A Seamless Education System for the Ministry of Education of Trinidad and Tobago

The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, in keeping with its national development agenda, has initiated a process to build a seamless and sustainable education system. As referenced by (Ashton and Pujadas 2004), Seamlessness refers to the openness and responsiveness of various levels of education and training. Developing a pre-school to tertiary level seamless system necessitates the development of a long term perspective on human resource development and a radically new view of knowledge throughout our society.

The ECCE Division, operating within the administrative structure of the Ministry of Education, is charged with the leadership responsibility for achieving the seamless vision from ECCE to Primary. On the one hand, the ECCE Division is guided by the core Vision of Excellence in Education, The Ministry of Education Corporate Plan ( 2008-2012), The Education White Paper (1993-2003),the White Paper on the National Policy on ECCE – Standards for Regulatory Early Childhood Services and National Early Childhood Care and Education Curriculum Guide. Within the context of the core vision, the Corporate Plan has identified three Strategic Priorities:

a) Focus on Schools.

b) Change the Ministry.

c) Involve the Community.

On the other hand, building on the directional themes and the three Strategic Priorities of the Corporate Plan, the ECCE Division has developed a compatible Vision and Mission. The ECCE Vision is that quality education in a centre and community focused programme of early childhood development is to be achieved with improved access and equity to engage all children in the educational endeavour. In translating that Vision to Action, The Mission has incorporated these fundamental tenets:

a) Child-centred and quality curriculum.

b) Alliances and partnerships with the community.

c) Continuous professional development.

d) Involvement of parents.

From a practical perspective, this institutional strengthening initiative is significant and has far reaching consequences for the ECCE Division as it provides leadership to the integration of this economic, social and educational policy. The effective implementation of this initiative will, most likely, place added pressure on the potential Division's expanded role, as a coordinating and network centre. At the outset, it must be emphasized that the building of a team leadership culture within the ECCE Division is critical to the success of this initiative. As a result, serious consideration must be given to the implementation of the recommendations within the (Moore Report, 2010), particularly those that deal with leadership development and strategic thinking. 

The complexity of the relationship between care, early learning and primary education is a critical public education challenge. Moving forward will require ongoing collaboration, sustained financial and political support to ensure that trained staff, appropriate standards and facilities are developed and monitored. In a nutshell, collaboration, effective partnerships, political will and commitment become the hallmark of its successful implementation.

The words “collaboration”, “co-operation” and “partnership” appear frequently within the Report. They give direction to the fundamental principle of co-determination. The concept of co-determination suggests that, through effective collaboration among key stakeholders, ensuing plans will be based on mutual agreement and therefore more likely to be implemented. In this operational climate, dysfunctional relationships are replaced by effective leadership, transparency and compromise. To that end, it is hypothesized that the successful implementation of plans to achieve the goal of a smooth and seamless transition from ECCE to Primary will require the resolving of perceived differences on child readiness, within the context of a philosophy of child-centred pedagogy and a continuum of learning.

In the final analysis, the successful implementation of plans to achieve a seamless transition from ECCE to Primary will depend on the extent to which there is tangible commitment and support to the ECCE Division, so that it can provide effective and strategic leadership and management to these major challenges:

•Maintaining learning and care quality, building human resource capabilities and 

capacities and improving the learning, technological and facilities infrastructures;

•Developing synergistic and strategic partnership relationships with the Primary sector;

•Providing collaborative leadership to the development of a shared vision. Both the qualitative and quantitative evidence suggest that there are two options for addressing the concept of a seamless transition from ECCE to Primary: (i) continue to perpetuate the current system which, by design, is incongruent with the concept of seamlessness, or (ii) redesign the current system grounded in an early learning framework that is based on a continuum of learning competencies supported by a seamless curriculum.

Clearly, the economic, social and educational priorities are interdependent. We cannot have seamless access without reviewing the educational philosophy. We cannot have an inclusive society without “leveling the playing field” for all early learners; therefore, the status quo is not the answer. In addition, there is conclusive research evidence that suggests that the smooth and effective transition from ECCE to Primary is a fundamental requirement for the start of a successful educational experience. As Logie (1997) so aptly states, placing early childhood at the forefront of the seamless reform ensures that children will start primary school with more advantages and more equal opportunities.