Guyana: BIT’s Services changes lives for the better

Guyana: Taneka Latoya Sanchara, Owner of Unique’s Play School, Day Care, and Nursery Program, permanently changed both her life and her career after utilizing the free training opportunities provided by the Board of Industrial Training (BIT).

Thanks to a partnership between BIT and UNICEF, Sanchara was one of the fortunate recipients who, in 2019, got training in an Early Childhood Development programme.
She asserted that her experience at BIT had equipped her with the skills she needed to advance in her work as a teacher of young children, thus boosting their growth.

“It [BIT] has helped a lot; there are a number of things I’ve put into practice from the course that have so far shown great outcomes,” Sanchara said.

She noted that when accessing this program, keep in mind that each professor takes a unique approach to making their lectures interesting, and as such, people need to be open-minded.

After this achievement, she went on to successfully complete a two-year Early Childhood Professional Course (ECP) online through the Arizona-based Penn Foster College. Currently, she is pursuing her diploma at the University of Guyana.

Among her other achievements are the fact that she finished Childcare Part One at the University of Guyana in 2011 and Childcare Part Two with the Alpha Foundation in 2013. Having four lovely children and being married are two more life-changing accomplishments for her.

Prior to achieving these many successes, Sanchara was concerned about her future due to having to drop out of high school. But as she embarked on her experience as a Sunday school teacher, this quickly changed, and the rest is history.

“I felt I had a particular skill, but it wasn’t until I was exposed to many teachings and began to lean more toward childcare that everything started to spring forth and fit together like a puzzle,” she said.

Throughout her voyage, Sanchara discovered several of her hidden abilities, which she is now using to her institution’s advantage.

Four teaching approaches are currently available through hands-on activities at Unique’s Play School, Day Care, and Nursery Program to make sure her pupils can understand the material in an enjoyable way.

To take things a step further, Sanchara also wrote and published several instructional textbooks, including sensory books, for her students to enhance their learning.
Using these books, she may replace conventional teaching strategies with activity-based learning for her pupils. For the time being, it is being provided to Regions 3, 4, 5, and 10 to help other preschool instructors.

Along with this, the energetic instructor has also started a collection of online classes for young children called Unique’s Day Care/Play School and Nursery Program on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. This was done to keep the nation’s future leaders from losing knowledge during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She attributes her knowledge and abilities from BIT’s Early Childhood Development programme to the development of this creative teaching strategy.

Sanchara said that she would not swap her experience but would urge others to follow her lead and enrol in a life skills programme to improve their quality of life and launch a fulfilling profession.

People must take advantage of the numerous options being provided by the Ali-led administration since, as she pointed out, the institution was created to merely enhance and grow citizens in the country.

The energetic teacher added, “right now, we have a lot of young people who want to excel at something because they have the potential but lack the resources to do that, and so the Board of Industrial Training is the place to be.”

In view of this, Sanchara suggested a possible alliance between BIT and her institution to help other interested people acquire the abilities and areas of expertise to find employment and enrich their community and those around them.