At the end of enslavement, most Africans on plantations in the Caribbean and North and South America were illiterate. Europeans used slave codes to make it a criminal offence for Africans to acquire this skill. This ensured that Africans would be psycho-socially crippled and dependent on Europeans for self and social definition.

In this way, education was weaponised as a tool of domination and exclusion. The legacies of a racialised education system plus insufficient access for those most in need are enduring problems. Advocates for a decolonised education system have long been struggling to remove such barriers to success. People like Dr Anna Julia Heywood Cooper ( A Voice from the South); Dr Carter. G. Woodson ( The Mis-Education of the Negro); and our own Marcus Garvey ( The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey) are among stellar educators who designed charters for emancipation from mental slavery as alternative methods for intellectual progress for the African majority class.

Although education is a gateway to upward social mobility, Jamaica remains mired in a Eurocentric approach to the form and content of the pedagogical product. This is a challenge to the crafting of frameworks or learning that facilitate self-realisation and cohesive national development. Case in point is the Government of Jamaica’s (GoJ’s) clumsy communication of an immediate shift to an apparently mandatory seven-year high school schedule. A sensitive leadership would invest more effort and time in persuading the beneficiaries of the reasonableness of taking this pathway (to use the unfortunate brand) at this time.

INSENSITIVE

The choice to use the traditional top-down approach to dictate to a digitised generation of students is insensitive of the Convention on the Rights of the Child’s (CRC’s) stipulation that children must know about decisions that affect their lives. This fundamental right is in recognition that even if caregivers inside and outside of the household are acting in the best interests of their wards, they are obliged to consult said children and ensure that their participation in the decision-making process is facilitated and encouraged.

That consultation approach was missing from the recent Nicodemus policy, which stipulates that fifth-form graduation ceremonies would be cancelled this year to make way for the onset of a mandatory seven-year high-school engagement model. The government announcement appeared as another top-down decision, which was unplanned and ideologically unconvincing. Some students erupted in consternation as their exit strategies from high school do not mandate attendance at sixth-form level.

At first byte, the news sounded as if it would now be compulsory for students to attend school for seven and not five years. On second read, however, this news is not that novel. It is a conversation that has been flagged for some time in recognition of the reality that more and more students are graduating into a sterile socio-economic environment. The paucity of “work” in the public space has prompted the GOJ in the past to promote initiatives to protect children from the hostile public-sector environment for as long as possible. Delaying students’ entry into the world of work acknowledges that the employment environment is hostile to school leavers not only from high school , but also tertiary institutions.

Beyond paucity of employment on the job market, many students are not work-ready when they opt to leave at the end of fifth form (grade 11). The two years spent at sixth- form level (grades 12-13) are designed to build out personal development potential, improve work eligibility and qualifications, and hone young intellects for tertiary-level advancement. For those who accept the option of the seven-year model, achieving an associate Degree at the end of the period is a good thing even if the packaging of this prize is problematic.

All these intentions are all very well and good. But it was the timing and style of the announcement that galled those who railed and are still protesting. Their angst has to do with the fact that the matriculation requirements have not changed for tertiary institutions like teachers’ colleges, the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, Northern Caribbean University, and come to think of it, also The University of the West Indies (The UWI), which admits part-time entrants on the strength of Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) passes. CXC conventions have also not been changed in other Caribbean countries. This decision to suddenly remodel the school-leaving arrangement could be seen as what Dr Eric Williams meant when he called Jamaica’s pulling out of the Caribbean Federation a case of 1 from 10 leaves Zero.

WHITE ELEPHANT POLITICS

The GoJ’s Sixth Form Pathways Programme is based on the 11-year old Career Advancement Programme (CAP), the high-rolling post-secondary school-enhancement model, which offered 40,000 CAPE students subsidised education opportunities, and some 63,000 students were enabled to resit CSEC subjects like mathematics and English; improve personal development and technical skills, and bolster success possibilities at the tertiary level.

This was initiated in 2010, and just over a decade later, this well-meaning white elephant is being hailed as the baseline for the normalisation of this approach. What were the CAP outcomes? What are the success stories? Where is the Tracer Study to countervail the claim that the certification did not translate to job and schooling successes? What value did the investment of over eight hundred million dollars have on young people’s ability to get jobs or enrol in tertiary institutions? Will that substantial material support be replicated in the new normal of an extended school schedule as happened with the CAP experiment?

Concerns about form and content of school engagement are more relevant now than ever as the nation hovers in the twilight zone between remote and face-to face options. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI), the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the disruption of school engagement for 600,000 students, 25,000 educators and numerous parents, service providers, and other significant dependants on the system (see https://www.capricaribbean.org/discussion/effects-covid-19-education-sector).

The jury is still out on the number of children who have disappeared from the system due to lack of access to hardware and connectivity and their inability to pivot to meet the unprecedented demands of the new mechanisms of pedagogical engagement. It is a time for the carrot not the stick.

 

– Dr Imani Tafari-Ama is a research fellow at The Institute for Gender and Development Studies, Regional Coordinating Office (IGDS-RCO), at The University of the West Indies. She is the author of ‘Blood, Bullets and Bodies: Sexual Politics Below Jamaica’s Poverty Line’ and ‘Up for Air: This Half Has Never Been Told’, a historical novel on the Tivoli Gardens incursion. Send feedback to [email protected].

Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Robert Nesta Morgan, says the Government is exploring how it can improve the salaries of early-childhood practitioners on the island.

Addressing the handover ceremony of the Bethlehem Moravian College Early Childhood Centre of Excellence in Malvern, St. Elizabeth, on December 6, the State Minister said the Government is also seriously considering “how we can make more infant schools that are fully funded by the Government, where teachers are now a part of the Ministry of Education salary scale, paid for by the Government”.

“The Government recognises the importance of the early-childhood sector as a foundation for growth within the society, which then logically means that the Government must play a more interventionist role in the sector,” Mr. Morgan said.

“What [this] means is that we must start merging schools and create infant departments. Let’s say you have five basic schools that have 10 children each, you can now have an infant school with 50, and you can give the teachers who were at these basic schools the training, so that they can go to NCTVET and they can get certified or they can get their relevant [Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate] or if they wish, they can go to the bachelor’s degree, which I suspect, Bethlehem is very willing to accommodate them,” he added.

The early-childhood institution is located on the property of the college and was constructed by the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund, at a cost of $40.3 million.

The school will serve as a training facility for student teachers at the college who are specialising in early-childhood education.

Mr. Morgan  noted that the 160-year-old institution has continuously contributed to national development since its inception.

“I think it is fitting that the CHASE Fund and the Government chose to put this institution here, at an institution that has stability, and that has demonstrated excellence over the years,” the State Minister said.

Mr. Morgan also thanked the CHASE Fund for funding the construction of the building and underscored the importance of early-childhood education.

For his part, Chief Executive Officer of the CHASE Fund, Billy Heaven, said the  state-of-the-art facility will “allow for best practice in the delivery of early-childhood education”.

Mr. Heaven added that early-childhood education is too important to be left to chance.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Board of Management at the Bethlehem Moravian College, Lowel G. Morgan, said that “against the background of the fallout in education gains globally, this building is a symbol of hope”.

“Hope not just for our institution in terms of an enhancement in our physical plant but hope in  relation to what we can accomplish,” he added.

The new facility features three classrooms, bathrooms, office, kitchen, dining area and a demonstration room.

Parents are welcoming the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Information’s Sixth-Form Pathways Programme as a practical approach that caters to all students regardless of their academic performance.

The Sixth-Form Pathways is part of the Ministry’s implementation of a seven-year high-school programme. It allows for students who complete grade 11 to enrol in the programme and pursue a two-year course of study with alternative opportunities alongside the traditional sixth-form curriculum.

For those who choose not to attend a tertiary institution, the certification they receive at the end of the Sixth-Form Pathways Programme will prepare them to enter various fields of work or receive further general or technical training.

In an interview with JIS News, retired teacher and father of one, Kenrick Thorpe, commended the initiative as a “good programme”.

“From my understanding, it caters for those who are academically inclined and for those who are not. Those who are not academically inclined will do [skills training], which is very good.” Mr. Thorpe said.

“I think it’s a good programme and I know if it is carried out as planned by the Ministry, pupils will benefit from it,” he noted.

St. James resident and mother of two, Gloria Brown, told JIS News, “I think it’s a very good idea, but [I think] the [cost] for the kids [to attend school] needs to be subsidised for the two [additional] years”.

Fifty Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students from three tertiary institutions have been awarded scholarships valued at just over $26.6 million, by liquefied natural gas company New Fortress Energy.

The students hail from the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, the University of Technology (UTech) and the Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMU).

The scholarships were presented at a ceremony held at the UWI on December 1.

Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Fayval Williams, in her address said the Ministry will continue to encourage the integration of technology at all academic levels.

“We welcome this important support for education in general, but for STEM education, in particular. We have been making Jamaicans more aware of what it is. The national curriculum that we have in our primary schools all the way through high school is STEM-based and I’m happy to see that at the tertiary level, you are pushing this,” she said.

In the meantime, Principal of  UWI,  Mona,  Professor Dale Webber, argued that investing in the STEM fields forms part of the university’s mission, which is to inform and increase Caribbean development.

“Several decades ago, we decided we would invest in STEM and we’ve continued to do so, especially as we recognise the need for us to grow as a country and as a region. The human resource to support this is what’s important and you the students are the human resource to make this happen. We have [also] found that partnerships with our public and private-sector entities make all the difference,” he said.

Since 2016, New Fortress Energy has awarded more than $65 million in tertiary scholarships. Additionally, more than 3,700 primary and high schools benefited from financial aid, bursaries,  tablets, laptops and school supplies.

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information has received 1,000 tablet computers and supporting inputs, valued at approximately US$100,000, for the early-childhood sector.

The devices, donated by philanthropic organisation, the Project for the Advancement of Childhood Education (PACE) Canada, are in support of the Ministry’s ‘One Laptop or Tablet Per Child’ initiative and will be distributed to more than 200 institutions islandwide sponsored by the entity.

PACE Board Member, Mark Fullerton, presented the tablets to portfolio Minister, Hon. Fayval Williams, during a brief handover ceremony at the Ministry’s offices in Kingston on Thursday (November 11).

PACE Canada was able to secure the tablets through generous donations from members, supporters and through stakeholder partnerships.

Minister Williams welcomed PACE Canada’s gesture, noting that the donations “have come at a very good time for our children”.

She said that youngsters in early-childhood institutions are “probably the hardest hit” by the pandemic, as “they had to be at home … without the care and supervision of trained [early-childhood] practitioners”.

Mrs. Williams said that although face-to-face instructional delivery is gradually resuming, students will still have to use technology to access online learning.

“We know we won’t be able to get every child back into the face-to-face environment [at the same time]; they will have to be rotated. So, while there are some children [who will be] in the classroom, others will still have to be using the online system,” she pointed out.

Mrs. Williams said the Ministry continues to work with various private-sector entities and individuals, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), to secure digital devices “to ensure our students are not left without any form of continuing education in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic”

In his remarks, Mr. Fullerton, said that Jamaica is among the first 10 countries to adopt the onetab devices specially developed by British entity Onebillion.org, for the early-childhood sector.

They incorporate software that uses adaptive learning techniques in numeracy and literacy, including several foreign languages, delivered in 40-minute daily lessons.

Each lesson is based on the child’s level, using a pool of thousands of learning units.

Once a child has finished their lesson, onetab can be seamlessly passed on to the next youngster for their use.

Mr. Fullerton said studies show that 40 minutes of lessons derived daily by children using the devices over eight weeks, will result in significant increases in their learning ability.

“We had a chance to visit two schools… and saw, first-hand, some of the challenges that you are facing during this pandemic. So, we know the challenges are great [and] look forward to continue helping our children in Jamaica,” he noted.

Also speaking at the ceremony were Executive Director of the Early Childhood Commission (ECC), Karlene DeGrasse Deslandes, and Director, Donor and Partnership Management, National Education Trust (NET), Latoya Harris.

The provision of the 1,000 tablets forms part of PACE Canada’s ‘Tablets for Kids’ programme to obtain devices for the early-childhood institutions it sponsors. This undertaking is being executed with the support of the ECC and NET.

Several PACE Adopt-A-School sponsors donated funds towards the devices.

PACE Canada, which was founded in 1987, has worked with the Education Ministry and ECC to support more than 300 early-childhood institutions islandwide through the provision of funding and educational opportunities, and delivery of technology.

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information officially launched National Youth Month 2021 under the theme ‘Evolve’ on Monday. This comes after a virtual National Youth Month Church Service held on Sunday.

Every year, National Youth Month is observed in November. It seeks to celebrate youths through a variety of month-long activities aimed at recognising, engaging, and empowering Jamaican youth.

This is done with the assistance of key stakeholders from the corporate and public sectors and is coordinated by the Youth and Adolescents Policy Division.

The goal is to increase youth participation in sociopolitical, economic, cultural, and spiritual activities. It also aims to recognise outstanding young people and their contributions to society, as well as to showcase the best of Jamaican youth’s capabilities and creativity.

Youths are being challenged this year, under the theme ‘Evolve’, to make headway in meeting their developmental needs while dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The theme represents a call to action for young people to rebrand and revamp their strategies while leveraging their platforms and opportunities to ‘evolve’ in business, academic pursuits, and health and mental wellness as they strive to be the best versions of themselves.

In his remarks, Robert Morgan, minister of state in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, stated that youths are a segment of the population that he is most passionate about, and that he is delighted to be honouring youngsters’ successes by putting them in the spotlight for others to join in commending them.

“Despite tremendous adversity, our young persons have stayed the course and have excelled in academics, sports, among others, proving their agency as despite their circumstances they have mobilised themselves and resources to assist their communities,” said Morgan.

CRITICAL SERVICES

While recognising the achievements of youngsters both locally and internationally, Morgan said he believes that much more needs to be done to ensure that all youths have meaningful and equitable access to education and training, as well as other critical services and opportunities.

“It is our duty as a country, as a community and as individuals to ensure that we provide the positive and nurturing environment that will allow our youth to evolve into individuals of greater self-awareness, self-confidence, pride of self and community and become beacons of positive change no matter where in the world they find themselves,” said Morgan.

POSITIVE CHANGE

In what he described as a beginning of “the slow process towards positive change”, Morgan said he wishes for “all hands on deck” to aid in this change and offer youths the best opportunities for success as they “weather any storms that may arise”.

Along with the activities being held is the National Youth Policy Creative Challenge Competition. This has been introduced as one of the primary activities of Youth Month.

The competition gives Jamaicans aged 15 to 29 years the opportunity to explain why at least one of the six National Youth Policy (NYP) goals is important to the youth population, as well as what role they can play in assisting the Government in achieving the policy’s intended goal.

Entries will be accepted from November 1, 2021 to January 28, 2022 in the form of written, artistic or video entry submissions.

The winning creative pieces will be featured on the Youth Innovation Centres website, social media, print material and other mediums. In total, six first-place winners will be selected per NYP goal.

The outlined NYP goals and priorities are to improve access to quality education at all levels and to provide opportunities for vocational training. To increase the proportion of youths who have access to sexual, reproductive, and mental health services, as well as the percentage of youths who have access to job and entrepreneurship opportunities. It also outlines the goal of increasing youth participation in national and political decision-making processes, decreasing the number of at-risk and vulnerable youths, with an overall aim of professionalising and strengthening the youth sector.

State Minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Robert Morgan, says that the Government is strengthening legislation to provide increased protection for children.

Among the measures being undertaken is a repeal of Section 24 of the Childcare and Protection Act, which allows judges to lock up children in penal institutions without charge.
Removing this discretion will protect children from unnecessary interface with the penal system.

“We’re also trying to make recommendations for the creation of an offence of predatory sexual assault and its incorporation into relevant and existing legislation for increased protection of Jamaica’s most vulnerable,” Mr. Morgan noted.

He said that the provision would penalise any adult who engages in sexual intercourse or “anything amounting to grievous sexual assault” with a vulnerable victim, such as a child under 12 years old or someone with a mental disorder, for which the suggested penalty is a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The State Minister was addressing the European Union (EU) and United Nations (UN) Spotlight Initiative’s Red Alert Round Table on sexual violence against children, on Thursday (October 28).
The event outlined proposals for strengthening and enforcing relevant laws, focusing on key provisions under the Child Care and Protection and Offences against the Person Acts.

Meanwhile, Minister Morgan noted that the resumption of face-to-face classes at 376 out of 759 primary schools is part of measures to protect children.

“This would bring approximately 45,000 students that these schools account for some well-needed reprieve,” he said.

Between 2015 and 2020, there were 74,455 reports of child abuse in Jamaica. From January to June 2021, there were 1,203 reports of sexual abuse, 1,465 reports of physical abuse and 2,528 reports of neglect.
Citizens are encouraged to use the 211 helpline to report child abuse. The helpline is operational 24 hours, seven days per week.

The nation’s youth can look forward to an exciting and engaging variety of activities in celebration of National Youth Month, being observed from November 1 to 30.

They will have the opportunity to engage in ‘Around the Table Discussions’ with notable, successful professionals; participate in the ‘All about the VAX’ forum; log on to the Virtual Youth Summit, themed ‘The Future of Work: How Digitisation affects Employment’, in partnership with Digital Jamaica; and take part in the ‘Youth in Entrepreneurship through Agriculture’ exposition.

State Minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Robert Morgan, who gave a synopsis of the activities, which are being coordinated by the Ministry’s Youth and Adolescents Policy Division, said he is very heartened by the support from the various stakeholders “who have heard the call and saw the need and importance of engaging our young persons this month”.

“This has allowed us to host a wide array of activities that will enable our youth to have a platform to discuss the many issues that affect them and posit their solutions as the main stakeholders in their destiny,” Mr. Morgan said, during the virtual launch of National Youth Month, on Monday (November 1).

In the meantime, the State Minister stressed the importance of this year’s theme for Youth Month 2021, ‘Evolve’, which implores the nation’s youth to adapt to change, as the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information makes strides in meeting their developmental needs while contending with the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“The theme represents a solid call to action for our youth to rebrand and revise their strategies and use platforms and opportunities presented to them to evolve in business, evolve in their academic pursuits, evolve in health, mental wellness and aspire to be the best versions of themselves,” he said.

Mr. Morgan added that while the “slow process” towards positive change has begun, “we need all hands on deck”.

“It takes a village to raise a child, so it will take a nation, all working in unison, towards ensuring that we give them the best chance of succeeding and weathering the storms that may arise,” he said.

Other activities to be held throughout the month include ‘Investing and Youth – the PROVEN Edition’ forum; youth with disabilities, ‘Differently Abled but Well Abled’ forum; mental health symposium themed: ‘The Impact of Trauma on the Psychosocial Development of Youth’; virtual inauguration ceremony for National Student Leader;  launch of the Social Youth Entrepreneurship  Programme; the Heart for Youth Series; and the 12^th  Sitting of the National Youth Parliament of Jamaica.

“These are just some of the events we have lined up for our young persons this month, with more being planned at the local community level through various stakeholders. We ask our young persons to sign up and log on to ensure that they join in these discussions and to begin their evolution through gaining the knowledge that is being shared by a diverse group of professionals,” Mr. Morgan said.

Talented young persons, aged 15 to 29, will have up to December 10 to submit their creative written, artistic or video entries for the National Youth Policy Creative Competition Challenge.

The competition, which is being staged by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, is part of a slate of activities for National Youth Month being observed in November.

The contest offers Jamaica’s youth the opportunity to express why at least one of the six National Youth Policy goals is important to the youth and their responsibility in supporting the Government in fulfilling the policy’s intended goals.

Speaking at the virtual launch of the competition on Monday (November 1), Policy Analyst at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Davey Haughton, said it is part of a broader thrust to increase public education on the revised National Youth Policy’s intended outcome.

“The submissions in written form can be a short essay, no more than 500 words, or a poem. The submissions in video form… do a short film, do a vine video… or even an animation. If you are making entries in the artistic form… you may do anything ranging from a photograph, a painting, a canvas, a sculpture,” he said.

There will be six grand prizes across the six policy goals and priority areas. There will be six runners-up as well as third-place prizes.

Mr. Haughton informed that at the end of the submission period, entries will be shortlisted and posted on @youthjamaica social media pages for the public to like and reshare their favourite creative entries until January 28, 2022. The entrants will also be tagged in the posts.

Posts across all platforms with the most likes, shares/retweets on or before midnight on Friday (January 28) 2022, will win.

The winning creative pieces will be featured on the Youth Innovation Centre’s website, social media, print material, and other mediums. Winners will also receive tablets.

Persons may visit the www.youthjamaica.com website to apply or to get more information on the competition, as well as the Ministry of Education’s social media pages for further details.

The National Youth Policy outlines the following goals and priorities:

1.  Education and Training: Improve access to quality secondary, tertiary education, and vocational training opportunities.
2. Health and Well-Being: Increase access to sexual, reproductive, and mental healthcare services among youth cohort.
3. Employment and Entrepreneurship: Increase the percentage of youth who have access to decent employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.
4. Youth Participation: Maximise youth participation in national and political decision-making processes.
5. Social Inclusion and Re-integration: Minimise the number of at-risk and vulnerable youth.
6. Institutional and Youth Sector Arrangements: Professionalised and strengthened youth sector.

Minister of Education, Youth, and Information, Hon. Fayval Williams,` says the Ministry will be engaging specialist teachers under the National School Learning and Intervention Plan (NSLIP) to improve academic readiness.

“[This is] to address the performance gaps, especially in the areas of numeracy and literacy, augmented by our specialist teacher model to address the foundational principles and improve [the] readiness of our students to pursue the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) syllabi,” she said.

A total of 158 primary schools and 72 secondary schools are expected to benefit from the intervention.

“Currently, we have assigned a team of 83 persons –. 50 primary math coaches, 19 secondary math coaches and 14 math specialists, who will continue to provide support remotely and physically,” she said.

Minister Williams was speaking at a virtual press briefing held today (October 19), where she shared the preliminary results of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC).

She said that despite the challenges of the pandemic, students performed satisfactorily for all subject areas except mathematics.

“In mathematics, the subject with the greatest weakness, 38.2 per cent of students had passes of Grades One, Two and Three in 2021 compared with 61.2 per cent in 2020 [and] 54.6 per cent in 2019,” she disclosed.

She said that interventions, such as the NSLIP, will help in the “recovery that is needed in the knowledge base of our children”.

“We have high hurdles to clear this academic year, but we are working to ensure that our students are not stymied in the pursuit of their education and career goals,” she said.

The NSLIP is aimed at helping students to recover from learning loss due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

It includes interventions over the summer period and during the academic year.