Child Month 2016 will be celebrated in May under the theme, ‘Healthy Children Build a Stronger Nation’. This theme is aimed at raising awareness of children’s health – physical, mental and social well-being.

 It is also a national initiative to create a healthy lifestyle and environment for our children to pursue their dreams, and secure our country’s future growth and development. This can be achieved if we:

* Promote health and wellness at an early age

* Provide healthy meals for children

* Increase children’s physical activity and create a safe environment for them

* Empower parents, teachers, caregivers and other citizens

* Encourage the planting and consumption of local foods

Let us all support the scheduled activities for the celebration of Child Month 2016.

 

 

The National College for Educational Leadership (NCEL) and the Management Institute for National Development (MIND) have established a Memorandum of Understanding to design, develop and deliver leadership training to public sector leaders  in the education system with a special focus on middle-level management.  

 

Speaking on Friday (April 13) during the signing ceremony, Minister of Education, Youth and Information Ruel Reid endorsed the establishment of the partnership and commended both entities on their “willingness to resist territorial instincts and joining hands to achieve synergy in the area of professional development”. 

 

Minister Reid said the establishment of a partnership between NCEL and MIND is a positive move for the nation at large and a win-win situation for each agency. NCEL, a young and over achieving institution, can benefit from the organizational strength and reputation of MIND, Reid noted.

 

In delivering remarks, Dr Taneisha Ingleton, Director of Programmes at NCEL, said the move to restructure and re-culture the public sector into a modernized system has redefined what it takes for its leaders to succeed.  In this regard, she said, NCEL and MIND have committed to working together to implement leadership development and interventions.

 

“We have recognized that leadership is not only an individual but an institutional challenge and so a partnership approach could accrue greater benefits,” Dr Ingleton told the gathering at the Ministry’s National Heroes Circle offices. “When we leverage partnerships we create training solutions which are broader in scope, more rigorous in content and more flexible in features,” she added.  

 

Commenting on the partnership, Dr Ruby Brown, Chief Executive Officer at MIND, said it was urgent to address the critical issue of leadership roles in the public sector through professional development intervention as this is of paramount importance in keeping with changes in the global market.

 

“Leadership is a practice. Whatever is the job title we ought to live, work and practice leadership,” Brown stated.

 

Meanwhile, Dr. Maurice Smith, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, said it was important to build capacity within the Ministry as well as the entities affiliated to the organization.  “We decided to reach out to an entity similar to ours to improve the leadership at the Ministry,” he said.

 

NCEL was established in 2011 to set and maintain standards for leadership and to ensure that system and school leaders are well equipped for their different roles. NCEL, through its programmes also identifies and develops future leaders to operate effectively in a modernized system.

 

MIND is an executive agency of the Government of Jamaica, an accredited tertiary level training institution and the main public sector management training organization. However, its range of courses is also available to private sector managers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Senator Ruel Reid, Minister of Education, Youth and Environment disclosed on Wednesday (April 13) that Cabinet approved the award of a contract to Carlong Publishers (Caribbean) Limited to procure and distribute textbooks under the Primary Textbook Programme for 2016/2017 for the sum of US $ 1,462,360.52.

Speaking at the weekly post-Cabinet Press Briefing, Minister Reid also announced the upcoming regional launch in Jamaica of the 14th Anniversary of Vaccination Week in the Americas (VWA) under the slogan “Go for the gold! Get vaccinated”, April 24-30, 2016.  The total cost of staging the event is $ 6, 811, 827.40 of which PAHO will contribute US$ 12, 000.00. Cabinet took note that the initiative’s overarching objective is to target populations with limited access to regular health services, thereby working to close the gaps in immunization and strengthen the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) in the Americas.

Senator Kamina Johnson-Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade also attended the briefing and updated the media on communication with her counterpart in Trinidad and Tobago to address the reported harassment by immigration authorities in that country of several Jamaican nationals recently.

See full statement by Senator Reid.

 

Senator Ruel Reid, Minster of Education, Youth and Information met with representatives of the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) during a courtesy call at his National Heroes Circle office in Kingston today (April 13). The PAJ delegation, led by President Dionne Jackson Miller, raised several issues including the facilitation of greater access by media to Cabinet Ministers; review of the Access to Information Regulations; and tabling in Parliament of the latest report by the Integrity Commission.

In response Minister Reid stated that “Cabinet had bought into the policy that we are servants of the people”. In this regard, Cabinet had adopted a communication policy that requires Ministers to be responsive to the information needs of the public. Minister Reid noted that he was the official spokesperson for the Cabinet, and that other ministers were responsible to speak on their portfolio areas. The Information Minister committed to bring to the attention of Cabinet the legislative issues raised by the PAJ.

The information subjects for which Minister Reid has responsibilities include the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica, the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica, and the National Archives and Records. In addition, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information has functional relationship with the Jamaica Information Service, and the Access to Information Office.

In the photograph, Senator Ruel Reid (right), Minister of Education, Youth and Information in discussion with Press Association of Jamaica director –Michelle Wilson Reynolds (left) and president, Dionne Jackson-Miller.

 

The Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) on Tuesday (April 12) formally welcomed Senator Ruel Reid to the position of Minister of Education, Youth and Information during the first monthly meeting between the Ministry and JTA since the recent election of a new government.

In response Minister Reid, a former president of the JTA, stated that he was a “consensual leader” and expressed his commitment to build education.

JTA  President, Norman Allen expressed support for the recently launched Alternative Pathways to Secondary Education (APSE), but raised  concerns about the provision of adequate funding to facilitate effective implementation of this initiative and the extension of the secondary schooling period to seven years. 

Minister Reid noted that facilities and resources formerly under the previous Ministry of Youth are now available for redeployment within the expanded Ministry of Education, Youth and Information. He also pointed to public and private education and training facilities that would be incorporated under the Career Advancement Programme to facilitate the extension of the secondary schooling period.

Education officials in attendance at the meeting emphasised that seven years of schooling was applicable only to students who needed additional time to acquire the requisite qualification to pursue their career goals.

 

In the photograph the Education MInister presents a copy of the APSE booklet to the JTA President and team. From left are: Mr. Byron Farquharson (JTA General Secretary), Mrs. L. Judith Spencer Jarrett(JTA Officer), Mr. Howard Isaacs(JTA President Elect), Mr. Norman Allen (JTA President), Senator Ruel Reid (Minister of Education, Youth and Information), Dr Maurice Smith (Permanenet Secretary), Ms. Claudia McLean (JTA Officer) and Dr. Grace McLean (Chief Education Officer).

 

Her Excellence, Cecelia Jaber, Mexican Ambassador to Jamaica paid a courtesy call on Senator, the Hon  Ruel Reid, Minister of Education, Youth and Information on Monday (April 11, 2016). They discussed the strengthening of cooperation in the area of education. Mexico already issues a yearly call for tertiary education lecturers to spend time teaching in that country. The discussions on Monday sought to expand this cooperation to include teachers in the primary school system being trained in Mexico to teach Spanish. Minister Reid and Ambassador Jaber agreed to explore the establishment by Mexico of a resource centre for teachers of Spanish in Jamaica. 

In addition, Minister Reid and Ambassador Jaber exchanged briefs on the 8th Meeting of the Jamaica/Mexico Bi-national Commission scheduled to take place 17-18 May 2016 in Mexico City. The Ministry submitted two proposals on behalf of the Edna Manley College this year. They are: Production of a contemporary Mexican play as a methodology for discovery of Mexican culture; and Workshops/Exploring Natural Dyes: Sustainable Entrepreneurial Development

 

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information has committed $3.5 million for first phase of improvement works at the Padmore Primary School in Red Hills, St. Andrew.

 Portfolio Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, told JIS News that the works will include renovation of the bathroom facilities, installation of a computer laboratory, which will also serve as a library, as well as paving of the school grounds.

 Mr. Reid said some of the renovation work will be completed ahead of the start of the new school year in September.  Other improvements will be undertaken over time, he informed.

 Senator Reid toured the institution on Thursday (April 7) along with Member of Parliament for St. Andrew West Rural, Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn; Councillor for the Red Hills Division, Otis Hamilton; and a team from the Ministry.

 The school, previously slated for closure due to low student enrolment and underperformance, has made a dramatic turnaround achieving 100 per cent pass rates at the grade three and four levels, as well as outstanding performances in the 2015 Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT).

The Education Minister told JIS News that the tour is a “fact-finding mission” to assess the needs and discuss plans for the future of the institution, as well as extend the Ministry’s full support to the school’s leadership.

 “I am here as the new Minister of Education to see first hand Padmore Primary, having heard about its turnaround and its success story. I wanted to be here to let them know that the Ministry of Education fully supports their efforts… we have to look at the capacity of the school and so we will be guided by those discussions,” the Minister said.

 Mrs. Cuthbert-Flynn also pledged her commitment to assisting the institution which, she noted, has been receiving “many applications” from parents interested in sending their children to the school.

 “Your pass rate was so excellent last year. I was so proud to be a part of this constituency knowing that you have all done so well…I am very willing to work with the Ministry of Education to see what I can do as the Member of Parliament to see things happen,” Mrs. Cuthbert-Flynn said.

In addition to the support from the Ministry, a number of private sector entities have come forward to extend assistance to the school.

 Principal of Padmore Primary, Keisha Hayles, who, along with the administration and community members, worked tirelessly to improve the school’s academic performance, welcomed the visit by the team from the Ministry.

 “We thank (the Minister) for being here. I believe it is a step in the right direction. I have been seeking attention for Padmore Primary because we are now one of the top schools in Jamaica and I believe that the playing field must be levelled,” she stated.