Jamaica’s tertiary education sector has been in a state of modification and transformation over the past several decades says Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams.

She noted that universities, community colleges, and teacher-training colleges and higher vocational institutions have been responding to demands wrought by changes in the economy and society at the national, regional and global levels.

“In their efforts to do this, many institutions are exploring new ways in which they can reposition themselves, by offering new programmes or more flexible delivery modalities, taking advantage of the possibilities offered by new technologies,” she stated.

The Minister was speaking during the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)/Jamaica Tertiary Education Commission (JTEC) joint webinar, entitled ‘Beyond Limits: New Ways to Reinvent Higher Education’, on Wednesday (November 30).

Mrs. Williams said the Government, through the Ministry, has been implementing a strategic and integrated programme of education and training.

This, she informed, includes a standardised programme for the pre-primary to secondary levels, linked to tertiary education and skills training.

Coupled with this, the Minister added, is support for transitioning into the labour market on completion of secondary and/or tertiary-level education.

“Discussions, focused on improving critical components of the tertiary or higher-education sector, have been ongoing. This includes issues relating to increasing access, funding for students and institutions, and matters relating to the relevance of programmes within the context of the changing needs of the labour market,” Mrs. Williams said.

She noted that these discussions have been informed and shaped by best practices employed in other education jurisdictions.

The Minister further stated that there have been significant efforts over the years to establish a modernised governance framework for the oversight and management of the higher-education sector in Jamaica.

She cited the 2021 Report of the Jamaica Education Transformation Commission, led by Professor Orlando Patterson, which provides the impetus for current actions.

“Discussions surrounding higher education and training must, therefore, consider how the sector will ensure that programmes offered are intentionally designed to support the changing societal and labour market needs. This is particularly important given the continuing impact of COVID-19, climate change, global supply chain challenges, and inflationary pressures,” Mrs. Williams said.

Meanwhile, the Minister pointed out that Jamaica’s thrust to transform its higher education sector is driven by a number of critical goals.

These, she indicated, include widening participation in higher education, facilitating multiple pathways of access to higher education, enabling greater levels of learner success and completion, and strengthening the relationship between secondary and higher education to improve outcomes.

Other focus areas include ensuring appropriate and relevant legislative and regulatory frameworks; promoting a quality culture; integrating technical and interdisciplinary content and skills; leveraging resources within the education system to alleviate constraints; institutionalising flexible and agile administrative systems, processes and controls; contributing meaningfully to socio-economic development, and promoting internationalisation.

“We think that these are central to a modern system and drive processes that are agile and sustainable. We commend these to stakeholders across UNESCO’s regional and global networks,” Mrs. Williams said.

She added that the Government of Jamaica appreciates that a modernised higher education and training system will make a meaningful and telling contribution to continuous robust economic growth.

Approximately 80 volunteers have been commissioned as Parent Mentors by the National Parenting Support Commission (NPSC) to provide assistance to families.

The mentors, who were trained through 10 modules over several weeks, will help to guide parents in proper disciplinary measures and offer other means of support.

Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams, commended the volunteers from various communities across the island, for coming forward as parent mentors.

The Minister was delivering the keynote address at the recent graduation ceremony held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston.

She said that anecdotal media reports and studies confirm that some parents need targeted guidance and coaching in raising their children.

She cited a United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) report, which indicates that up to 80 per cent of Jamaican children experience violence in all forms at home and 65 per cent encounter bullying at school.

“The factors that cause parents not to be as effective as they should be vary, ranging from social and economic challenges that can lead to high levels of stress, which are then manifested and transferred as aggression towards children, and acceptance of cultural behaviour as normal, when in fact, they are not,” she pointed out.

Mrs. Williams informed that the Ministry is seeking funding for a programme that would “allow at least 10 sessions of heavy-duty psychosocial support for parents and children.”

For her part, Chief Executive Officer of the NPSC, Kaysia Kerr, said that the parent mentorship programme remains the flagship initiative of the commission, with roughly 400 mentors across the island.

“Each mentor is mapped to several schools within a five-mile radius of where they reside and they offer support to help to build out the parental involvement framework in schools, because that’s what we’re about,” she noted.

The Early Childhood Commission (ECC) is inviting support to meet the sector’s various needs. 

The Commission met with private partners and donors on Thursday (November 17) to raise awareness about the entity’s work, while identifying the most critical areas for funding.  

Thursday’s discussion forum, under the theme: ‘Raising the Bar in Early Childhood Development’, was held at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel in Kingston.  

Six categories of need have been identified: resources for developmental/educational programmes; teacher training scholarships to increase the number of qualified practitioners; brain builder centres/parenting support/learning kits; special needs/inclusive classrooms; and support for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in early childhood institutions (ECIs) and regional early childhood development resource centres. 

It is anticipated that, based on the needs expressed, the partners will identify an area of interest that is aligned with the primary objectives of their organisations and make a commitment for support. 

Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams, who addressed the partners, noted that “many ECIs need improved facilities, municipality approvals, sanitation support, [and] food handlers permits.”   

She indicated that support for ICT and learning tools, as well as teacher-training scholarships, are also welcomed.   

Chair of the ECC, Trisha Williams-Singh, advised that support from various partners over the years, has enabled 301 ECIs to become certified.  

“Over time, this has resulted in a decrease in the number of delinquent institutions and an increase in children attending ECIs that meet the requirements of the 12 standards,” she pointed out.  

Meanwhile, the ECC is drafting the fourth National Strategic Plan (NSP) to further advance the sector of the five-year period, from 2023 to 2028. 

With an implementation date of March 2023, the Plan will replace the 2018 to 2023 programme, which resulted in several improvements in outcomes at the early childhood level. 

It will build on the foundations of the previous strategic plan, and the first one implemented for 2008 to 2013, by providing a roadmap for the ECC in its regulatory and coordinating capacity. 

The NSP includes five focus areas which serve to assist stakeholders in providing the relevant support and services required for the proper growth and development of children. 

These areas are effective parenting education and support; effective preventative health care; early and effective screening; diagnosis and intervention for at-risk children; the provision of safe, learner-centred, well-maintained ECI facilities; and effective curriculum delivery. 

The ECC, an agency of the Ministry of Education and Youth, is mandated to regulate and coordinate early childhood services in Jamaica. 

Provisions under the modernised Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organisations) (Amendment) Act, 2021, commonly called the Anti-Gang legislation now allows for the prosecution of groups engaged in criminal activities.

This was stated by Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), Jeremy Taylor, at the Ministry of Education and Youth’s Anti-Gang Week Townhall, on November 17, held at the Office of the Commissioner of Police in Kingston and online.

“What has changed with the new legislation is that we no longer have to look at individuals, because up to 2014 we really could only prosecute the individual, irrespective of what other persons may have done either in the background or foreground. You could only move against the individual in that respect. Now, this new Act allows us to move against groups and you have seen that we have brought certain groups to trial,” Mr. Taylor said.

He explained that the law, passed in 2014 and amended in 2021, spreads a broad net to facilitate the capture of all persons complicit in criminal activities.

“Even if you are not the trigger person, you are the person who drives them to do the crime, you are charged as a facilitator of the criminal offence, just as how if you are the person who shoots the person, you are also charged as the facilitator of the criminal offence,” he explains.

The law goes further to clarify that individuals participating in activities that render any benefit to a gang also contravene the law.

“It speaks about providing a benefit to a criminal organisation. These are the gun bags; if you carry the guns for the criminal organisation to hide or to ‘lock’, you have provided a benefit. If you carry the stolen goods, you carry them to a pawn shop and you sell them, you have provided a benefit. If you get a doctor for a person, knowing he is a member of a gang and has committed a gang-related activity, you have provided a benefit… . The law has tried to cover all the major areas,” Mr. Taylor said.

Information from the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) indicates that gang violence contributes to an estimated 80 per cent of murders in the country.

Anti-Gang Week is being observed from November 13 to 19, under the theme ‘Leggo Di Gang, Lift Up Jamaica’.

The week of activities is being hosted by the Ministry of Education and Youth, in collaboration with the JCF.