JIS: The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information will continue to implement strategies to improve the performance of students in mathematics at the primary and secondary levels.This was stated by National Mathematics Coordinator, Dr Tamika Benjamin, at a mathematics forum hosted by the Ministry recently, at the Mona Visitors’ Lodge, St Andrew.

 

More than 40 educators, consisting of mathematics specialists, coaches, senior teachers and principals representing the six educational regions, participated in the event. Benjamin said the purpose of the forum was to engage key stakeholders in reviewing the elements of the National Mathematics Programme (NMP), which was revamped in 2012, and also to determine what additional policy decisions or strategies can be applied at all levels of the education system. She informed that focus is being placed on six areas as part of the process to reform maths education.

 

These are the teaching and learning experiences within the classroom; equity, which is ensuring that all students have access to high-quality maths teaching and learning; a standardised curriculum; adequate tools and technology; assessment, which is making sure students receive feedback; and professionalism, whereby teachers take responsibility for their own development.

 

Benjamin noted that the NMP was designed with three main objectives, which are to establish standards and guidelines; make sure there is concerted and consistent effort to improve teacher and teaching quality; and also to improve the attitudes of every Jamaican to the teaching and learning of the subject, through a public education campaign.

 

She shared that coming out of the National Mathematics Policy Guidelines, which were drafted in 2013, all student-teachers entering college must sit a diagnostic test.

 

Other provisions are for the adjustment of courses to meet the minimum credit requirement, adoption of qualification guidelines for the engagement of teachers, and raising the matriculation standards for entry into mathematics teacher education.

 

CAPTION: National Mathematics Coordinator at the Ministry of Education, Dr Tamika Benjamin 

JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says the Government is placing technical vocational education and training (TVET) at the core of the educational system in order to align training and education to market needs.

 

He said that contrary to popular belief, it is the technical side of education that is driving the world economy, and employees are now required to have technical skills.

 

“So this notion, I call it nonsense, about TVET being somewhat inferior, or somehow is a taboo, is far from what the reality is out there in the world today,” he pointed out.

 

“The average jobs… 90 per cent and rising… are technical-based, and our students must be aware of this… that’s all I am saying. We need to get with this programme and carry on the transformation,” he said.

 

“Places like the University of the West Indies (UWI) need to assist in carrying on the dialogue. Teachers must also keep up to date with changes,” he added.

 

Senator Reid was addressing the 3rd International Conference on Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in the Caribbean at the Hilton Resort and Spa in St. James on May 10.

 

He pointed out that countries such as Germany, Australia, Switzerland and Austria, which combine practical and theoretical training, have the lowest unemployment rates among young people in the world.

 

He said it is based on the need to ensure that students are adequately prepared for the job market that the Ministry has been insisting that every youngster must remain in school until age 18, and must pursue a programme of training that leads to certification.

 

“Why would I want to preside over a system where students can comfortably graduate and leave school at grade 11? Graduate to what or to where? Because you have five Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate subjects (CSEC), you think you are qualified… . Qualified to do what?” he asked.

 

“I am building a foundation… that is what I am doing,” he declared. “We have to compete against Japan and Singapore… countries that we were once ahead of,” he noted.

 

“If we are going to talk about lifelong learning, then we are going to have to have an education system that says students must go beyond grade 11,” he stressed.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, emphasises a point as he addresses the 3rd International Conference on Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in the Caribbean at the Hilton Resort and Spa, St. James, on May 10.

JIS: The Special Education Policy, which seeks to fulfil the academic requirements of students with special needs, is expected to be brought to Cabinet for approval within another month.

 

This was disclosed by Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, who said it is “urgent and important” that this policy is implemented to cater to the diverse needs of this cohort.

 

“It has been drafted and we are doing some final editing. I am hoping that within another month, I can get it forward,” he said.

 

The Minister was speaking to JIS News following a tour of the Genesis Academy in Kingston today (May 11).

 

Mr. Reid said that the policy will complement the Disabilities Act, which makes provision to safeguard and enhance the welfare of persons with disabilities across Jamaica.

 

“As an Education Ministry, we are following on the requirements of that Act (and we) need to have a policy in place that complements and gives life to the aspirations of that particular Act.

 

“We need to accept that we have a cohort of special needs children and that the education system must be so designed to take care (of) and serve the entire population, whether you are special needs or regular,” he pointed out.

 

The Policy, drafted by the Ministry’s Special Education Unit, will provide a framework for treating with or meeting the educational needs of special students.

 

Its two main goals are for equity and access to educational opportunities; and to promote a system of inclusive education where possible.

 

It also seeks to protect the rights of children and youth with disabilities against discrimination in educational settings; and it will also promote awareness of students’ right to quality education. In addition, it will ensure that students are provided with the necessary accommodations they need in the educational setting.

 

The policy will also speak to how children will be placed, how they will gain access to schools, and provisions that should be available for them, including qualified staff, and the required student-teacher ratio.

 

The framework, which will also provide guidance for assessment procedures and standards, will not only focus on students with disabilities but also cater to gifted and talented children.

 

Additionally, it will take into consideration the role parents need to play in the education of their children as well as collaboration with other stakeholders.

 

Pointing to an important aspect of the policy, which outlines guidelines for school-to-work transition planning, Mr. Reid told JIS News that it is crucial that students with disabilities are empowered so they are able to live independently.

 

He stressed that the Government will be putting in place the necessary plans and programmes to make them equally employable.

 

“We need… to better manage this cohort of Jamaicans, so that they are properly taken care of (and) their welfare is provided for. We have to assist them in transitioning to independent living, because if we don’t, not only are they going to be a further burden on the State, but we know from our own experience from the past, they are vulnerable to abuse,” he said.

 

Genesis Academy is a skills-training centre that caters to students with learning challenges. It conducts speech, music and art therapy and operates a life skills curriculum for persons 12 to 25, and a HEART Trust/NTA-certified vocational skills training programme.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (centre), speaks with Principal of Genesis Academy, Donna Lowe (left); and Chairman, Caryl Fenton, during a tour of the special education institution on South Camp Road in Kingston on Thursday (May 11).

THE GLEANER:  The Read Across Jamaica Foundation yesterday embarked on another mission to encourage the nation’s children to pattern fluent and impressive reading, by having influential persons in society and representatives from major organisations read to them during Read Across Jamaica Day.

 

Reading activities coincided with Child Month celebrations.

 

Children in schools across Jamaica shared in the joys of reading, through exhibitions and executions of different reading strategies, which assisted them with creating an interaction with text that may be above their independent reading levels.

 

CAPTION: Constable Shanika Holness from the Franklin Town police division reading to students from Alpha Infant School in St Andrew during Read Across Jamaica Day yesterday. Several organisations and influential persons in society visited schools across Jamaica to read to students.

THE GLEANER: Celebrations to honour teachers at the Jessie Ripoll Primary School in Kingston yesterday were overwhelmed by the students, who filled the classrooms with joy and excitement, while volunteers from Scotiabank engaged everyone in conversations and activities (skits and literature) on the topic of bullying.

 

At schools across Jamaica, students joined parents and various other groups in Teachers’ Day activities to honour the country’s educators.

 

Several teachers and principals were pampered and bestowed with gifts, as the students enthusiastically participated in the many activities.

 

“I was truly impressed by their reading level. It was unbelievable that they knew everything about cyberbullying,” service report representative at the New Kingston Scotiabank branch Taneisha James told The Gleaner of the Jessie Ripoll students.

 

Volunteer Shauna-Kay Christie expressed concern that too many students were willing to admit that they were bullies themselves.

 

“I realised the kids were really informed on what bullying is, but when questioned ‘Who is a bully?’, persons were readily getting up to say ‘I am’, and kids in the class could say that these persons are bullies. Persons were straightforward, and in asking them why they do what they do, they were able to express freely that they were being bullied and that’s why they bully,” she shared.

 

 

 

LINE OF DEFENCE

 

 

“There was this young lady who, when I asked why, she said that things were happening at home with her cousins and aunts. They say stuff about her and it causes her to be weak, so it’s a line of defence to get back at people when she is at school.”

 

Scotia’s Vice-president of Marketing Yanique Forbes Patrick said that the decision to focus on bullying was influenced by the Child Development Agency (CDA) and Child Month.

 

“We wanted to make sure that when we were coming, we weren’t just playing games and singing with the students. We had consulted the CDA, and one of the things they have been trying to focus on for the month is bullying. We have a growing problem [with bullying], and now it is taking other forms, and online and social media is driving it,” she said.

 

[email protected]

 

CAPTION: Scotiabank volunteer Shauna-Kay Christie briefs students in her class at the Jessie Ripoll Primary School before they presented a skit demonstrating the effects of bullying during Teachers’ Day activities.

 

THE GLEANER: If a child in state care spends 12 months of a 15-month period without a parental visit, the Child Development Agency (CDA) is recommending that that should be specific grounds in law for a court to terminate parental rights.

 

Parental abandonment is one of three circumstances the CDA is proposing be “expressly iterated” in law to prevent children, outside of court intervention, from spending their lives in institutions.

 

The other two circumstances under which a parent could lose their rights are whether they have been deemed unfit due to long-term mental illness or mental incapacity or whether they have been found guilty of murder or manslaughter in relation to another child of the same home.

 

 

 

NOT TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY

 

 

“The power to permanently and irrevocably end parental rights is not one that is taken lightly by any jurisdiction, and can, if applied loosely, contravene the rights of both the parent and the child,” the CDA said this week in a submission to the parliamentary committee that is reviewing Jamaica’s sex offences laws to enhance protection of vulnerable groups in society.

 

“Yet,” it continued, “there are specific instances in which the rights of the child demand the abrogation of parental rights, particularly in order to secure a more stable, permanent placement arrangement for wards of the state.”

 

The CDA pointed to the United States, where laws are clear about the grounds for terminating parental rights.

 

Jamaica, the agency said, needs to follow as there is “no clear or consistent approach” to guide childcare professionals or decision makers.

 

Termination of parental rights under Jamaican law is mostly on a voluntary basis, it said. This is either through abandonment or with the consent of the parents for their child to be adopted. Courts, too, can order the termination if it is determined that a parent “unreasonably” withheld consent.

 

… Clarifying law would speed up adoptions

The Child Development Agency (CDA) is arguing that clarifying the law as it relates to parental rights would help speed up adoptions, a process that Floyd Green, junior minister in the youth ministry, has said is being simplified.

 

Typically, adoption processes start when a prospective ‘parent’ makes an application. There is no established mechanism to make a child “legally available” for adoption.

 

“What this means in effect is that there are children who enter the system at a relatively young age, and while their circumstances suggest that they are a candidate for termination of parental rights, they remain in the system for years before this option is even considered,” the CDA said.

 

It added that “as local adopters favour young children, this can result in children becoming stuck in institutions for life”.

 

“There are approximately 4,700 children in state care,” the CDA’s chief executive officer, Rosalee Gage-Grey, told The Gleaner. She could not immediately provide the number fitting the proposed abandonment criteria.

 

[email protected]

 

CAPTION: Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Hon Floyd Green

JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says there must be a “full marriage” between traditional education and technical vocational education and training (TVET), and that separation is no longer an option.

 

Senator Reid, who was addressing the 3rd International Conference on TVET in the Caribbean on May 10, at the Hilton Spa and Resort, St. James, said the Task Force report on education in 2004 had inadvertently “missed the mark” in the reconfiguration of the education system as part of the prescription of its transformation and had left out the convergence with TVET.

 

“We have to now go back and fix that. So, within the context of the discussions we have been having in this regard, I want to formally announce the full marriage of what we know as traditional education and TVET.  They have now been joined together in ‘holy matrimony’ within the education system,” the Minister said.

 

Senator Reid added that to ensure that there is no ambiguity and that there is clarity in terms of its integration and understanding, the Ministry has moved ahead and launched, back in February, the National Qualification Framework of Jamaica.

 

The Minister said he is putting on notice the University of the West Indies and all other tertiary institutions to be aware of the new framework, noting that it will be a national standard to which they will all have to adhere.

 

“This became necessary so that we could bridge the gap between our understanding of the relevance and comparability of qualification and certification and what we are accustomed to as traditional certification and technical vocational qualification. So, you can look at the framework and you will know exactly where you fall on the spectrum,” Senator Reid added.

 

The Minister said the focus should now be on creating a track for what is now called occupational degrees and which is separate from traditional degrees, or “what some people call transfer degrees or straight vocational qualifications”.

 

“In addition, the matriculation and articulation requirements of the national qualification framework allow persons to get credits for courses done, whether through apprenticeship or in the formal system, or even on-the-job experience,” Senator Reid pointed out.

 

He said the national qualification framework levels the playing field by neutralising all qualifications, so multiple pathways and multiple assessments will allow persons to be qualified by age 30.

 

“We have a mantra now to move all our youth through a seamless education system where students beyond Grade 11 are allowed to specialise,” the Minister noted.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, addresses the 3rd International Conference on TVET in the Caribbean on May 10 at the Hilton Spa and Resort, St. James, under the theme ‘TVET for Sustainable Regional Development’.

JIS: Education, Youth and Information Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says the observation of Education Week provides an opportunity to celebrate the important role that education plays in building the society.

 

He said that with education being at the core of Jamaica’s mission for social change and development “we must continue to raise the bar in celebrating our teachers, who are the vanguards of sustained transformation”.

 

Senator Reid was addressing the Jamaica Teachers’ Association’s (JTA) Education Week service at the New Testament Church of God in May Pen on Sunday (May 7). It was held under the theme ‘Navigating the Education Landscape: Transforming, Engaging, Collaborating, Facilitating and Leading’.

 

The Education Minister said the theme is relevant and applicable, recognising the many facets of the teaching profession and the contributions of the noble profession. “Teachers are nation builders and world leaders, who engender change and promote a world worth living in,” he pointed out.

 

He also noted the key role played by churches in the education system, noting that “out of colonialism and slavery… they were very early in facilitating the establishment of schools as we have them today.

 

Thus a significant number of our institutions are actually church schools”. President of the JTA, Howard Isaacs, said this year’s theme brings into focus several critical elements of the teaching-learning experience and “pinpoints the value of collaboration as we plot the course for Jamaica’s education system”.

 

“It is essential that all stakeholders recognise their critical roles in the process. Too often, the impression is given that teachers have a golden wand to bring about changes needed. All hands must be on deck, to be responsible as we develop an engaging, effective and efficient education system,” Mr. Isaacs said.

 

Rev. Rohan Ambersley, who delivered the sermon, reminded teachers that education must focus on clear and enduring principles, reconnect with foundational values  and realign these values where there is a disconnect.

 

Rev. Ambersley said that in navigating the educational landscape, the idea of transformation is important.

 

He noted, however, that for education to be transformational, “it must not only include knowledge but must also accomplish character formation. It must not just facilitate the expansion of mind but also transformation of hearts. It must not just tell us what to think, but guide us how to think”.

 

He said that for education to be meaningful it must impact how people act, and result in behavior change.

 

“We must… allow the knowledge we have to influence how we act. There is no sense in saying we know and then not do, because knowing without doing is madness, resulting in empty boasting,” Rev. Ambersley argued.

 

“You must convince your students that they must hear, observe and apply, that is what makes the difference; convince students that knowledge and practice will lift them out of poverty and add value to the world,” he added. Also in attendance were Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information,Dean-Roy Bernard; Chief Education Officer in the Ministry, Dr. Grace McLean; members of the JTA executive and students.

 

CAPTION: Senator the Honourable Ruel Reid, Minister of Education, Youth and Information