JIS: Minister with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda, says the Ministry aims to take steps towards the adoption and expansion of the ‘inclusion model’ in schools across the country.

 

Inclusion in education refers to a model wherein special needs students spend most or all of their time with non-special needs students.

 

It is built on the notion that it is more effective for students with disabilities to have mixed experiences, to be more successful in social interactions leading to further success in life.

 

Speaking with JIS News following a tour of the Savanna-la-Mar Inclusive Infant Academy in Westmoreland on Friday, (October 4), Mr. Samuda stated that the institution’s inclusion model is “arguably the finest of its kind in Jamaica”.

 

He explained that the Ministry is taking a closer look at the model, with the intention to replicate it in other early childhood institutions.

 

“They (teaching staff) can see the development in the children through the help that they are providing. They (the children) come here which exposes them to arguably the best training of its kind in the country and so what is left for us to do is, we have to make sure that we replicate this,” Mr. Samuda said. 

 

For her part, Ministry of Education, Youth and Information Region 4 Director, Dr. Michelle Pinnock, said the Ministry will support special needs students in any way as they transition from early childhood institutions to “primary [schools], high [schools] and right through to what we refer to as independent living.”

 

The Savanna-la-Mar Inclusive Infant Academy was officially opened in 2018, by the Education Ministry in partnership with the Rockhouse Foundation and the Roman Catholic Church in Jamaica.

 

The school is Jamaica’s first public educational institution that caters to students with and without disabilities.

 

CAPTION: Minister with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda (center), speaks with Representative of the Roman Catholic Church in Jamaica, Rev. Ronald Thwaites (left), and Rockhouse Foundation President, Peter Rose, while touring the Savanna-la-Mar Inclusive Infant Academy in Westmoreland on Friday, October 4.

 

JIS: Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has given an undertaking to have programmed renovations at Penwood High School in West Central St. Andrew completed in short order.

 

Among the upgrades being targeted are improvements to the auditorium, staff room and general administrative facilities as well as the construction of additional classrooms.

 

Speaking at the official opening of Penwood High School’s new state-of-the-art information and communications technology (ICT) centre, on Friday (October 4), the Prime Minister said the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information has already scoped the project and is in possession of the designs and the plans.

 

“So, I am going to ensure that the programme is placed on a fast track. I see where we could actually start early next year,” the Prime Minister said.

 

Mr. Holness, who is the Member of Parliament for West Central St. Andrew, also indicated that he will seek to identify resources to support the Education Ministry’s programmed budget for the undertaking.  

 

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister welcomed the opening of the centre, valued at approximately $12 million, which was established with support from the Overseas Examinations Commission and Education Ministry, among other key stakeholders.

 

The facility, according to Chairman of the school’s Board, Gregory Pullen, has been equipped with 42 new computers; audiovisual equipment; a 65-inch television; high-speed Internet and Wi-Fi; and is fully air-conditioned.

 

He said the 42 computers now bring the total available to the students to 82, following an initial 40, which were placed in the school’s first ICT centre.

 

“The provision of this new lab will help the students to further improve their computer and technology literacy skills. It will help them in the actual sitting of examinations because where we are moving to… is that not all exams are going to be paper-based,” the Prime Minister said.

 

“As we progress and the technology becomes more robust in this area, many of our exams will be sat online. So, the schools having these labs will be at an advantage, because they will be able to participate in those exams which are conducted online,” he added.

 

Mr. Holness said the new facility will also assist the students in their general education in the areas of research, computer technology, and document management and ICT courses.

 

“So, this is a good move and is one of the programmes that will help to ensure that whatever gaps exist are rapidly closed,” he said.

 

CAPTION: Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness (left), officially opens a new state-of-the-art information and communicartions technology (ICT) centre at Penwood High School in St. Andrew, on Friday (October 4). Sharing the moment (from second left) are Board Chairman of the school, Gregory Pullen; Principal, Donna McLaren; Student Council President, Shadia Maxwell; and Head Boy, Lawrence Anderson.

OBSERVER: THE students who will sit the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2021 as part of Jamaica’s first-ever participation in the worldwide survey should be prepared, having already been exposed to the testing approach of Primary Exit Profile (PEP).

 

That’s because the skills tested under PISA ring similar to those of PEP — among them the acclaimed 21st-century skills of critical thinking, collaboration, and problem solving.

 

Secondly, the PISA questions aren’t drawn from any particular curriculum, but similar to PEP, they are designed to have students apply classroom knowledge to real-world situations.

 

“Our education system is not just preparing students for the local context; Jamaica has to compete globally,” national mathematics coordinator and member of Jamaica’s PISA management team Dr Tamika Benjamin told the Jamaica Observer last week.

 

PISA is a worldwide study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development intended to evaluate educational systems by measuring scholastic performance on mathematics, science, and reading among 15-year-olds. Additional components at previous sittings have included financial literacy, innovative thinking and collaborative problem-solving.

 

PEP, meanwhile, replaced Grade Six Achievement Test as the high-school placement mechanism in Jamaica in the 2018-2019 school year. It is a series of assessments based in the National Standards Curriculum (NSC) and comprising a Performance Task (consisting of real-world scenarios that require students to apply knowledge and skills from subjects taught in the classroom), an Ability Test (requiring students to read analytically and use quantitative reasoning skills to respond to items), and a Curriculum-Based Test which assesses content learned in grade 6 across the major subject areas.

 

The 6,000-plus students who will sit PISA in 2021 will be drawn from the first PEP cohort.

The Ministry of Education insists that PEP was not designed to facilitate Jamaica’s scheduled participation in PISA, but asserts that the alignment of the two is in tandem with worldwide trends in education.

 

“Across the world right now, in general, when you look at curriculum reform, the 21st-century skills feature heavily. So, creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. So because those are what are being identified as the global need in the workforce, you find that lots of education systems have reformed the curricula to make sure that students develop those skills and competencies. Hence, it’s not surprising that that’s also the perspective that PISA is going to look at in terms of how they design the test,” Benjamin said when asked about similarities in the two tests.

 

“It just so happens that the students who will sit PISA will have exposure to the National Standards Curriculum, which is what is delivered and assessed by PEP and content for which [goes up to] grade nine. And so they would have been exposed to the curriculum and methodology built into their secondary education,” Benjamin added.

 

She was part of the trio of PISA project team lead Marjorianna Clarke and team member Nadine Simms who were guests at Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange last week.

 

The PISA assessment uses multiple-choice testing, open-ended questions, and a background questionnaire which seeks to ascertain information about students, their attitudes towards school, their approaches to learning, and their home environment.

 

School principals and parents/guardians also participate in the process through questionnaires.

 

PISA was introduced in 2000 and is administered triennially. The Ministry of Education said it can’t say at this point if the country will participate beyond 2021

 

CAPTION: National mathematics coordinator and member of the Ministry of Education’s PISA management team Dr Tamika Benjamin

OBSERVER: AS Jamaica prepares to take part in the 2021 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), members of the project management team at the Ministry of Education are clear on the outcomes being targeted.

 

To begin with, they are expecting to generate independent data to judge how Jamaican students match up with their counterparts on the international stage. That data, they anticipate, will identify strengths and expose gaps in the system and will, in turn, guide education policy to build on strengths or correct weaknesses, as the case may be.

 

Critically though, the ministry says the data is expected to give the country an in when applying to international funding agencies.

 

“At this point in time, the only means that Jamaica has of evaluating our education system are the national and regional examinations. The challenge, when we get on the world stage is that that data is not relevant in that context. So when we have to interface, particularly with international funding agencies, most times they want independent data to evaluate our system and we don’t have the information,” Dr Tamika Benjamin, national mathematics coordinator and member of the PISA management team told last week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange.

 

“We have found ourselves in discussions with funding agencies and we don’t have any data, objective data, to speak to our system. This is one way of ensuring that we have a true sense of where the Jamaican education system is. We are hoping that we will get robust data that will give Jamaica a true sense of where our education system is on the world stage,” she added.

 

Commissioned by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, PISA is a survey of 15-year-old students whose knowledge, skills, competencies, and creative thinking abilities are assessed in the three components of reading, mathematical, and scientific literacy. It was introduced in 2000 and is administered every three years.

 

Jamaica will be the second English-speaking Caribbean country to participate in the study, following Trinidad and Tobago which was ranked 51 out of 70 countries in the 2015 round.

 

The Government of Jamaica is paying some 410,000 Euros to participate in the assessment, which will include the generation of a national report.

 

“A big part of us participating in PISA is to evaluate our education system,” Dr Benjamin reiterated. “Locally, we tend to say we know what our strengths and weaknesses are, and we may know on the ground, but in terms of seeing where we are in the global context, we are very limited if we are only assessing ourselves based on what we might see in a particular school.”

 

“We are likely to pick up weaknesses and challenges in terms of where students are; not just in whether they can read, it is also looking at the higher-level reading skills. That is something that we do not measure once our students leave grade four,” she continued.

 

Jamaica is also hoping to take lessons from countries and schools within similar contexts that have been improving since their first time participating in PISA. One example is the Dominican Republic, which members of the local PISA team have already visited for research purposes.

 

The PISA study will also evaluate external factors that impact learning outcomes such as teacher quality, contact hours, school resources, school culture, school leadership, teacher development mechanisms, parenting, and budget spending on education.

 

“We are not only going to look at the cognitive component, which is how the students would do, but we have an opportunity to see how other factors impact learning outcomes, and one of those considerations would be budget spending on education,” project team lead Marjorianna Clarke told the Observer.

 

In addition to per capita expenditure on education, other metrics in which the ministry says it is interested are gender gaps, equity, and inclusiveness.

 

“We will also be able to get our education system focused in the direction we want,” Clarke added.

 

The 2021 round of PISA testing will be administered from April to June across 88 countries. Students are randomly selected to participate.

 

 CAPTION: National mathematics coordinator and member of the Ministry of Education’s PISA management team Dr Tamika Benjamin

JIS: Minister with responsibly for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda, says the Government is committed to creating a level playing field at the secondary level in order to ensure that students, at both traditional and non-traditional institutions, have equal opportunities to excel.

 

“We’re going to give every child an opportunity to be as equal as the one who’s coming from the traditional high school. That is our commitment, because without that commitment and without that determination, we are not going to be able to build the Jamaica that we love to talk about and that we love to boast about,” he said.

 

Minister Samuda was delivering the keynote address at the launch of the Edward Seaga Scholarship Awards at the Spanish Court Hotel in New Kingston on Wednesday (September 25).

 

Meanwhile, he said that focus will be placed on nurturing students at the pre-primary and primary levels in order to ensure that they are adequately prepared for high school.

 

“You cannot expect to have students ill-prepared, not being given the level of attention, the tutoring, the nutrition, the family life, the security of housing, all that goes with developing the young mind.

 

“We cannot expose those children to that and expect to produce, at the end of it all, a student that can cope with those who enjoy those facilities,” Minister Samuda said.

 

“So we will have to prepare the students in every sense of the world in human development; prepare the whole child,” he added.

 

Meanwhile the scholarship awards saw the presentation of seven scholarships to four university and three high-school students. A number of grants were also awarded to other students.

 

CAPTION: Minister with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda, presents a special grant to student of the Queen’s School, Kenesha Garrick, as Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie looks on. Occason was the launch of the Edward Seaga Scholarship Awards at the Spanish Court Hotel in New Kingston on Wednesday (September 25).

JIS: The University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC) has established an Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology Centre, thereby providing a space for students and innovators with entrepreneurial and new technology-driven ideas to create practical solutions that can contribute to Jamaica’s growth.

 

The facility, located at the UCC’s main campus along Worthington Avenue in St. Andrew, was officially opened on Wednesday (September 25) as part of the institution’s third annual Academic Research Conference.

 

Chief Technical Director, Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, Wahkeen Murray, who delivered the keynote address on behalf of portfolio Minister, Hon. Fayval Williams, endorsed the launch of the centre.

 

“The UCC is utilising technology for virtual learning and collaboration with several international universities and institutions. This, as well as the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology Centre, augurs well for an institution preparing tomorrow’s nation builders,” she said.

 

Ms. Murray said it is important for academic institutions to help create a culture of innovation within the society, and more importantly, among students at the tertiary level.

 

“Tertiary institutions are crucial for driving innovation and are important to the progress of our society. Much scientific and technological work is being done at this level, as training is provided to the next cohort of world changers, to stimulate their minds and creative competencies that will spur innovation and entrepreneurship,” she noted.

 

Ms. Murray said that the facility will assist the nation’s youth with adapting to changes brought about by technology.

 

“Science, technology and innovation are charting the path towards the future. The nature of work and the skills needed for the workforce are constantly changing. Therefore, our youth must be equipped so that they can be on par with their international counterparts and can assist in filling the skills which are emerging as a result of the digital age,” she noted.

 

CAPTION: Chief Technical Director, Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, Wahkeen Murray (right), looks on as Group Executive Chairman, University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC), Dr. Winston Adams (left), points to words on an inspiration board inside the new Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology Centre, at the official opening of the facility at the UCC campus in St. Andrew on Wednesday (September 25). At centre is UCC President and Exceutive Chancellor, Professor Dennis Gayle.

 

JIS: Thirty school administrators, including principals, vice principals and members of school Boards from selected schools across the island, will be trained on how to better serve and educate students living with special education needs, at a cost of approximately $2.8 million.

 

This is based on the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for an Inclusive School Leadership Programme, by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information (MOEYI); the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) and the National College for Educational Leadership (NCEL).

 

The MOU was signed at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, at Heroes Circle, on Monday (September 23).

 

The participants will be trained in an inclusive school leadership course under the programme.

 

The course is aimed at strengthening the capacity of Principals to create inclusive school environments that will ensure children living with disabilities can be successfully enrolled in mainstream schools.

 

Training will be funded by JSIF. However, NCEL, an agency of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information with the mandate of leading strategic initiatives that will improve school leadership, will work alongside the Special Education Unit in the Ministry, to develop and administer the professional development course for the programme.

 

Chief Technical Director, Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Barbara Allen, who delivered a speech on behalf of Acting Permanent Secretary, Dr. Grace McLean, said the signing of the MOU is in keeping with the mandate of the Ministry’s Special Education Unit, which has responsibility for educational provisions for students with special needs.

 

“The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information recognises the value of collaboration and, therefore, welcomes this opportunity. We recognise that children with diverse needs populate our education system. Inclusive education enables the creation of an environment for different students to learn side by side in the same setting,” Ms. Allen said.

 

“With the help of JSIF, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information will be much more advanced in serving our special needs student population,” she added.

 

For his part, Managing Director, JSIF, Omar Sweeney, said JSIF decided to fund this initiative under its Basic Needs Trust Fund because it will offer well-needed support to leaders in schools.

 

“That’s important, because while we do things in the classrooms [for students living with special needs], it is also important that we spend the necessary time to focus on the principals and the vice principals who provide leadership in the schools,” he said.

 

For her part, Director and Principal, NCEL, Dr. Taneisha Ingleton, reiterated that it is important to train the principals, vice principals and members of school Boards regarding educating students with special needs.

 

“The course will seek to help educators to transform their physical school environments and classrooms to encourage inclusivity and to facilitate the maximum learning of children with disabilities; make intentional attempts to inculcate in teachers the dispositions needed for them to create inclusive classrooms and elevate the confidence of students with disabilities, through the creation and implementation of an Inclusive School Plan,” Dr. Ingleton said.

 

CAPTION: Managing Director, Jamaica Social Investment Fund, Omar Sweeney (left); Director and Principal, National College for Educational Leadership, Dr. Taneisha Ingleton (centre); and Chief Technical Director, Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Barbara Allen, display folders with copies of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on Monday (September 23) at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information. The MOU makes provision for an Inclusive School Leadership Programme for school administrators.

JIS: The Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) and Collaborate to Educate our Sons recently pulled around 100 vulnerable boys from high schools across the island and boarded them at the Medallion Hall Hotel in St. Andrew for three days of mentoring under the Boys Education Empowerment Programme.

 

The mentorship sessions took place between September 18 and 20. It was endorsed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information.

 

At the mentoring sessions there were different speakers, which included representatives from the JTC and Collaborate to Educate our Sons.

 

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), JTC, Dr. Winsome Gordon, said although the organisation is responsible for serving the nation’s teachers, they chose to help with pulling the boys out of school for three days and spent time mentoring them, because there is a major need for it.

 

“Our teachers have complained about the engagement of boys in their classrooms, and when we look at the examination results, our boys are not doing nearly as well as our girls, so we decided to help our teachers to be able to teach our boys,” Dr. Gordon told JIS News.

 

She noted that this is the second phase of mentorship for the JTA, as they had a previous mentorship programme that lasted for five years.

 

Dr. Gordon also said her organisation chose to partner with Collaborate to Educate our Sons because this group, which is based in Washington DC, continuously works with black boys in the United States who are vulnerable and helps to guide them up to the tertiary level.

 

She believes the group can assist Jamaican young men and boys in the same way.

 

“They encourage boys to go to college, and when they came to us, we thought this was a brilliant idea because they have a lot of experience on mentoring boys,” she said.

 

Founder, Collaborate to Educate our Sons, Dr. Bertram Melbourne, who is Jamaican, said he chose to return to Jamaica and offer mentorship through his organisation, because that is one way he wants to give back to the society.

 

“I want to help to give a better future to boys and young men. We want to do something that will increase the enrolment of young men and boys in college, so as to guarantee their future. We want to do something that will raise the self-image of young men; help them to look forward to a better kind of future and be in a better position to make a contribution to society,” he told JIS News.

 

Dr. Melbourne said the mentorship sessions focused on different caring relationship strategies, which the presenters hope will inspire the boys.

 

Participant, Antione Foster, who is a student from Greater Portmore High School, said he was inspired by the presenters and the mentors during the three days.

 

“It has been enlightening, so far, and by coming here and listening to other persons’ points of view, I’ve noticed how much time I have wasted in school when there are other alternatives to do in my spare time,” he said.

 

He added that the three-day mentorship initiative has encouraged him to start thinking about a possible career path.

 

His teacher from Greater Portmore High School, Shemore Powell, told JIS News that he found the mentorship sessions interesting.

 

“It was an interesting programme that dealt with issues affecting men, as to the simple things that men overlook, which cause us sometimes to react in a certain way, for example, the difference between listening and hearing.

 

These are some of the issues we have in our schools [with boys],” he said.

 

CAPTION: Chief Executive Officer, Jamaica Teaching Council, Dr. Winsome Gordon (centre), speaks with (from left) LASCO Teacher of the Year 2017, Ingrid Peart-Wilmot; Student, Buff Bay High School, Raymond Richards; Student, Rollington Town Primary School, Amaad Allen; Founder, Collaborate to Educate our Sons, Dr. Bertram Melbourne; and Student, Greater Portmore High School, Antione Foster, during the mentorship session for the Boys Education Empowerment Programme, at Medallion Hall Hotel in St. Andrew, on Friday (September 20).