JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says the Government is undertaking an “unprecedented level of work” in the upgrading of school plants.

 

He said that just over 400 educational institutions have benefited from major repairs or expansion over the past two and a half years.

 

The scope of works, which include building of new classrooms, repair and upgrading of canteens, has enabled several institutions to transition to single shift.

 

“There are so many activities to be done, because the need was so great, and I was insistent that we must push the resources, push the programme because schools were asking for a lot of assistance,” he noted.

 

“We have had to ask some schools to take on some of their own procurement and management of projects,” he added.

 

Minister Reid was delivering the keynote address at the official opening of a learning centre at the Rock River Primary School in Clarendon on January 29.

 

The $10 million facility was built by the Japanese Government in partnership with the Rock River Foundation.

 

It includes a library and computer room equipped with computer terminals, laptops, multimedia projector, teaching equipment and learning aids, and will benefit the students and the wider community.

 

Minister Reid hailed the partnership to construct the learning centre and the continued investment by Japan in Jamaica’s education sector.

 

For his part, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr., welcomed the new facility, which he noted, will benefit the entire Rock River community.

 

Meanwhile, Japan’s Ambassador to Jamaica, His Excellency Hiromasa Yamazaki, noted that the project is part of the Grant Assistance for Grass-Roots Human Security initiative, which provides grants for community development projects across various sectors.

 

He said that his Government is committed to investing in education in order to empower people “so that they can lead sustainable lives and livelihoods.”

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (centre), and Japan’s Ambassador to Jamaica, His Excellency Hiromasa Yamazaki (right), point to the plaque dedicating the learning centre at the Rock River Primary School in Clarendon, at the official opening of the facility on January 29. Looking on at left is Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr.

JIS: Cabinet has signed off on the draft Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) Bill, says Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid.

 

The Bill seeks to establish a governing body for the teaching profession and a licensing and registration regime for all government-paid teachers. The licensing regime is expected to take effect when the Bill is passed.

 

“We have finished the full draft and Cabinet has signed off on it. So, there are just one or two comments that the Attorney General’s Department needs to make, so we can move that to the Legislation Committee (of the Cabinet),” he said.

 

Senator Reid was addressing the launch of the Mico International Mathematics Summit at the institution’s premises on Marescaux Road, in St. Andrew, on January 30.

 

The Government’s move to implement a regime for the licensing and registration of teachers is aimed at ensuring greater levels of accountability and professionalism.

 

“The registration and licensing will ensure we place the teachers so trained and qualified, demonstrating competence in the right subject areas, at the right level of the education system and also the requirement for continuous professional development,” Senator Reid said.

 

The Jamaica Teaching Council was established in 2008 as a part of the Education Transformation Strategy to improve the quality and coverage of education.

 

The Council’s mandate is focused on achieving its ultimate goal of repositioning teaching as the profession of choice.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, addresses the launch of the Mico International Mathematics Summit, held at the institution’s premises on Marescaux Road in St. Andrew, on January 30.

OBSERVER: JAMAICAN teachers of foreign languages are being encouraged to upgrade their skills in order to enhance students’ learning capabilities.

 

The charge comes from Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Ruel Reid, who was speaking at the 10th Foreign Languages Conference at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston on Friday.

 

“Take advantage of scholarships for upgrading your skills and for those who have not yet done so, pursue international certification in the foreign language,” he urged.

 

Senator Reid emphasised that in today’s globalised economy, foreign languages are relevant to all career fields and spheres. Therefore, if teachers are to help students to meet the requirements of the new world realities, “you too should be preparing yourselves to help our students fulfil their potential to embrace these opportunities.”

 

“Our teachers must themselves adapt to new attitudes within the context of the digital era, current trends in foreign language education that reflect learner centredness (which entails) inclusivity, knowledge creation, internationalisation and exchanges, and the Vision 2030 mantra of foreign language competence for all Jamaicans,” he added.

 

The Minister praised teachers who have done professional development in their specialist language over the past year through the Centre International d’Etudes Pédagogiques (International Centre for Educational Studies).

 

He also commended those who participated in the teaching assistantship programme facilitated by the Embassy of France; the Instituto Cervantes’ Intensive Training Programme for Spanish teachers facilitated by the Embassy of Spain; the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) French Workshop, and local workshops and coaching sessions.

In the meantime, Senator Reid said the Education Ministry remains committed to the promotion of foreign languages, with particular emphasis on the training of teachers to deliver Spanish at the primary level, and overall foreign language teachers’ professional development.

 

“We also support the efforts to improve students’ performance in foreign languages, especially in oral competence. We ask that you work with us in implementing the new foreign languages curricula that have been developed under the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. This is a platform based on linguistic performance and competence outputs and fully endorsed by the United Nations,” he said.

 

The Minister thanked members of the Jamaica Association of French Teachers (JAFT), the Alliance Française, the National Association of Spanish Teachers (ANPE) and the Spanish-Jamaican Foundation for “continued promotion of foreign languages in Jamaica, as you collaborate with embassies here in coordinating programmes for our students.”

 

The conference, staged by JAFT and ANPE, in association with the Education Ministry, was held under the theme: ‘The 21st Century Foreign Languages Landscape: More POWER to the Learner’.

 

CAPTION: REID … wants to set up a high level meeting 

CAPTION: In keeping with the Blue Ocean paradigm, the National College for Educational Leadership will be partnering with the Caribbean Maritime University to execute leadership development interventions and capacity-building initiatives for leaders in academia and industry. Director Principal- Dr Taneisha Ingleton and managers of the College, and the President of the CMU- Professor Fritz Pinnock met with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Mr. Dean-Roy Bernard, to engage in comprehensive deliberations about developing alternative blue ocean opportunities and to build on the creative competence of our leaders.#Impact2019 #blueocean #beyondcompeting#creatingworldclassleaders #NCELisinternational #stayblue    

JIS: The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information is encouraging more service clubs to strengthen their partnership with the Ministry to bolster programmes being undertaken to ensure the holistic development of the nation’s children.

 

This call was made by Minister of State in the Ministry, Hon. Floyd Green, during the Kiwanis Club of Barbican fourth anniversary meeting at the Guardian Life head office in New Kingston, on January 22.

 

Three areas the State Minister cited for collaboration are mentorship, foster care and the expansion of the Brain Builder centres.

 

He said young people do better, regardless of background and circumstances, when they have a mentor to lean on, “when they have somebody they can bounce ideas off, who can help guide them down the path, and who can tell them about mistakes that they have made”.

 

“One of the things I would want to see the Kiwanis Movement and the Kiwanis Club of Barbican do is to join with us at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information and provide us with a team of volunteers to mentor our young people,” he said.

 

Mr. Green noted that mentorship is important, particularly for children who are ageing out of the system.

 

“We want to pair every child that is ageing out of our State care system with a mentor. This will provide us with a better way to track their progress, to recognise when they are in difficulty, to intervene and to ensure that they are on a path to success in their own lives. Let us really embark on developing a battalion of mentors right across Jamaica,” he urged.

 

Turning to the foster care programme, Mr. Green encouraged the members to open their homes to children in State care and foster a child.

 

“All the research have shown us that children do better when they have families. No matter how good we organise our residential care facilities, it will never be as good as having a loving family to come home to,” he said, adding that the stipend for the programme was increased by 100 per cent last year.

 

The State Minister pointed out that there are approximately 2,000 children in State care.

 

Mr. Green said the service club can partner with the Ministry to expand aspects of the Brain Builder centres that will be operated across the island.

 

The Jamaica Brain Builders Programme aims to reduce cognitive learning challenges among infants in the country. It is a framework for action in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, which starts from conception in the womb to age two years.

 

Under this initiative, the Early Childhood Commission (ECC) will be responsible for establishing 126 Brain Builder centres across the island, with two in each constituency.

 

In the meantime, Mr. Green commended the Kiwanis Club of Barbican for the work they have been doing in children’s homes and schools, noting that “our country and children are grateful for these”.

 

“You have done tremendous work, and I know that you will continue. I hope that as we work together to ensure that philanthropy really helps us to create a more equitable society, that we deepen our partnership with the Government to see, in some of the programmes that we have, how we can get to the root causes and remove them, so that we create a better Jamaica,” he said.

 

CAPTION: Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green (right), sharing a good laugh with (from left) Opposition Senator, Dr. Floyd Morris; President, Kiwanis Club of Barbican, Dane McLean; and Lieutenant Governor, Pam Rodney-Whyte, during the Club’s fourth anniversary meeting at the Guardian Life head office in New Kingston, on January 22.

JIS: Ambassador to the United States, Her Excellency Audrey Marks, is urging members of the diaspora to support the ‘Pledge 2 Build’ campaign, which seeks to raise funds to upgrade the infrastructure of early-childhood and primary schools.

 

She made the call as she delivered the keynote address at the David “Wagga” Hunt Scholarship Fundraising Gala, held on Saturday, January 19 in Washington DC.

 

Pledge 2 Build is an initiative of the Jamaica Diaspora Education Task Force (JDETF), which seeks to mobilise some three million Jamaicans living overseas to invest in the development of education and educational infrastructure in the country annually, starting with early childhood and teacher empowerment.

 

Ambassador Marks also lauded the organisers of the Jamaica David “Wagga” Hunt Scholarship fund for their support to students at Calabar High School and Kingston College (KC) over the past few years.

 

She noted that the initiative was an important vehicle through which the organisers had effectively joined with the leadership in shaping the minds of the boys “to become productive citizens”.

 

Noting that education is key to nation-building, Ambassador Marks, said investing in the country’s youths will “provide the platform for our country’s advancement and for the attainment of our national and internationally agreed development goals”.

 

She also praised the organisers for their efforts to sustain the David “Wagga” Hunt initiative, noting that it “is transforming the lives of 25 students from Calabar High and Kingston College, to the tune of J$10 million”.

 

“[These are] poignant examples of generosity and patriotism – traits for which Jamaicans living overseas are well known,” Ambassador Marks said.

 

The Reggae Girlz, Jamaica’s senior national female football team, was also honoured at the event for the historic achievement in 2018 as the first Caribbean team to qualify for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.

 

“You have added to the lustre of brand Jamaica, demonstrating that ‘wi likkle but wi tallawah’,” Ambassador Marks said.

 

The late David “Wagga” Hunt was a distinguished past student of Kingston College; co-founder of Meadhaven United Football Club; former General Secretary of the Kingston & St. Andrew Football Association (KSAFA); former General Secretary of the Minor

 

League Football Association, and one of Jamaica’s foremost track-and-field analysts, who also had a great passion for youth and sports. Mr. Hunt led Calabar to both the Manning Cup and Oliver Shield titles in 2005.

 

CAPTION: Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States, Her Excellency Audrey Marks (left, front row) presents the 2018 David “Wagga” Hunt Distinguished Award to Dr. Kevin Asher (centre, front row), the father of Chinyelu Asher, a member of Jamaica’s senior football women’s team, at the David “Wagga” Hunt Scholarship Fundraising Gala, held on Saturday, January 19 in Washington DC. Others in the photo are members of the organising committee of the David “Wagga” Hunt Scholarship Fund.

JIS: The Embassy of Japan has signed two grant contracts amounting to $16 million to purchase two school buses for Lyssons Primary and New Forest Infant, Primary and High Schools.

 

Each school will receive $8 million in grant funding from the Government of Japan, through its Grassroots Human Security Project (GGP), to purchase the buses.

 

Signing the contracts today (January 22) at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, National Heroes Circle in Kingston were Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dean-Roy Bernard; Ambassador of Japan to Jamaica, His Excellency Hiromasa Yamazaki; Principal of Lyssons Primary, Evette Bonfield Beecher, and Principal of New Forest Infant, Primary and High School, Sharon Anderson.

The schools currently do not have a school bus to support their activities. In addition, transportation, particularly in rural areas, continues to be a safety risk for children, and the Government of Japan-funded school bus initiative is intended to provide safe and reliable transportation to and from school for children.

 

In his remarks, Mr. Bernard thanked the Government of Japan for its generosity, which he said will assist students in the rural parishes who experience difficulty getting to school.

 

He noted that more than 7,200 students from 261 schools across 12 rural parishes benefit from the Ministry’s Expanded Pilot Rural Transportation Programme, and the assistance rendered by the Government of Japan will enable more students with transportation challenges to access education.

 

“Transportation is one of the impediments to learning in this country. This is a welcome initiative. The funds for these additional buses to Lyssons and the New Forest group of schools mean more students will benefit. Today’s agreements require the commitment of all stakeholders at the school, community and national levels to see that the investment in these schools leads to better educational outcomes for our children,” he said.

 

Meanwhile, Ambassador Yamazaki said the initiative is part of the ongoing cooperation and friendship between the people of Japan and Jamaica.

 

“I am pleased that we are able to extend our assistance in order to alleviate the transportation woes that students, both in St. Thomas and Manchester face. This signing ceremony indicates genuine commitment by the Government of Japan to assist Jamaica to further enhance education for its young citizens, who can fulfil their dream of a better tomorrow with hope,” he said.

 

The initiative is being undertaken through the collaboration between the National Education Trust (NET) and the Embassy of Japan.

 

Since 2015, the Embassy of Japan in Jamaica and the NET have been collaborating on education development projects. This partnership is aimed at meeting primary education needs at schools in greatest need of assistance under the GGP.

 

Through this programme, the Government of Japan offers financial assistance for development projects designed to meet the diverse needs of developing countries.

 

The initiative is part of a holistic safety and security initiative being spearheaded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information to transform schools and their immediate surroundings into safe zones, in an effort to ensure a quality education system within Jamaica.

 

CAPTION ONE: Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Dean-Roy Bernard (left), observes as Ambassador of Japan to Jamaica, His Excellency Hiromasa Yamazaki (centre); and Principal of Lyssons Primary School, Evette Bonfield Beecher, sign a grant contract in the amount of US$67,177 (J$8 million) for the purchase of a bus, today (January 22) at the Ministry’s Heroes Circle offices, in Kingston. The grant is being offered through the Government of Japan Grassroots Human Security Project. Standing is Board Chairman of the school, Cordinal Beckford.

 

CAPTION TWO: Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Dean-Roy Bernard (right), observes as Ambassador of Japan to Jamaica, His Excellency Hiromasa Yamazaki (centre) and Principal of New Forest Infant, Primary and Junior High School, Sharon Anderson, sign a grant contract in the amount of US$67,177 (J$8 million) for the purchase of a bus, today (January 22) at the Ministry’s Heroes Circle offices in Kingston. The grant is being offered through the Government of Japan Grassroots Human Security Project.

 

 

JIS: The Ministry of Health is reporting that the Jamaica Moves in Schools initiative has been well received by 33 schools across the parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew,   St. Thomas, and St. Catherine.

 

Members of the Ministry’s health promotion team across the parishes have been working closely with schools to promote the ‘Jamaica Moves’ programme, aimed at influencing students and teachers to partake in healthy lifestyle practices, in order to reduce the onset of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

 

The initiative was introduced as a pilot at 18 high schools, 12 primary schools, 2 primary and junior high schools and a special needs school last year.

 

Meanwhile, the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, implemented Phase 1 of the capacity-building residential camp for high schools.

 

Fifty-seven students and 14 teachers were trained as ‘Jamaica Moves’ ambassadors.

 

The two-day camp, which took place from November 23 to 25, 2018, focused on the three key areas of the Jamaica Moves programme – healthy eating, physical activity and age-appropriate health checks.

 

The participants were exposed to presentations aimed at sensitising them about some of the major NCDs, such as cancer, diabetes, heart attack and hypertension.

 

Additionally, the teachers and students were educated about the importance of physical activity and healthy eating, and are now empowered to develop good health practices.

 

Phase two of the capacity-building residential camp for high schools is scheduled for April 2019 and the one-day camp for primary schools is slated for March 2019.

 

Director of Health Promotion and Education in the Ministry of Health, Takese Foga, told JIS News in a recent interview that the initiative seeks to promote healthy eating at an early age.

 

“The aim of the camps is to have a number of students and teachers who appreciate and understand areas of healthy eating and physical activity promote the importance of NCD prevention,” she said.

 

“For children of primary-school age, we want them to be practising the habit of healthy eating and physical activity and also being able to share with their peers. The aim is to empower the children and teachers with some key messages and help them to encourage children to practise healthy lifestyle behaviours,” Ms. Foga said.

 

The 2017 Health and Lifestyle Survey revealed that 82 per cent of Jamaicans were engaged in low levels of physical activity; 16 per cent engaged in moderate activity, and two per cent in high-level activity.

 

Ms. Foga noted that the initiative is very important as data show there have been increased levels of childhood obesity.

 

“It is very important that at this age, children understand or they begin to practise healthy lifestyle habits, such as the reduction of sugar in their beverages, drinking water more, and the different healthy eating tips that we give them. If they start doing that now, in conjunction with the physical activity, then there is a much greater chance that the risk for obesity will be significantly less,” she pointed out.

 

CAPTION: Director of Health Promotion and Education in the Ministry of Health, Takese Foga.

  

 

 

GLEANER: More than 15 schools and citizens living in volatile and vulnerable communities are to benefit from the Ministry of National Security’s ‘I Am Purpose’ campaign.

 

The campaign, which started in September 2018, focuses on the value of self-worth, self-empowerment, parent and child interaction, volunteerism and community participation.

 

Communities in St Catherine, Clarendon, St James, and Kingston and St Andrew are being targeted under the year- long initiative.

 

Acting director of crime prevention and community safety in the ministry, Renee Steele, said the campaign forms part of the Five Pillar Crime-Reduction Strategy, with emphasis on crime prevention through social development.

 

“The purpose of this pillar is to identify the risk factors of a socio-economic nature that contribute to violent behaviours and attitudes, and help to reduce them through activities such as this campaign,” Steele said.

 

Statistics indicate that young people between the ages of 15 and 24 are involved in a significant number of violent crimes.

 

IMPRESSIONABLE YOUTHS

“We have found, in many cases, that we have youth as young as nine involved in criminal activities. They may not pull a trigger, but they are impressionable and not attached to any positive systems, and hence can be recruited by criminal elements,” Steele said.

 

“The campaign is important because it is a deliberate effort to take the positives to the source themselves. As children develop, they tend to depend more on their peers, so the peers become more influential; so we go to them in their space,” she added.

 

The initiative include the I Am Purpose school tour, which is implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information; a concert, as well as a men’s reasoning session. There is also a parent-student sports day, and peer-to-peer mentorship for the targeted schools.

 

So far, some seven schools have benefited under the campaign. These include Vere Technical High, Bustamante High, Denbigh High, St James High, Kemps Hill High, Spot Valley High, and Glendevon Primary and Junior High schools.

 

“We use edutainment to promote the positive messaging, and you get to engage with students one on one. Following the campaign, we will establish a peer-to-peer mentorship programme within the schools, where we will be aiming to use students from the upper grades to work with students from the lower grades as a means of positive role models,” Steele explained.

 

For the community-based activities, the security ministry works with several stakeholders such as community development committees, as well as gospel artiste Rondell Positive, to engage individuals from at-risk feeder communities in which the targeted schools are located.

 

CAPTION: Students at Glendevon Primary and Junior High in Montego Bay, St James, enjoy a performance from DJ Chinny during the ‘I Am Purpose’ concert, held at the institution in 2018.

GLEANER: Authors of Primary Exit Profile (PEP) textbooks are making adjustments to meet the new demands of the education sector regarding the examination’s implementation.

 

The PEP replaces the Grade Six Achievement Test (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.

 

Author of the Performance Task book PEP Practice for Grades Four, Five and Six Students and the Ability Test workbook PEP Practice for Grades Four, Five and Six Students, Dr Shalette Ashman, said she has been preparing to meet the new standards.

 

“We are PEP-ready, so we have a PEP app, a PEP website, and we have a PEP Performance Task book and a PEP Ability Test book,” she outlined.

 

New Book

Additionally, Ashman said she is currently working on a book titled JamaVerse PEP Mathematics Comic Book, which is intended to communicate mathematics principles in an exciting way.

 

“The comic basically connects with the lives of five kids, their dog, and a superhero. They go through Jamaica solving problems, getting super powers, and each page of the comic has a PEP math question. It’s going to encourage reading, as well as working PEP math questions,” she stated.

 

Ashman further spoke of an upcoming anime feature and video game for the comic series.

 

“One of the television [stations] has already indicated that they want to air the anime, and we have a video game that we are going to be putting on the Google Play Store,” she said.

 

Meanwhile, Ashman said that grade-six teachers are able to get free copies of the two PEP books now available by contacting her office.

 

“Teachers who have adopted, meaning that they are using the book with their students, will get access to both books at no cost, and they’ll also get access to our website, www.learninghub.online, absolutely free. They can call our office at (876) 926-1221 or (876) 351-7777,” she said.

 

She also indicates that Digicel subscribers can access PEP data on www.learninghub.online for free.

 

“We have a partnership with Digicel, so once you have a Digicel phone, you don’t even need credit on your phone to go on our website. All the learning material on our website is free. The only thing you pay for is testing material,” she said.

 

Prepared For Pep

Meanwhile, author of the Cheetah PEP practice books, Dr Paulette Trowers-Lawrence, said her publishing agency is also prepared for PEP.

 

She said that three books have already been published: PEP Science Practice Questions, PEP Ability Practice Questions, and PEP Mathematics Practice Questions.

 

“We have constructed the books in such a way to align with the National Standards Curriculum. For instance, with the maths, we break those questions down based on the six question types. So for instance, for numbers, we’ll have single responses, multiple responses, short constructed answers, and also extended activities and order grids,” Trowers-Lawrence explained.

 

“This makes it easier for the teacher to utilise the material in the classroom and also for a child who wants to work independently on his or her own at home or school,” she adds.

 

Dr Trowers-Lawrence said she is proud to be able to transition from GSAT, the format for which was multiple choice questions, to PEP comprising different question types.

 

“I love the idea of being able to allow them [students] to apply the information, not just in schools, but for life,” she tells JIS News.

 

All of the text books have been endorsed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information.

 

The Ability Test for PEP will be held on February 26; the Performance Task Test will be held on March 27 and 28; and the Curriculum Based Test will be done on April 16 and 17.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information Senator Ruel Reid (right), accepts copies of Primary Exit Profile practice books from author, Dr Shalette Ashman (centre). At left is state minister in the ministry, Floyd Green.