Founder of T Garcia Education (TGE) Teenisha Garcia is passionate about giving as many children as possible access to quality education online.
She knew challenge as a part of reality since childhood, however, she benefited from her education. She sees this as her way of paying it forward, hoping a high standard of education, presented by passionate teachers will change the lives of children as it changed hers.
T Garcia Education is an online platform which facilitates group and one-on-one online classes for students at the primary and secondary levels
Garcia told Newsday, "This is an evolution of the first private school that I started in 2017 while at the UTT. Initially, it was a very typical brick-and-mortar type of school/business, but with the massive digitisation efforts across all sectors brought about by the pandemic, T Garcia Education, the Ed-Tech platform as we know it today, was officially launched in August 2020."
She attended Mon Repos RC Primary School and then went on to St Joseph’s Convent, San Fernando.
"It was these early experiences with dedicated, passionate teachers that ignited my desire to be an educator in the first place. In particular, at SJC, we adopted a holistic approach to education and formed a true sisterhood which impacted my philosophy of education and my appreciation for community."
[caption id="attachment_980125" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Teenisha Garcia at the Hero Training Program at Draper University in Silicon Valley, California in May 2022. Image courtesty Teenisha Garcia[/caption]
Garcia did a degree in education with a specialisation in secondary mathematics at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). She graduated as the top student at the Centre of Education Programme in 2018.
After UTT she taught privately at STA Academic Institute.
"I taught math to secondary school students from forms one to six. I also prepared both current and adult students for CSEC math."
Garcia told Newsday her mother, Natasha Garcia, was a student in one of her CSEC math classes because she didn’t finish secondary school. "I had students from as young as 15 to as old as 50."
While teaching, she learned trading in financial markets such as Forex, participating in courses in the UK.
"I think my time at the UTT, coupled with those other experiences, allowed me to develop leadership and entrepreneurship skills. This was very fitting, since the UTT is an entrepreneurial university that encourages and creates opportunities for students to thrive and develop their businesses."
She started TGE because as much as she loved education and being a teacher, she felt there was much more to do to make the local education system better for the people to whom it matters most; parents, educators and students.
"I feel like I couldn’t do it by taking the traditional route. I believe that you sometimes have to remove yourself from a situation to make more objective decisions.
"It is a true privilege to have universal education in TT, but providing free education for every s
