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Teachers Must be Well Trained – Education Minister
JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says two of the main goals of the Ministry are to ensure that teachers are well trained and are given the necessary tools to carry out their tasks.
Speaking recently at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) CONFINTEA VI Sub-Regional Follow-up Meeting for the Caribbean, in Montego Bay, he emphasised that for teachers to be successful, they have to be empowered and motivated.
“We want to highlight the fact that teachers must be empowered as a critical step towards quality education and sustainable societies,” the Minister said.
“It is, therefore, fitting that UNESCO has partnered with the Jamaican Foundation for Lifelong Learning (JFLL) to train teachers of adult learners in literacy and numeracy. The in-service teacher training was delivered islandwide under the ‘Enhancing Outcomes for Trainers of Adult Learners’ Project,” he added.
The project, Mr. Reid pointed out, focused on best practices in demonstrated methodologies and the importance of linking and extending content in the learning material, making it relevant to the lives of the youth and adult learners.
“The overarching goal was to clearly contribute to the outcome of two of Jamaica’s Vision 2030 plan, that by 2030, Jamaicans are empowered to achieve their fullest potential, and envisions the development of a world-class education and training system,” the Minister added.
He noted that modules included personal reflection and attitude, psychology of adult learning, skills of collaboration and the delivery of the curriculum for the Foundation’s Lessons in English, Numeracy and Survival (LENS) programme.
“This project had an immediate impact on the approximately 7,000 youth and adult learners enrolled in JFLL centres across the island, with a residual multiplier effect of approximately 100 per cent within a 12-month period,” he said.
The Minister pointed out that there are approximately 1,500 adult learners enrolled in the JFLL’s high-school equivalency pilot, with another 3,000 waiting to come on stream in the next phase.
Senator Reid said this represents an increase of 100 per cent over the previous year.
CAPTION:
Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (left) in conversation with Education Consultant at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Dr. Carole Powell, during the opening ceremony of the UNESCO CONFINTEA V1 Sub-Regional Follow-up Meeting for the Caribbean, held recently in Montego Bay. The meeting was held under the theme ‘Enhancing lifelong learning opportunities for youth and adults in the Caribbean’.
Education Key to Country’s Prosperity – Senator Reid
JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says that education is the key to Jamaica’s social and economic prosperity and is a major priority of the Government.
He said the administration “is doing everything” to ensure that the populace has full and complete access to learning.
“Education is associated with better skills, higher productivity, and enhanced human capacity. I am sure we would all agree that the education of our people is one area that should not suffer even as we face difficult times,” he said.
The Minister was addressing the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Institute for Lifelong Learning Conference at the Hyatt Ziva Hotel in Rose Hall, St. James, on July 1.
Education ministers, permanent secretaries and senior education experts from 14 Caribbean countries participated in the conference, which focused on enhancing lifelong learning opportunities for youth and adults.
Senator Reid commended UNESCO for leading the global effort to advance education for sustainable development.
This broad movement, he said, is concerned with identifying and advancing education, teaching and learning policies and practices to ensure “social, economic and ecological viability and well-being now and into the future”.
“Education for sustainable development ….offers a renewed vision for educational policy and practice fully in tune with the needs and issues of the 21st century,” Mr. Reid noted.
UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goal 4 aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
“With the stand-alone Goal 4 on education and its related targets, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognises that education is essential for the success of all sustainable development goals (SDGs),” the Minister said.
“Education is also included in goals on health, growth and employment, sustainable consumption and production, and climate change,” he noted further.
Senator Reid urged the conference delegates, during their deliberations, to reflect on progress and challenges in adult learning and education while facilitating the development of common strategies to address these areas.
CAPTION:
Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (2nd left), shares light conversation with (from left) Deputy Manager of Jamaica-German Automotive School (JAGAS), Kevin Baxter; Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Curacao, Hon. Irene Dick; Education Consultant at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Dr. Carole Powell; and former United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director, Dr. Simon Clarke. The occasion was the opening ceremony of UNESCO’s Institute for Lifelong Learning Conference at the Hyatt Ziva Hotel in Rose Hall, St. James, on July 1.
Teacher Training For New Curriculum Starts This Week
THE GLEANER:
Training for more than 12,000 public- and private-school teachers gets underway this week as the Ministry of Education Youth and Information (MOEYI) prepares for the roll-out of the new curriculum for primary and secondary schools.
The National Standards Curriculum (NSC) replaces the Revised Primary Curriculum (RPC) and the National Curriculum for Grades 7-9, formerly referred to as the Reform of Secondary Education (ROSE).
Beginning today, teachers from the ministry’s regions one (Kingston and St Andrew) and two (Portland, St Mary and St Thomas) will be involved in training workshops at schools throughout the regions. Training for teachers in the remaining four regions will continue next week through to early August.
This year, the training will target primary-level educators who teach grades 1 and 4 and secondary-level teachers who cater to grades 7-9.
Training for the remainder of the country’s teaching cohort will take place during the summer of 2017.
The workshops form part of efforts to ensure that the country’s teachers are au fait with the objectives, principles and methodologies associated with the NSC which will be offered from grade 1 at the primary level to grade 9 at the secondary level.
EXAMINATION PREPARATION
After grade nine, students are expected to transition into programmes that prepare them for the various external examinations, including those offered by the Caribbean Examinations Council, City and Guilds, and the National Vocational Qualification of Jamaica. In addition, students at the upper-secondary level will benefit from offerings in the Career Advancement Programme.
The introduction of the NSC places Jamaica among the growing list of countries that have been revising their curriculum offerings in response to the rapid pace at which technology and knowledge continue to change.
The new curriculum will require teachers to embrace new methods of teaching and learning and should result in improved outcomes for the country’s children. The MOEYI is confident that the NSC will be effective in preparing Jamaica’s children for life in the 21st century and beyond.
Two new disciplines have been added to the NSC, namely civics and resource and technology. Changes have also been effected to the science, social studies and Spanish programmes. Mathematics and language arts will receive separate focus.
Adult Education Deemed Pivotal to Advancing Caribbean Development
JIS: State Minister for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green, has underscored the importance of adult education and lifelong learning to the growth and development of the Caribbean’s economies and people.
Mr. Green noted that while the region boasts documented supporting research, countries must act to ensure this conclusion materializes.
In this regard, the State Minister has endorsed a proposal for speedy implementation of revised United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommendations for the advancement of adult learning and education.
The recommendations address prevailing educational, cultural, economic, political, and social challenges.
The proposed action plan was mooted during UNESCO’s just concluded International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI) Sub-Regional Follow-up Caribbean Meeting, in Montego Bay.
Mr. Green, who addressed the closing ceremony at the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall Hotel on Friday, July 1, also cited the need for ongoing collaboration involving stakeholders in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and wider Diasporas to support the advancement of adult education.
“As a region, we must ensure that the benchmarks and best practices emerging are validated (and) that adult and lifelong learning is viewed within the context of general education, technical vocational education and training (TVET), special education and literacy, as we continue to train our people for the future,” he said.
Additionally, Mr Green said regional states must continue to conduct research which identifies new trends and subjects that will become relevant in schools, and tailor institutions’ curricula to meet the needs of constantly changing workforces.
The two-day conference, which was attended by Education Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and senior education professionals from 14 Caribbean countries, was held under the theme: ‘Enhancing Lifelong Learning Opportunities for Youth and Adults’.
Mr. Green commended UNESCO for providing the forum that facilitated the participants’ deliberations, thereby enabling them to make decisions which were expected to benefit the region over the medium to long-term.
Notable among these, he said, was a proposal for the appointment of a regional ‘Champion Education Minister’ to lobby support for and oversee implementation of the UNESCO recommendations.
CAPTION:
State Minister for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green, addressing delegates attending the closing ceremony for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA V1) Sub-Regional Follow-up Caribbean Meeting, at the Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall Hotel in Montego Bay on Friday, July 1. The two-day conference, which ran from June 30 to July 1, was held under the theme – ‘Enhancing Lifelong Learning Opportunities for Youth and Adults in the Caribbean’.
Gaps in training needs for workforce being identified
JIS: The HEART Trust/NTA is partnering with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information to identify the gaps in the training needs for the workforce.
Portfolio Minister, Senator Ruel Reid, says he has also requested the private sector to highlight the areas of need.
The minister said this is necessary, “as we look at the emerging job opportunities, such as animation, business process outsourcing, hospitality, maritime and logistics”.
“In all these areas, we are now getting HEART Trust/NTA to be available to train the workforce,” the minister pointed out.
He added that it is important to signal to the international investment community that Jamaica has the kind of human resource capital that they can utilise.
“So, the HEART Trust/ NTA is absolutely critical in this particular initiative,” Reid said.
Meanwhile, the minister also mentioned the training agency’s multimillion-dollar support programme, which will benefit students of the national skills training institute as well as operators of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
Under the initiative, 60 students graduating with National Vocational Qualification of Jamaica (NVQJ) level 3 qualifications will obtain funding to start their own businesses, while 20 existing MSME operators will receive grants of up to $3 million to expand their operations.
“Through HEART, we are also looking at placing trained workers in jobs, so we are focused on how we can expand economic activity and by that expansion, how we can get persons employed,” Senator Reid said.
CAPTION:
Senator Ruel Reid, Minister of Education, Youth and Information
Exam to replace GSAT pushed back to 2018
The Observer: THE roll-out of the Primary Exit Profile (PEP), which is slated to replace the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), has been rescheduled to the academic year 2018/2019 from a previously announced date of 2017/2018.
Chief education officer in the Ministry of Education, Dr Grace McLean, told reporters and editors at this week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange that come September, the ministry will be rolling out the National Standards Curriculum in grades one, three, four, seven, eight and nine, which should adequately prepare students to sit the exam in March 2019.
“What this means is that the students who are in grade four will commence the new curriculum this year. So we have 2016/17 for grade four, 2017/18 for grade five and 2018/19 for grade six. So you will have the set of grade four students this coming school year being the first group that will be sitting the PEP,” she said.
She explained that PEP is an assessment that will be closely aligned to the National Standards Curriculum.
“It will be focusing more on higher-order thinking, so the students will get an opportunity to review, to synthesise, to evaluate and to apply the knowledge that they would have learnt during the period,” Dr McLean explained.
The approach currently being used for the National Standards Curriculum, according to Dr McLean, is one where the structure of PEP is aligned to the curriculum to create what is known as an assessment tracker.
This, she said, will facilitate the alignment of all the objectives currently in the curriculum with the assessment objectives to make the introduction of the exam a seamless process.
“The curriculum is over three years, but we will have a continuous assessment component of the exam itself. So it means that in grade four they will actually be doing assignments that will contribute to the overall grade that they will be receiving at the end of grade six,” the chief education officer said. “[Regarding] the assessment at grade six, it is proposed that it will be done in March instead of in June and they [students] will be assessed just on the grade six part of the curriculum. So they will not need to be preparing now from grade four to six because they would have done their assessment and will now be graded in grade four and grade five and assessed on the grade six component.”
She explained that approach to the assessment is deliberate in order to allow students to move away from what she describes as “this whole business of recalling what they would have learnt over a three-year period and swatting to go into the exam”, to a point where there is a greater level of understanding.
“We want their preparation for moving to the secondary level to be of such so that they can manage to move on in terms of the social studies, the science, the math and the language,” she emphasised.
With regards to the legitimacy of the assessment, Dr McLean said this July and August the ministry will be training approximately 12,000 teachers to conduct such tasks.
“It is not only the curriculum that will change, but the assessment component because the nature of the questions will be changed. Technical and vocational education is also included,” she stated.
Moreover, Dr McLean said the areas of assessment will remain the same in the form of math, English Language, science and social studies. However, another component, mental ability, will be added to assess the other areas of development of the student.
“It is not only about their academic ability, it is about their awareness and how they understand the context within which the society operates,” she said. “It becomes integrated so the student now has an opportunity to think through a question instead of just applying whatever the knowledge is. It allows students to relax a little more and allows for the different kinds of learning styles, not just those who recall.”
Added Dr McLean: “Understand that there is an alignment: the curriculum is aligned from grades one to three, four to six, seven, eight and nine, so that the students, when they go into grade seven as the research has shown, we do not see a dip in their performance but we see a continuation because of this alignment that will take place. So, we expect — based on the validation from Australia and Singapore as it relates to this curriculum — that we will really get more positive results and of course there will be less stress on our parents and teachers.”
Regarding the reintroduction of civics, Dr McLean said the subject area forms part of the social studies syllabus at grades one to three and will be offered within a particular window to students at grades four to six where they will be timetabled for at least 45 minutes to an hour per week with focus on that component.
Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary in the education ministry, Dr Maurice Smith, said the changes to come for grade four students this September will not affect the cost of books.
“We are doing the costings, but the changes should not result in any significant changes as far as the demands on parents because the content more or less remains the same. We should see maintenance of the same number of books or fall in the number of books but certainly not an increase in the number of books, asthe content remains the same. The big difference is the methodology — how are the children taught? The ministry is increasing its spend on ensuring that schools have the requisite infrastructural provisions to respond to the curriculum demands,” he said.
On the matter of how students will be placed in secondary schools, Dr McLean said there are ongoing consultations from which different options are being presented. On completion, a discussion with the minister and permanent secretary will take place, then whatever decision is taken will go to Parliament before being approved.
She said that as part of the consultations, international study tours have been conducted where other placement mechanisms such as separating the placement from the exam have been looked at.
Dr McLean said this method presents the results before the placement so it does not appear that if a student attains an average of 80 per cent he/she has failed because they were not given the school of choice.
Grade Nine Diagnostic Test to be Introduced 2019
JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says the Grade Nine Diagnostic Test will be implemented during the 2019/2020 academic year.
He made the disclosure at a JIS Think Tank held recently at the agency’s head office in Kingston.
He explained that the diagnostic test will assess students’ readiness, their performance and achievements up to grade nine.
The Education Minister said that while national assessments are undertaken at various levels of the education system there is no formal evaluation of students after the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) and before the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.
“This is a very important assessment because at the high-school, traditionally, this is the stage where teachers try to understand students’ strengths, weaknesses and their interests to prepare them for their exit at Grade 11, including their career path,” he pointed out.
“So, what we really want to do is to formalise the process because the Ministry needs the data and it is important to have this information to understand students’ performance,” he noted further.
Minister Reid also informed that plans are “way advanced” for the phasing out of the GSAT, and its replacement by the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) in 2019/2020.
“What we are now doing is rolling out the curriculum that will lead to the new assessment. We will engage wide stakeholder consultation in terms of the new curriculum, the new modalities of testing and the possible implications for change in placements,” the Minister said.
He explained that the PEP, which will be a composite test, will include mental ability, curriculum testing and teacher or school-based evaluation.
He added that the exam will focus on high-order skills and will not be a multiple choice-type exam as exists with GSAT.
CAPTION:
Senator Ruel Reid, Minister of Education, Youth and Information
JA to Host Conference on Adult Education
JIS: Jamaica in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will host the International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA) in Montego Bay, St. James, from June 30 to July 1.
Education Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and senior education experts from 14 Caribbean countries will gather at Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall Hotel, to participate in the CONFINTEA VI Sub-Regional Follow-up Meeting for the Caribbean, under the theme ‘Enhancing Lifelong Learning Opportunities for Youth and Adults’.
Speaking in an interview with JIS News on June 29, Director of Education Services at the Jamaica Foundation for Lifelong Learning, Dr Grace-Camille Munroe said that this is the first time that a meeting of this kind is being held in this region.
She explained that coming out of the CONFINTEA VI, held in Belém do Pará Brazil in December 2009, UNESCO developed the Belém Framework of Action which is the monitoring framework that guides adult education across the world.
Dr. Munroe said that the Jamaica meeting is seen as the Caribbean component to what was held in Brazil and will be used to see what progress has been made as a part of what is called a global report on adult learning and education.
She noted that coming out of the ‘Education for all Platform’, adult education was given its own right as part of what would be considered a critical component in the education system.
Partners from UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning in Hamburg, Germany, will also participate in the conference to provide guidance on the expected outcomes of the conference.
Meanwhile, Dr. Munroe said the conference aims to get a status report on what progress the region has made on the elements of the framework such as policy; governance; financing; participation; inclusion and equity; monitoring and evaluation and partnership.
The participating countries are Jamaica, Grenada, Anguilla, Dominica, Montserrat, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Guyana, St. Maarten, and Suriname.
The Jamaican delegation will include representatives from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Jamaica Foundation for Lifelong Learning (JFLL), University of Technology (UTech), University of the West Indies (UWI) and civil society. Minister of Education Youth and Information, Senator, the Hon. Ruel Reid and State Minister, Hon. Floyd Green are scheduled to address the conference.
CAPTION:
Senator Ruel Reid, Minister of Education, Youth and Information
Innovators Urged to Develop Apps to Boost Gov’t Operations
JIS: State Minister for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green, is encouraging technology innovators to develop applications that can be utilised by Government to improve its operations and processes.
“The Government definitely needs more of you to look at some of the problems we have in governance and find new ways for us to solve those problems,” he said.
“I want to see more of you develop applications that a government can use to aid its processes; to develop services, to deliver services to the people of Jamaica,” he added.
Mr. Green was addressing the launch of Digital Media Week 2016 on June 27 at the Courtyard by Marriott in New Kingston.
Being observed from June 27 to 30, Digital Media Week invites technology start-ups and social media practitioners to discuss social and digital media issues relating to Jamaica as well as share and create content for the social media space.
The four-day event, under the theme: ‘Digital 876: Building Brands For Global Impact’, will highlight the need for an understanding of the digital space and global business opportunities that exist.
Digital media refers to content such as text, graphics, audio, and video that can be transmitted over theInternet or computer networks.
The Education State Minister, in endorsing the event, said it provides the opportunity to “teach our young people how they can get into this industry (digital media) because this is a viable option and an area that they can invest in and help to change Jamaica”.
The week of activities include presentations and panel discussions at various venues in Kingston.
A charity event is scheduled for June 29 at the Marriott, which will honour four women in social media, who have assisted in developing the local industry. Proceeds are in aid of Lancewood Basic School in St. Elizabeth.
The week’s activities will culminate with the celebration of observance of Social Media Day on June 30. Digital Media Week is organised by local social media consultancy agency BlogAmo Jamaica. For more details, visit: digital876.com.
CAPTION:
State Minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green, addresses the launch of Digital Media Week 2016 on June 27 at the Courtyard By Marriott in New Kingston on . The four-day event, under the theme: ‘Digital 876: Building Brands For Global Impact,’ invites technology start ups and social media practitioners to discuss digital media issues relating to Jamaica as well as share and create content for the wider social media space.