten School.