JIS: The University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC) has established an Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology Centre, thereby providing a space for students and innovators with entrepreneurial and new technology-driven ideas to create practical solutions that can contribute to Jamaica’s growth.

 

The facility, located at the UCC’s main campus along Worthington Avenue in St. Andrew, was officially opened on Wednesday (September 25) as part of the institution’s third annual Academic Research Conference.

 

Chief Technical Director, Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, Wahkeen Murray, who delivered the keynote address on behalf of portfolio Minister, Hon. Fayval Williams, endorsed the launch of the centre.

 

“The UCC is utilising technology for virtual learning and collaboration with several international universities and institutions. This, as well as the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology Centre, augurs well for an institution preparing tomorrow’s nation builders,” she said.

 

Ms. Murray said it is important for academic institutions to help create a culture of innovation within the society, and more importantly, among students at the tertiary level.

 

“Tertiary institutions are crucial for driving innovation and are important to the progress of our society. Much scientific and technological work is being done at this level, as training is provided to the next cohort of world changers, to stimulate their minds and creative competencies that will spur innovation and entrepreneurship,” she noted.

 

Ms. Murray said that the facility will assist the nation’s youth with adapting to changes brought about by technology.

 

“Science, technology and innovation are charting the path towards the future. The nature of work and the skills needed for the workforce are constantly changing. Therefore, our youth must be equipped so that they can be on par with their international counterparts and can assist in filling the skills which are emerging as a result of the digital age,” she noted.

 

CAPTION: Chief Technical Director, Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, Wahkeen Murray (right), looks on as Group Executive Chairman, University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC), Dr. Winston Adams (left), points to words on an inspiration board inside the new Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology Centre, at the official opening of the facility at the UCC campus in St. Andrew on Wednesday (September 25). At centre is UCC President and Exceutive Chancellor, Professor Dennis Gayle.

 

JIS: Thirty school administrators, including principals, vice principals and members of school Boards from selected schools across the island, will be trained on how to better serve and educate students living with special education needs, at a cost of approximately $2.8 million.

 

This is based on the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for an Inclusive School Leadership Programme, by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information (MOEYI); the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) and the National College for Educational Leadership (NCEL).

 

The MOU was signed at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, at Heroes Circle, on Monday (September 23).

 

The participants will be trained in an inclusive school leadership course under the programme.

 

The course is aimed at strengthening the capacity of Principals to create inclusive school environments that will ensure children living with disabilities can be successfully enrolled in mainstream schools.

 

Training will be funded by JSIF. However, NCEL, an agency of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information with the mandate of leading strategic initiatives that will improve school leadership, will work alongside the Special Education Unit in the Ministry, to develop and administer the professional development course for the programme.

 

Chief Technical Director, Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Barbara Allen, who delivered a speech on behalf of Acting Permanent Secretary, Dr. Grace McLean, said the signing of the MOU is in keeping with the mandate of the Ministry’s Special Education Unit, which has responsibility for educational provisions for students with special needs.

 

“The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information recognises the value of collaboration and, therefore, welcomes this opportunity. We recognise that children with diverse needs populate our education system. Inclusive education enables the creation of an environment for different students to learn side by side in the same setting,” Ms. Allen said.

 

“With the help of JSIF, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information will be much more advanced in serving our special needs student population,” she added.

 

For his part, Managing Director, JSIF, Omar Sweeney, said JSIF decided to fund this initiative under its Basic Needs Trust Fund because it will offer well-needed support to leaders in schools.

 

“That’s important, because while we do things in the classrooms [for students living with special needs], it is also important that we spend the necessary time to focus on the principals and the vice principals who provide leadership in the schools,” he said.

 

For her part, Director and Principal, NCEL, Dr. Taneisha Ingleton, reiterated that it is important to train the principals, vice principals and members of school Boards regarding educating students with special needs.

 

“The course will seek to help educators to transform their physical school environments and classrooms to encourage inclusivity and to facilitate the maximum learning of children with disabilities; make intentional attempts to inculcate in teachers the dispositions needed for them to create inclusive classrooms and elevate the confidence of students with disabilities, through the creation and implementation of an Inclusive School Plan,” Dr. Ingleton said.

 

CAPTION: Managing Director, Jamaica Social Investment Fund, Omar Sweeney (left); Director and Principal, National College for Educational Leadership, Dr. Taneisha Ingleton (centre); and Chief Technical Director, Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Barbara Allen, display folders with copies of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on Monday (September 23) at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information. The MOU makes provision for an Inclusive School Leadership Programme for school administrators.

JIS: The Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) and Collaborate to Educate our Sons recently pulled around 100 vulnerable boys from high schools across the island and boarded them at the Medallion Hall Hotel in St. Andrew for three days of mentoring under the Boys Education Empowerment Programme.

 

The mentorship sessions took place between September 18 and 20. It was endorsed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information.

 

At the mentoring sessions there were different speakers, which included representatives from the JTC and Collaborate to Educate our Sons.

 

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), JTC, Dr. Winsome Gordon, said although the organisation is responsible for serving the nation’s teachers, they chose to help with pulling the boys out of school for three days and spent time mentoring them, because there is a major need for it.

 

“Our teachers have complained about the engagement of boys in their classrooms, and when we look at the examination results, our boys are not doing nearly as well as our girls, so we decided to help our teachers to be able to teach our boys,” Dr. Gordon told JIS News.

 

She noted that this is the second phase of mentorship for the JTA, as they had a previous mentorship programme that lasted for five years.

 

Dr. Gordon also said her organisation chose to partner with Collaborate to Educate our Sons because this group, which is based in Washington DC, continuously works with black boys in the United States who are vulnerable and helps to guide them up to the tertiary level.

 

She believes the group can assist Jamaican young men and boys in the same way.

 

“They encourage boys to go to college, and when they came to us, we thought this was a brilliant idea because they have a lot of experience on mentoring boys,” she said.

 

Founder, Collaborate to Educate our Sons, Dr. Bertram Melbourne, who is Jamaican, said he chose to return to Jamaica and offer mentorship through his organisation, because that is one way he wants to give back to the society.

 

“I want to help to give a better future to boys and young men. We want to do something that will increase the enrolment of young men and boys in college, so as to guarantee their future. We want to do something that will raise the self-image of young men; help them to look forward to a better kind of future and be in a better position to make a contribution to society,” he told JIS News.

 

Dr. Melbourne said the mentorship sessions focused on different caring relationship strategies, which the presenters hope will inspire the boys.

 

Participant, Antione Foster, who is a student from Greater Portmore High School, said he was inspired by the presenters and the mentors during the three days.

 

“It has been enlightening, so far, and by coming here and listening to other persons’ points of view, I’ve noticed how much time I have wasted in school when there are other alternatives to do in my spare time,” he said.

 

He added that the three-day mentorship initiative has encouraged him to start thinking about a possible career path.

 

His teacher from Greater Portmore High School, Shemore Powell, told JIS News that he found the mentorship sessions interesting.

 

“It was an interesting programme that dealt with issues affecting men, as to the simple things that men overlook, which cause us sometimes to react in a certain way, for example, the difference between listening and hearing.

 

These are some of the issues we have in our schools [with boys],” he said.

 

CAPTION: Chief Executive Officer, Jamaica Teaching Council, Dr. Winsome Gordon (centre), speaks with (from left) LASCO Teacher of the Year 2017, Ingrid Peart-Wilmot; Student, Buff Bay High School, Raymond Richards; Student, Rollington Town Primary School, Amaad Allen; Founder, Collaborate to Educate our Sons, Dr. Bertram Melbourne; and Student, Greater Portmore High School, Antione Foster, during the mentorship session for the Boys Education Empowerment Programme, at Medallion Hall Hotel in St. Andrew, on Friday (September 20).

JIS: More than 70 primary schools islandwide are now benefiting from the expertise of some 130 teachers who have been trained to detect and successfully correct learning challenges in students.

 

The intervention, which has been reaping tremendous success, particularly in relation to the students’ ability to read, has resulted from the utilisation of the Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes.

 

The methodologies, which were initially imparted to 50 teachers in 2017, are designed to diagnose and correct language-based learning disabilities.

 

These are now being expanded to include an additional 120 teachers, who will be trained and certified by the Creative Language-Based Learning (CLBL) Foundation.

 

According to the Foundation’s Consultant, Mary McDonald, based on a system that has been implemented to track the teachers’ progress, “we have been able to see substantial increases in how the children are able to pick up the different [aspects] of reading”.

 

“So, for example, they may have little children who are not familiar with even letters and sounds, although they are expected to be at their age… they have made a jump of 300 per cent in those areas, [and] in the ability to sound out words they don’t know, they have increased 600 per cent,” she added.

 

The consultant was speaking at a contract-signing ceremony with the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) and CLBL on Wednesday (September 18) at JSIF’s office in Kingston.

 

Ms. McDonald cited, as another example, a six-year-old girl who was unable to read when she started primary school, noting that she was only familiar with five consonants and few vowels, which she could not sound.

 

She said, however, that after being instructed by a Lindamood Bell-trained teacher, she commenced reading at the grade-four level.

 

“So that’s a huge difference to this one little girl, and the change in how that girl interacts with the world is indescribable. She went from having her head down and being frustrated, angry and acting out in the classroom, to being the first one with her hands up [responding to questions, and becoming] extremely confident,” she revealed.

 

The education consultant pointed out that some of the teachers who are already proficient in the Lindamood-Bell Processes have trained other educators and are going to other institutions to assist students.

 

“So we are very proud of what the teachers have done, and we are proud to receive those 130 teachers and the thousands of children who they work with on a daily basis,” Ms. McDonald said.

 

Meanwhile, CLBL Founder, Mandy Melville, who started the Foundation after she was recommended to the programme for her dyslexic son, said the entity plans to reach out to as many teachers as is possible.

 

“I would love to infuse this in as many schools as possible; the more schools, the better the exams. It’s not just for dyslexic children… . It’s also a tool the teachers can use in the regular classroom. How they share the knowledge and check that the youngsters are following up on what they’re training them is just amazing,” she informed.

 

Noting that the teachers are very enthusiastic about learning the methodology, Ms. Melville said “the more they hear and the more they see their colleagues being able to reach the children using the programme, the more teachers want to participate”.

 

“Teachers who started in 2017 continue working with us because we are trying to develop them into local instructional leaders and mentors, so that they can work and share the programme with other teachers and make it more successful,” she added.

 

CAPTION ONE: Consultant at the Creative Language-Based Learning (CLBL) Foundation, Mary McDonald, bringing greetings at a contract-signing ceremony involving the entity and Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) at JSIF’s office in Kingston on Wednesday (September 18).

 

CAPTION TWO: Founder of the Creative Language-Base Learning (CLBL) Foundation, Mandy Melville.

JIS: The National College for Educational Leadership (NCEL) has launched a magazine that provides principals with practical, hands-on strategies to undertake improvements at their schools.

 

Dubbed ‘The Principal’s Voice’, the publication functions as a practitioner’s guide with case studies, experiences, opinions and analyses from emerging and experienced educational leaders across Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.

 

It features stories from educators on the successes and challenges in their professional lives, testimonials on best practices from several professionals as well as plans for the development of the education system throughout the six regions.

 

The publication seeks to encourage academic writing, reading, and reviewing of quality practices in leadership.

 

It further addresses teacher/student development, instruction, curriculum, assessment, as well as social and emotional issues in education.

 

Speaking at the launch on Wednesday (September 18) at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in St. Andrew, State Minister for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Alando Terrelonge, commended the NCEL on undertaking the initiative.

 

He noted that the information contained in the magazine will enhance the work of principals, which will redound to the benefit of students.

 

“The Principal’s Voice signals a change – a watershed moment in Jamaica’s history where principals can read and learn [about] life-changing experiences, tactical and practical leadership skills employed by principals across Jamaica,” he noted.

 

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Grace McLean, who brought greetings, also hailed the publication as a valuable resource for school leaders.

 

“This magazine will address personal and emotional challenges faced by educators, highlight content in academic writing, leadership instructions and best practices. We believe that this magazine will be a very valuable product, as we seek to ensure that adequate information is available to guide our school leaders,” she noted.

 

NCEL Director/Principal and conceptualiser of the magazine, Dr. Taneisha Ingleton, said the publication was produced by a team of 21 persons.

She noted that the NCEL had asked principals to indicate their thoughts and specific needs through blogging “and the responses were so singular and personal, yet so complicated and communal that a platform was needed to position them, so that they could have the most impact”.

 

NCEL is an agency of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, which provides continuous professional development for leaders across the education sector.

 

CAPTION ONE: State Minister, Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Alando Terrelonge (left), points out someting of interest in ‘The Principal’s Voice’ to Director/ Principal, National College for Educational Leadership (NCEL), Dr. Taneisha Ingleton (second left). Ocasion was the launch of the NCEL publication on Wednesday (September 18), at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel, St. Andrew. Looking on are Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Grace McLean (second right); and retired Principal of Knockalva Polytechnic College in Hanover, Pauleen Reid.

 

CAPTION TWO: State Minister, Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Alando Terrelonge (left); and Director/Principal, National College for Educational Leadership (NCEL), Dr. Taneisha Ingleton, examine a copy of the new NCEL magazine, dubbed ‘The Principal’s Voice’, at the launch of the publication on Wednesday (September 18), at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel, St. Andrew.

JIS: A total of 120 primary-school teachers in 75 schools across seven parishes will be trained and certified in the use of the Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes, in order to diagnose and correct various language-based learning disabilities in students.

 

Under the six-month-long project, which is being funded by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) at a cost of $20.6 million, teachers will receive 350 hours of professional development training in the Lindamood-Bell Literacy Modules; 450 hours of professional development coaching; three years of ongoing instructional leadership development; and job-embedded coaching and teaching kits.

 

The training, which will be conducted by the Creative Language-Based Learning (CLBL) Foundation, is being financed under JSIF’s Integrated Community Development Project and the Special Educator Needs Coordinator Phase Two.

 

A four-week session was held in the summer where teachers benefited from intensive professional development in order to better enable them to support the students.

 

Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Alando Terrelonge, welcomed the initiative, noting that it has the potential to revolutionise the education sector in Jamaica.

 

“When we have a creative learning-based platform that will assist children with learning disabilities, it is a win not just for the teachers, who are being trained, but it is a win for all our thousands of Jamaican children, who will now benefit from teachers who’ve educated themselves and gone through professional development,” he noted.

 

Mr. Terrelonge was speaking at the contract-signing ceremony with CLBL representatives at JSIF’s headquarters in Kingston on Wednesday (September18).

 

Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, Hon. Michael Henry, in his remarks, said that the investment is a worthwhile one.

 

He noted that while the programme is intended to treat with students who have learning disabilities, including dyslexia, its benefits will extend to the wider education sector. He urged parents to support the initiative.

 

Meanwhile, JSIF’s Managing Director, Omar Sweeney, said that the agency is pleased to be associated with a project that is addressing a critical area of the education sector. He noted that 40 per cent of JSIF projects are in the area of education.

 

“These sorts of innovative… experiential ways in which we can introduce methodologies to the mainstream is what we like to finance, and what we want to do from here on out is to continue to build from strength to strength.

 

I’m sure that in the time to come, we will see the results of the students who have benefited from this programme,” he said.

 

Director of Development at Lindamood-Bell, Dave Kiyvyra, said he hopes that the teachers will be positively impacted by the training.

 

“Our goal, really, is to help teachers learn this sort of methodology so that they can use it all of the time when they’re teaching,” he said.

 

“We know that through all of the research that’s been done at places like MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), University of Washington, and University of Alabama, Birmingham, when they do functional magnetic resonance images of students brains, what they’re seeing is that it’s actually changing how their brain is functioning and that pathways are connecting that previously were not connected,” he noted.

 

The Lindamood-Bell programme, which was first taught to 50 teachers in Jamaica in 2017, was developed 30 years ago by Americans Patricia Lindamood, a speech language pathologist and Nanci Bell, a teacher and expert in literacy disorders.

 

It is useful for children with dyslexia, hyperlexia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD), autism spectrum disorders and other learning difficulties, helping them to access the underlying cognitive functions they need in order to be able to read.

 

CAPTION: State Minister for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Alando Terrelonge, (seated right); and Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, Hon. Michael Henry (seated left), sign the contract for the training of 120 teachers in the use of the Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes at the Jamaica Social Investment Fund’s (JSIF) offices in Kingston on Wednesday (September 18). Managing Director of JSIF, Omar Sweeney (seated second left); and Chairman of the Creative Language-Based Learning (CLBL) Foundation, Joseph Matalon (second right), look over the document befeore affixing their signatures. Standing behind them (from left) are Founder of CLBL, Mandy Melville; Director of Development, Lindamood-Bell, Dave Kiyvyra; Procurement Manager at JSIF, Suzette Livermore; and Project Manager at The Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education ( CHASE) Fund, Latoya Aquart-Foster.

JIS: Minister with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda, says schools must seek permission from the Ministry in writing before implementing any electronic system that will require biometric data.

 

Speaking in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (September 17), Mr. Samuda said that a teacher cannot be fired for refusing to comply with a request for fingerprint scanning at schools.

 

“While the Ministry understands the need for an accurate record keeping system, teachers cannot be compelled to provide biometric data, such as finger prints, to schools. Section 3A of the Finger Print Act directs that a person can only be compelled to provide finger prints in specific criminal matters. The law also allows for an individual the right to refuse to give finger prints,” Mr. Samuda said.

 

The Minister was responding to media reports of unease among some teachers at the Mona High School, in Kingston, who are being asked to submit their fingerprints as part of the process of confirming their attendance at school.

 

Mr. Samuda said the Ministry will be working with the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) and other stakeholders to find alternative record keeping solutions.

 

“There are alternative systems in place to achieve the objectives without the use of biometric data. Extensive sensitisation and consultation should be conducted prior to the implementation of any electronic system for the purpose that this was introduced,” he noted.

 

The Minister said that where schools are permitted to implement the system by the Education Ministry, alternative arrangements must be provided for those staff members who are not comfortable with the use of their finger prints.

 

CAPTION: Minister with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda, emphasises a point while speaking in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (September 17). At left is Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness.

JIS: Four schools will be removed from the shift system in the 2019/20 fiscal year at a total cost of $93.9 million.

 

They are Exchange All-Age School in St. Ann, which will be upgraded at a cost of $21.9 million; Albert Town High School, Trelawny, $30 million; Cedric Titus High School, Trelawny, $12 million; and Port Antonio High, Portland, $30 million.

 

Minister with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda, made the disclosure as he responded to questions posed by Opposition Spokesman on Education, Ronald Thwaites, during the sitting of the House of Representatives on September 10.

 

He noted that the four schools are among the 37 institutions that remain on shift.

 

Some of the others are St. James High; Old Harbour High and Spanish Town High, St. Catherine; Boundbrook Primary, Portland; Donald Quarrie High and Jonathan Grant High, Kingston; Chapelton All-Age, Clarendon; Bellefield High and Christiana High, Manchester; Petersfield High, Westmoreland; St. Ann’s Bay Primary and Seaforth High, St. Thomas.

 

“The plan is all schools will be taken off shifts. The Capital Budget is $1.2 billion, and $644 million has been budgeted for infrastructure works,” Mr. Samuda said.

 

CAPTION: Minister with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda, speaking during the sitting of the House of Representatives on September 10.

JIS: The Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF) has made two changes to its Programme for Adolescent Mothers (PAM), which is delivered at the Centre’s 18 locations across the island.

 

The changes, which came into effect at the start of the 2019/2020 academic year, involve increasing academic instruction from four to five days per week and the offering of three new subjects.

 

“We are now going to be operating a five-day week for the girls to access their academic instructions, the extent of counselling and the vocational subjects,” said WCJF Executive Director, Dr. Zoe Simpson at a JIS Think Tank on September 6.

 

She said that the changes will better prepare the girls to return to the formal school system.

 

“We are now offering English Literature, Principles of Business and Civics. Some of these subjects are offered to the girls who are doing their school-leaving exams but the girls that we want to call the ‘lower-school girls’ were not exposed to them.

 

“Hence as we seek to better prepare them to return to the formal school system, we are now introducing to the girls that are going to be reintegrated, these additional subjects,” Dr. Simpson said.

 

She noted that the focus of the WCJF is to educate adolescent mothers in an environment of inclusivity and equity.

 

“We want all the adolescent mothers in Jamaica to access and to continue their education during the period of their pregnancies, and all of them should be on par with their peers when they return to school,” she said.

 

“They must not be left behind on account of a pregnancy. It doesn’t matter that a girl is pregnant; she can still achieve all her life goals and we want to walk beside her to ensure that she achieves those goals,” Dr. Simpson added.

 

CAPTION: Executive Director of the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF), Dr. Zoe Simpson, addresses a JIS Think Tank on September 6, where she announced changes to the Centre’s programme for adolescent mothers.