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.

JIS: Minister with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda, says arrangements are in place to truck water to schools facing a shortage of supply.

 

He said that tanks will be installed at institutions without such storage facility. “The delivery of tanks has already started, but we are ordering more as we go along,” he noted.

 

Minister Samuda was speaking to JIS News at a press conference held at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, on Thursday (September 5) to announce Government support for additional Bachelor of Medicine (MBBS) students.

 

Acting Permanent Secretary in the Education Ministry, Dr. Grace McLean, said that Region One, which covers Manchester and St. Elizabeth, has requested 26 tanks.

 

She said that an order for the storage containers has been placed and they will be installed at the schools as soon as they are delivered.

 

“For the other regions, we have not gotten any major report in terms of providing tanks,” she noted.

 

In the meantime, Dr. McLean said water is being trucked on a daily basis or every two days to 22 schools in Kingston; 12 schools in Region Four (Portland, St. Mary and St.Thomas) and about 15 to 20 institutions in Region Four (Hanover, St. James and Westmoreland).

 

She said that there is a monitoring process in place to ensure that the water is replenished regularly.

 

“We have a protocol in place, so the principals know how to check the water level and know who the contact persons are, and we try and make sure that we replenish [regularly],” she told JIS News.

 

CAPTION: Minister with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda, converses with Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Grace McLean, during a press conference at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, on Thursday (September 5) to announce government support for additional Bachelor of Medicine (MBBS) students.

JIS: Minister with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda, says arrangements are in place to truck water to schools facing a shortage of supply.

 

He said that tanks will be installed at institutions without such storage facility. “The delivery of tanks has already started, but we are ordering more as we go along,” he noted.

 

Minister Samuda was speaking to JIS News at a press conference held at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, on Thursday (September 5) to announce Government support for additional Bachelor of Medicine (MBBS) students.

 

Acting Permanent Secretary in the Education Ministry, Dr. Grace McLean, said that Region One, which covers Manchester and St. Elizabeth, has requested 26 tanks.

 

She said that an order for the storage containers has been placed and they will be installed at the schools as soon as they are delivered.

 

“For the other regions, we have not gotten any major report in terms of providing tanks,” she noted.

 

In the meantime, Dr. McLean said water is being trucked on a daily basis or every two days to 22 schools in Kingston; 12 schools in Region Four (Portland, St. Mary and St.Thomas) and about 15 to 20 institutions in Region Four (Hanover, St. James and Westmoreland).

 

She said that there is a monitoring process in place to ensure that the water is replenished regularly.

 

“We have a protocol in place, so the principals know how to check the water level and know who the contact persons are, and we try and make sure that we replenish [regularly],” she told JIS News.

 

CAPTION: Minister with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda, converses with Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Grace McLean, during a press conference at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, on Thursday (September 5) to announce government support for additional Bachelor of Medicine (MBBS) students.

JIS: More than $600 million has been allocated by the Education, Youth and Information Ministry to pay examination fees for high-school students who are on the Programme of Advancement through Health and Education (PATH), next year.

 

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Grace McLean, told JIS News that more than $400 million has been provided by the Ministry to pay for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).

 

A further $200 million, she said, has been made available to pay for City and Guilds, National Vocational Qualification of Jamaica (NVQ-J) and the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) examinations.

 

“We’re just about sending information out to the schools for them to start the registration for CSEC,” the Permanent Secretary said.

 

Dr. McLean was providing an update, following a press briefing on government funding for additional Bachelor of Medicine (MBBS) students, held at the University of the West Indies, Mona, and St. Andrew, on Thursday (September 5).

 

“For the CSEC registration… it starts with the Ministry sending to the schools the number of subjects that we are going to be paying for and the criteria to be observed,” she said.

 

“When they do their registration, which is due sometime in October, that is submitted. We then do the review and send off the information to the Overseas Examinations Commission for full registration and payment,” Dr, McLean noted.

 

The Government in 2017 announced that it would pay examination fees for up to eight CSEC subjects for PATH students who qualify to sit the subjects.

 

Subsidies are also provided for PATH students sitting three CAPE subjects, as well as the CVQ and NVQ-J tests and Mathematics and English Language in the City and Guilds examination.

 

Students are required to have an average of 55 per cent in each subject to qualify for the subsidies.

 

CAPTION: Minister with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda, greets Acting Permanent Secretary, Dr Grace McLean, at a press briefing on Government funding for additional MBBS students, held at the University of the West Indies, Mona, St. Andrew, on Thursday (September 5).

JIS: The Government has provided 47 full-tuition scholarships to needy students who started their Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degrees at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, this semester.

 

The awards are valued at $177.66 million per annum over the next five years.

 

Minister with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda, who made the announcement at a press conference in the UWI Council Room on Thursday (September 5), said that the support came out of recent discussions with university officials.

 

“This cohort will be funded for the full five years of the programme, providing they meet established criteria… . Applicants must be Jamaican nationals. Only applicants with matriculation qualifications in the 97 percentile will be considered,” he said.

 

He noted that beneficiaries are required to maintain a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.8 in order to continue to receive the scholarship.

 

All beneficiaries will be bonded by the Government for five years after completing their studies.

 

Minister Samuda said that only students who demonstrate the greatest need will be selected and will include former beneficiaries of the Programme for Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) and persons from inner-city and poor rural communities.

 

Already, three students have been selected for full scholarships. They are Shamarie Collins, Quwayne Howell and Rashaun Stewart.

 

The three young men recently deferred their dreams of becoming medical doctors to pursue more affordable degree programmes.

 

Rashaun, who delivered the Vote of Thanks, said that the students are “very appreciative” of the support.

 

“Prior to this endowment, I had no real idea and no concrete plan in place to get into the Faculty of Medical Sciences. Medicine costs US$28,000 and, unfortunately, I was not able to get the subsidy as a result of some extenuating circumstances.

 

“I would have had to garner the full fee… and I was not able to source it prior to the commencement of this academic year. But thanks to this opportunity, I am now able to springboard the commencement of my dream of becoming a medical doctor,” he said.

 

The support from the Government adds to the financial assistance already being offered to UWI students pursuing medicine.

 

“We already sponsor 55 students in each cohort by paying 80 per cent of their fees,” Minister Samuda said.

 

CAPTION: Medical student, Rashaun Stewart (left), expresses gratitude for the award of a full scholarship from the Government, which will enable him to pursue a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree at the University of the West Indies (UWI). Listening are fellow scholarship beneficaries Quwayne Howell (centre) and Shamarie Collins. Occasion was a press conference at the UWI Mona Council Room on Thursday (September 5), where Minister with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda, announced the provison of 47 full-tuition scholarships to needy medical students valued at $177.66 million per annum over the next five years.

JIS: The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information has reported that the academic year 2019/2020 began smoothly on Monday (September 2).

 

During a live broadcast with ‘OPM Connect: Education Matters’ on Monday, Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Dr. Grace McLean, provided an update.

 

“We are pleased to welcome back close to 500,000 students who would have been on two months’ holiday,” Dr. McLean said.

 

“The team at the Ministry has worked exceptionally hard to address the critical matters, so as to ensure that we can be off to a smooth start, and the indication, so far, is that we have achieved that,” she added.

 

Dr. McLean also noted that the Ministry will continue to monitor schools across the island this week, as many students are returning on a phased basis, with different grades on different days.

 

She said there were some issues during the opening of schools on Monday, and those were addressed.

 

“We are aware that there was industrial action by one major taxi association in Clarendon and St. Catherine. Some principals have indicated [that] they would have exercised some kind of leniency as to the students coming to school on time and would ensure they are not penalised,” Dr. McLean said.

 

“We are monitoring very closely what is going on. Our Regional Directors in our six educational regions are monitoring closely, and as the little needs arise, we will ensure that those needs are sorted out,” she added.

 

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information has invested millions to ensure that the new academic year was off to a smooth start.

 

Some of the payments from the Ministry included full funding for temporary and part-time teachers, the payment for 18 temporary deans of discipline, $327 million for the payment of 1,093 school cooks in primary schools, $100 million for the upgrading of school canteens and provision of equipment, $661 million for 126 schools under the 2019-2020 Critical Repairs Programme and $800 million on books for students under the National Textbook Loan Scheme and the Primary Textbook Programme.

 

Also, $120 million has been provided for PATH students’ literature books at the secondary level, $26 million for the insurance of PATH students and wards of the State, a contribution of $380 million to the transportation programme of schools in eight parishes, and book vouchers for the neediest of students to purchase school supplies.

 

CAPTION: Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Dr. Grace McLean.

JIS: The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information expects a smooth start to the upcoming academic year 2019/2020 on Monday, September 2.

 

At the Ministry’s annual back-to-school press conference, held at its National Heroes Circle office, on Thursday (August 29), Minister with responsibility, Hon. Karl Samuda, said the Ministry has invested millions in various aspects of the education sector for schools and students to benefit.

 

“As part of our general preparations, we have undertaken a number of things… selected schools are being renovated [and] all is being done to meet the great demand that is placed on us at this time,” the Minister said.

 

Some of the payments from the Ministry towards activities for the new school year include full funding for temporary and part-time teachers, the payment for 18 temporary deans of discipline, $327 million for the payment of 1,093 school cooks in primary schools, $100 million for the upgrading of school canteens and provision of equipment, and $661 million for 126 schools under the 2019-2020 Critical Repairs Programme.

 

Also provided are $120 million for PATH students’ literature books at the secondary level, $26 million for the insurance of PATH students and wards of the State, a contribution of $380 million to the transportation programme of schools in eight parishes, and book vouchers for the neediest of students to purchase school supplies.

 

Additionally, the Ministry has spent $800 million on books for students under the National Textbook Loan Scheme and the Primary Textbook Programme.

 

The delivery of books to schools has started and should be completed by October 2019. All books for the first term will be delivered by September 2.

 

With regard to the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations, Mr. Samuda noted that resource materials to support the grade-six classes are being distributed to schools.

 

He also noted that the Ministry is putting plans in place to ensure that schools located in areas that are affected by the drought have adequate water supply.

 

“A survey is now under way to identify the schools across the island which are being affected by water lock-offs. We already know the schools in the Corporate Area that are affected and are taking all appropriate measures to ensure that their facilities are brought up to scratch and that water will be provided,” he said.

 

CAPTION: Minister with responsibility for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Karl Samuda, addresses the media at the Ministry’s annual Back-to-School Press Conference, held at the Ministry, National Heroes Circle, on Thursday (August 29).