Approximately 28,000 students will benefit from the 2023 National Summer Academy, which got under way this week.

This was disclosed by Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams, who indicated that the Academy will run from July 10 to 27.

Mrs. Williams further advised that it is being undertaken in 57 schools using face-to-face and online modalities, adding that the engagement is being hosted at no cost to parents.

She was speaking during Wednesday’s (July 12) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.

Mrs. Williams said approximately 7,800 students are participating in-person, while another 20,000 will join virtually.

“For the face-to-face [modality], those are students who need support in terms of literacy and numeracy, and in the virtual space, those are students who are almost at mastery, still needing a little bit of support to get them into mastery. So we are expecting to reach approximately 28,000 students for our summer school this year. It’s a lot targeted… but we are seeing where our target interventions are producing results,” she said.

The programme will be delivered by the Education Ministry’s team of technical officers, including Numeracy and Literacy Coaches/Specialists.

It forms part of the Ministry’s effort to provide extended learning opportunities for students currently in grades five and six, still requiring additional support to recover from the impact of disruptions to their learning process caused by the COVID–19 pandemic.