TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands (CMC) — Education Minister Sharie de Castro says the ministry is getting ready to recruit interested students, who are at the end of their high school journey, to teach at various schools across the territory.

De Castro said the teacher trainee programme is not new to the territory and added that there are some teachers in the local school system who started out their careers as trainees.

“We used to have a teacher-trainee programme way back where persons who were graduating and had an interest in teaching had the opportunity to come into the profession as a teacher-trainee for a year to two years and then go off to study.”

She said the ministry will soon be meeting with high school seniors to discuss the programme with them as it is a gateway they could use to enter the teaching profession.

“We believe it could be an opportunity where we could recruit the requisite talent right out of high school and give them the professional development, certification and degrees necessary to grow in the profession.”

She also said the ministry will be targeting recent college graduates, especially those who have not yet found jobs in the disciplines or areas they studied.

“We’re about to launch a programme as well called ‘Let’s Teach VI’ and it’s really focused on our college graduates — even our scholarship students who are returning to the territory and do not currently have employment. We’re creating a programme where we can get them in the door as well because they would have an Associate or Bachelor’s in a content area,” de Castro stated.

She said the ministry will be partnering with the H Lavity Stoutt College to develop a programme in which new graduates can get initial onboarding training. Later on, interested persons may opt to go to the college to continue their teacher-training education, the minister said.

She explained that these measures will, hopefully, fill some of the shortages the territory is experiencing as teachers continue to migrate to jurisdictions with more attractive salaries than the British Virgin Islands .