JIS: Managing Director of the HEART Trust/NTA, Dr. Janet Dyer, says the merger of the entity with the Jamaican Foundation for Lifelong Learning (JFLL), National Youth Service (NYS) and the Apprenticeship Board has better positioned the agency to carry out its role as the driver for human capital development.

 

Dr. Dyer, who was addressing a recent JIS Think Tank, said that the operational and administrative aspects of the merger are complete, while work on the amended Act is in the final stages.

 

She said that the amalgamation of the entities, which is the largest to date in the public service, is in keeping with public sector transformation and modernisation programme and the imperative for a trained and certified labour force to meet the demands of the local and global markets.

 

She noted that the HEART Trust/NTA is now better able to help all working age and retired Jamaicans to maximise their potential for work, volunteerism, mentorship and national service, therefore advancing Jamaica’s growth and development.

 

“As the national training agency, we are obligated to put mechanisms in place to ensure that Jamaicans are equipped with the necessary skills to better themselves,” she noted.

 

Dr. Dyer told JIS News that 97.9 per cent of the institution’s training programmes are aligned with labour market demand. She noted that the agency provides training in eight of the priority sectors under Vision 2030 Jamaica – tourism, information and communications technology (ICT), agriculture, construction, creative industries, manufacturing, and mining and quarrying, which are the latest to be added.

 

Among the objectives of the HEART Trust/NTA are: to increase access to training and certification, especially in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics; upgrade and expand work-based learning and apprenticeship programmes; and support labour market programmes aligned with the economic development and growth agenda.

 

CAPTION: Managing Director of the HEART Trust/NTA, Dr. Janet Dyer, addressing a recent JIS Think Tank.

 

JIS: 

CAPTION ONE: Minister without Portfolio with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda (left); Acting Chief Education Officer, Dr. Kasan Troupe (centre) and Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Alison Cooke-Hawthorne, speak with teacher who was recently attacked by pitbulls, leaving her with serious wounds. The Ministry officials visited the hospital on October 9.

 

CAPTION TWO: Minister without Portfolio with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda (left); and Acting Chief Education Officer, Dr. Kasan Troupe, offer words of comfort to the teacher who was recently attacked by pitbulls, leaving her with serious wounds, which caused her to be hospitalised. They, along with other Ministry officials, visited the teacher on October 9 at the hospital.

JIS: Minister without Portfolio with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda, is reporting improvement in the results from the recent Primary Exit Profile (PEP) Performance Task Test for grade four.

 

Speaking at yesterday’s (October 9) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, the Minister said the literacy score improved by one per cent, moving to 83 per cent, while numeracy increased by six per cent, moving to 74.

 

“It’s very encouraging that we have seen concrete improvements in those areas, and commendation is due to the teachers and the whole educational effort by all the members of the Ministry,” he said.

 

Meanwhile, Mr. Samuda said the results for both grade-four and grade-five Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations have been sent to schools for review and distribution to parents.

 

“Many parents are anxious to see how their little ones are progressing and we engage this strategy to prepare them for the grade six, which will indicate the placements in high schools,” he said.

 

Grade-five students sat the inaugural Performance Task Tests for their demographic between June 18 and 21, while grade-four students sat their Performance Task Tests on May 30 and 31.

 

In the meantime, Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Grace McLean, noted that the report on the grade-five results should be completed within another week, adding that a national report for the performance task at both grades will be done.

 

“In the instances of these two assessments, we found 208 cases at grade four where there were students who sat at both grade four and grade five, and there were some students where there were some anomalies in terms of their scores that we have picked up in the marking,” she said.

 

“So, what we have done is to send these to the schools, so that they can do their review,” she added.

 

PEP is the series of tests that have replaced GSAT as the national secondary school entrance test. It is intended to provide a better and more complete profile of students’ academic and critical-thinking capabilities at the end of primary-level education.

 

Students will sit the PEP exams over three years in grades four, five and six.

 

CAPTION: Minister without Portfolio with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda, addresses yesterday’s (October 9) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.

JIS: The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information is reporting that there is no shortage of textbooks or furniture in schools.

 

Free text books are available for primary-school children, while there is a book rental system in place for students at the secondary level.

 

Minister without Portfolio with responsibility for the Ministry, Hon. Karl Samuda, provided details at yesterday’s (October 9) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.

 

“I want to make a blanket statement that there should be no sense of anxiety with respect to the supply of books throughout Jamaica, in both the primary and secondary schools. There is no shortage of books for the first term.

 

What everybody will be inclined to do, when asked, ‘What do you want’, they will give you a wish list, but the wish list has very little to do necessarily with the consistency of the National Standards Curriculum for the academic year,” Mr. Samuda explained.

 

He said the Ministry is not embarking on a programme to “countenance, sanction or provide a ‘wish list’ that may occur to any group within the Ministry. We stick strictly to the requirements under the National Standards Curriculum programme and we provide the books appropriate to that programme”.

 

Mr. Samuda added that as far as the books and the numbers supplied so far, the needs for the first term of the school year are covered.

 

For her part, Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Grace McLean, said based on the monitoring of the system by the education officers, there is no reported immediate shortage of furniture and books within the system.

 

She explained that the Ministry undertook a placement of orders from last year December as it relates to the number of books required, based on indications from the school administrators.

 

“The process for procurement takes more than six months. These contracts have to go all the way to Cabinet for approval before they are provided to the suppliers who actually distribute the books across the island,” she noted.

 

“This year is also unique, because we have fully implemented the National Standards Curriculum and we are on a drive to ensure that we change out all the books within the system, which will be done over a two-year period,” Dr. McLean said.

 

She said educational officers are always on alert for schools that will call to say they need additional books, noting that “once we receive those calls then we provide those books accordingly. To the best of our knowledge, we have done that within the first two weeks of the school year”.

 

Turning to the matter of school furniture, she said the Ministry supplies furniture based on what is critical, adding that there is an active repair programme within schools.

 

Dr. McLean said approximately 30 schools, for this year, were provided with funds in their regular grants to purchase their own furniture.

 

She noted that based on its audit, the Ministry has, so far, delivered 11,058 pieces of students’ furniture with about 1,500 to be delivered within the course of this week, and the other 6,200 pieces will be delivered to the schools that have requested, by the end of October.

 

“We do not have any students who are standing up at this time and receiving instruction. They are all seated on a chair around a desk, in their labs on stools around a table, and the teaching learning process continues,” Dr. McLean said.

 

CAPTION: Minister without Portfolio with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda, addresses yesterday’s (October 9) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.

JIS: The St. Catherine-based Enid Bennett High School is expecting savings of up to 50 per cent on its annual water bill from the establishment of a $7-million rainwater harvesting system.

 

Installed by the Rural Water Supply Limited (RWSL), the system comprises four 1,000-gallon black tanks, a 20,000-gallon block and steel tank, a solar-powered pump, and other features to harvest and store water.

 

Speaking at a ceremony on the school grounds on Tuesday (October 8) to officially commission the system into service, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr., said that the harvesting facility “will go a long way in making the school water-secure”.

 

He noted that the bathrooms and kitchen will be retrofitted with water-saving fixtures in order to conserve on the use of the commodity.

 

The Minister said that while the provision of infrastructure is critical, “the change of attitude towards the use of water is very important, as the commodity must be preserved”.

 

“There needs to be a complete turnaround in how we use the resource if the structures that we put in are to be maximised,” he added.

 

Senator Charles Jr., who has responsibility for Water, Housing and Infrastructure, commended the work of the RWSL, noting that in recent years, the entity has provided approximately 40 water solutions for schools, health facilities, infirmaries, and communities across the island.

 

These include guttering, storage facilities, and other associated infrastructure to enhance the collection and use of rainwater.

 

Member of Parliament for North Central St. Catherine, Natalie Neita, in her remarks, welcomed the water-harvesting system, noting that it will cater to the school’s long-term water needs.

 

“This project, I believe, is an awesome one, because it is pointing the way in ensuring that we conserve [water] for the benefit of our population,” she said.

 

Principal of Enid Bennett High, Patrick Phillips, for his part, said “it is good that we now have a water-harvesting project where we will not be short of water”.

 

He informed that the system will also provide water for the school’s farm and playfield.

 

CAPTION: Students at the Enid Bennett High School in St. Catherine, perform a skit at the commissioning of the $7-million rainwater harvesting system on the school grounds on Tuesday (October 8). The system was installed by the Rural Water Supply Limited (RWSL).

 

CAPTION: Students at the St. Catherine-based Enid Bennett High School perform a cultural item at the commissioning of the $7-million rainwater harvesting system on the school grounds on Tuesday (October 9). The system was installed by Rural Water Supply Limited (RWSL).

JIS: Minister with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda, says the Ministry aims to take steps towards the adoption and expansion of the ‘inclusion model’ in schools across the country.

 

Inclusion in education refers to a model wherein special needs students spend most or all of their time with non-special needs students.

 

It is built on the notion that it is more effective for students with disabilities to have mixed experiences, to be more successful in social interactions leading to further success in life.

 

Speaking with JIS News following a tour of the Savanna-la-Mar Inclusive Infant Academy in Westmoreland on Friday, (October 4), Mr. Samuda stated that the institution’s inclusion model is “arguably the finest of its kind in Jamaica”.

 

He explained that the Ministry is taking a closer look at the model, with the intention to replicate it in other early childhood institutions.

 

“They (teaching staff) can see the development in the children through the help that they are providing. They (the children) come here which exposes them to arguably the best training of its kind in the country and so what is left for us to do is, we have to make sure that we replicate this,” Mr. Samuda said. 

 

For her part, Ministry of Education, Youth and Information Region 4 Director, Dr. Michelle Pinnock, said the Ministry will support special needs students in any way as they transition from early childhood institutions to “primary [schools], high [schools] and right through to what we refer to as independent living.”

 

The Savanna-la-Mar Inclusive Infant Academy was officially opened in 2018, by the Education Ministry in partnership with the Rockhouse Foundation and the Roman Catholic Church in Jamaica.

 

The school is Jamaica’s first public educational institution that caters to students with and without disabilities.

 

CAPTION: Minister with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda (center), speaks with Representative of the Roman Catholic Church in Jamaica, Rev. Ronald Thwaites (left), and Rockhouse Foundation President, Peter Rose, while touring the Savanna-la-Mar Inclusive Infant Academy in Westmoreland on Friday, October 4.

 

JIS: Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has given an undertaking to have programmed renovations at Penwood High School in West Central St. Andrew completed in short order.

 

Among the upgrades being targeted are improvements to the auditorium, staff room and general administrative facilities as well as the construction of additional classrooms.

 

Speaking at the official opening of Penwood High School’s new state-of-the-art information and communications technology (ICT) centre, on Friday (October 4), the Prime Minister said the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information has already scoped the project and is in possession of the designs and the plans.

 

“So, I am going to ensure that the programme is placed on a fast track. I see where we could actually start early next year,” the Prime Minister said.

 

Mr. Holness, who is the Member of Parliament for West Central St. Andrew, also indicated that he will seek to identify resources to support the Education Ministry’s programmed budget for the undertaking.  

 

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister welcomed the opening of the centre, valued at approximately $12 million, which was established with support from the Overseas Examinations Commission and Education Ministry, among other key stakeholders.

 

The facility, according to Chairman of the school’s Board, Gregory Pullen, has been equipped with 42 new computers; audiovisual equipment; a 65-inch television; high-speed Internet and Wi-Fi; and is fully air-conditioned.

 

He said the 42 computers now bring the total available to the students to 82, following an initial 40, which were placed in the school’s first ICT centre.

 

“The provision of this new lab will help the students to further improve their computer and technology literacy skills. It will help them in the actual sitting of examinations because where we are moving to… is that not all exams are going to be paper-based,” the Prime Minister said.

 

“As we progress and the technology becomes more robust in this area, many of our exams will be sat online. So, the schools having these labs will be at an advantage, because they will be able to participate in those exams which are conducted online,” he added.

 

Mr. Holness said the new facility will also assist the students in their general education in the areas of research, computer technology, and document management and ICT courses.

 

“So, this is a good move and is one of the programmes that will help to ensure that whatever gaps exist are rapidly closed,” he said.

 

CAPTION: Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness (left), officially opens a new state-of-the-art information and communicartions technology (ICT) centre at Penwood High School in St. Andrew, on Friday (October 4). Sharing the moment (from second left) are Board Chairman of the school, Gregory Pullen; Principal, Donna McLaren; Student Council President, Shadia Maxwell; and Head Boy, Lawrence Anderson.

OBSERVER: THE students who will sit the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2021 as part of Jamaica’s first-ever participation in the worldwide survey should be prepared, having already been exposed to the testing approach of Primary Exit Profile (PEP).

 

That’s because the skills tested under PISA ring similar to those of PEP — among them the acclaimed 21st-century skills of critical thinking, collaboration, and problem solving.

 

Secondly, the PISA questions aren’t drawn from any particular curriculum, but similar to PEP, they are designed to have students apply classroom knowledge to real-world situations.

 

“Our education system is not just preparing students for the local context; Jamaica has to compete globally,” national mathematics coordinator and member of Jamaica’s PISA management team Dr Tamika Benjamin told the Jamaica Observer last week.

 

PISA is a worldwide study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development intended to evaluate educational systems by measuring scholastic performance on mathematics, science, and reading among 15-year-olds. Additional components at previous sittings have included financial literacy, innovative thinking and collaborative problem-solving.

 

PEP, meanwhile, replaced Grade Six Achievement Test as the high-school placement mechanism in Jamaica in the 2018-2019 school year. It is a series of assessments based in the National Standards Curriculum (NSC) and comprising a Performance Task (consisting of real-world scenarios that require students to apply knowledge and skills from subjects taught in the classroom), an Ability Test (requiring students to read analytically and use quantitative reasoning skills to respond to items), and a Curriculum-Based Test which assesses content learned in grade 6 across the major subject areas.

 

The 6,000-plus students who will sit PISA in 2021 will be drawn from the first PEP cohort.

The Ministry of Education insists that PEP was not designed to facilitate Jamaica’s scheduled participation in PISA, but asserts that the alignment of the two is in tandem with worldwide trends in education.

 

“Across the world right now, in general, when you look at curriculum reform, the 21st-century skills feature heavily. So, creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. So because those are what are being identified as the global need in the workforce, you find that lots of education systems have reformed the curricula to make sure that students develop those skills and competencies. Hence, it’s not surprising that that’s also the perspective that PISA is going to look at in terms of how they design the test,” Benjamin said when asked about similarities in the two tests.

 

“It just so happens that the students who will sit PISA will have exposure to the National Standards Curriculum, which is what is delivered and assessed by PEP and content for which [goes up to] grade nine. And so they would have been exposed to the curriculum and methodology built into their secondary education,” Benjamin added.

 

She was part of the trio of PISA project team lead Marjorianna Clarke and team member Nadine Simms who were guests at Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange last week.

 

The PISA assessment uses multiple-choice testing, open-ended questions, and a background questionnaire which seeks to ascertain information about students, their attitudes towards school, their approaches to learning, and their home environment.

 

School principals and parents/guardians also participate in the process through questionnaires.

 

PISA was introduced in 2000 and is administered triennially. The Ministry of Education said it can’t say at this point if the country will participate beyond 2021

 

CAPTION: National mathematics coordinator and member of the Ministry of Education’s PISA management team Dr Tamika Benjamin

OBSERVER: AS Jamaica prepares to take part in the 2021 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), members of the project management team at the Ministry of Education are clear on the outcomes being targeted.

 

To begin with, they are expecting to generate independent data to judge how Jamaican students match up with their counterparts on the international stage. That data, they anticipate, will identify strengths and expose gaps in the system and will, in turn, guide education policy to build on strengths or correct weaknesses, as the case may be.

 

Critically though, the ministry says the data is expected to give the country an in when applying to international funding agencies.

 

“At this point in time, the only means that Jamaica has of evaluating our education system are the national and regional examinations. The challenge, when we get on the world stage is that that data is not relevant in that context. So when we have to interface, particularly with international funding agencies, most times they want independent data to evaluate our system and we don’t have the information,” Dr Tamika Benjamin, national mathematics coordinator and member of the PISA management team told last week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange.

 

“We have found ourselves in discussions with funding agencies and we don’t have any data, objective data, to speak to our system. This is one way of ensuring that we have a true sense of where the Jamaican education system is. We are hoping that we will get robust data that will give Jamaica a true sense of where our education system is on the world stage,” she added.

 

Commissioned by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, PISA is a survey of 15-year-old students whose knowledge, skills, competencies, and creative thinking abilities are assessed in the three components of reading, mathematical, and scientific literacy. It was introduced in 2000 and is administered every three years.

 

Jamaica will be the second English-speaking Caribbean country to participate in the study, following Trinidad and Tobago which was ranked 51 out of 70 countries in the 2015 round.

 

The Government of Jamaica is paying some 410,000 Euros to participate in the assessment, which will include the generation of a national report.

 

“A big part of us participating in PISA is to evaluate our education system,” Dr Benjamin reiterated. “Locally, we tend to say we know what our strengths and weaknesses are, and we may know on the ground, but in terms of seeing where we are in the global context, we are very limited if we are only assessing ourselves based on what we might see in a particular school.”

 

“We are likely to pick up weaknesses and challenges in terms of where students are; not just in whether they can read, it is also looking at the higher-level reading skills. That is something that we do not measure once our students leave grade four,” she continued.

 

Jamaica is also hoping to take lessons from countries and schools within similar contexts that have been improving since their first time participating in PISA. One example is the Dominican Republic, which members of the local PISA team have already visited for research purposes.

 

The PISA study will also evaluate external factors that impact learning outcomes such as teacher quality, contact hours, school resources, school culture, school leadership, teacher development mechanisms, parenting, and budget spending on education.

 

“We are not only going to look at the cognitive component, which is how the students would do, but we have an opportunity to see how other factors impact learning outcomes, and one of those considerations would be budget spending on education,” project team lead Marjorianna Clarke told the Observer.

 

In addition to per capita expenditure on education, other metrics in which the ministry says it is interested are gender gaps, equity, and inclusiveness.

 

“We will also be able to get our education system focused in the direction we want,” Clarke added.

 

The 2021 round of PISA testing will be administered from April to June across 88 countries. Students are randomly selected to participate.

 

 CAPTION: National mathematics coordinator and member of the Ministry of Education’s PISA management team Dr Tamika Benjamin