Although its office location has changed, the mission of Youth ChallengeYCG’s Dmitri Nicholson (left) and Germaine WatsonGuyana (YCG) remains the same – to facilitate the development of youth and communities countrywide by meeting the challenges of work, social action and cultural exchange.As such, the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO),Cheap Jerseys From China, headed by Executive Director Dmitri Nicholson, has remained steadfast in accomplishing its mission. Among its many notable programmes is the vibrant Volunteer Teachers Programme, which is undertaken in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO).The programme has been in existence for just over five years and has already allowed for the deployment of in excess of 70 volunteer teachers to schools located in eight of the 10 administration Regions; Regions Five and 10 being the exceptions.With the continuance of the programme, Project Manager, Germaine Watson, is optimistic that the overall deployment figure will mount to some 150 in the very near future.? At the moment there are 44 volunteer teachers in the field, but according to Watson “the number of volunteers doesn’t equate to the number of schools and the way they would have impacted communities. We have been in 51 secondary and primary schools across eight Regions of Guyana,” he disclosed during a recent interview.Though it has undoubtedly served to help with the efficient delivery of education to many of the nation’s children over the years,Wholesale Jerseys, the Project Manager is confident that the volunteer programme is yet heading to the pinnacle of contribution to the education sector.In fact,Cheap Football Jerseys, he has his eyes set on recruiting, at the least,Nike NFL Jerseys China, 40 volunteer teachers for training during the period of July/August.? The trained teachers will be deployed to the various Regions in time to attend to classes when the new academic year commences in September. “Over the years we have seen a tremendous increase in the number of applicants that we receive. We have also seen improvement of the relationship between the partners involved including the Ministry of Education, Youth Challenge and VSO. The relationship has developed and matured, in that we are now considered a major player with regards to the education system. I am proud of that…I am proud of that achievement,” Watson asserted. He revealed, too, that YCG has been integrally involved in stakeholders’ meetings along with the Education Ministry as it relates to volunteer teaching in schools. As such, he expects that nothing less than a greater impact can be realised from the programme in the next few years.The Ministry’s collaboration with YCG has been linked to an acute shortage of teachers in some Regions. In fact, according to YCG’s Executive Director “we have been able to put volunteer teachers in schools where trained teachers would not necessarily want to go. For the current academic year alone, volunteer teachers have attended to just under 2,000 students in the Regions and what we have found is that people who do the volunteering, they themselves also grow quite tremendously.”Among the volunteers are retired teachers and other individuals with a passion to travel the country and contribute to the teaching profession. However, some volunteer teachers are not equipped with previous teaching experience, hence the need for the upcoming volunteer training programme.Applicants, according to Nicholson, are required to have at least five CXC subjects including Mathematics and English, even as he noted that those with experience would be an asset to the programme.Some schools have benefited so immensely from the programme, Nicholson said, that they have been making requests for more volunteer teachers.“They have been requesting that volunteer teachers stay and continue working at their schools because they found that they have had a profound impact on children at the schools.”Against this background, the Executive Director said that the onus is on YCG to maintain the prevailing momentum with volunteer teachers by working towards sustaining the relationship with the Education Ministry.“It has been great to collaborate with the government on this particular project, because we have a clear understanding of theirs and our responsibilities, and we are supporting what they do,” Nicholson noted.He is of the view that YCG’s efforts could be further bolstered with the support from the private sector. This level of support could not only aid the transporting of volunteers to the various Regions, but also to acquire supplies for the volunteers to help improve the teaching experience even by facilitating tours to various locations.“