JIS: Opportunities for certification in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) training are now available at the Trench Town Polytechnic College (TTPC), in St. Andrew.

 

The college commenced the training in early September, as part of their Associate Degree programme, in partnership with the Montego Bay based iTELBPO Smart Solutions, which is the largest home-grown BPO entity in the region.

 

Principal of the institution, Dr. Dosseth Edwards-Watson, says one of the most exciting aspects of the venture is the work-study initiative, which gives students who meet specific criteria, the opportunity to engage in a study and earn programme.

 

The Principal was speaking at a media launch of the training initiative, on October 11, at the TTPC.

 

“We are totally grateful to iTEL, as we have some youngsters who are raring to go. There is such a wealth of talent in Trench Town,” Dr. Edwards-Watson said.

 

Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for South St. Andrew, Mark Golding, told the gathering that he is pleased with the partnership to offer the training, and that young people should be encouraged “to get involved and take advantage of this training and education.”

 

“We are executing a good idea which will benefit both sides in the partnership, and everybody should make this work, because outsourcing is an important part of the economy, and Jamaica has a competitive edge in the sector,” Mr. Golding said.

 

For her part, Regional Director at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Dr. Kasan Troupe, said with the training being offered, the “Brand Trench Town is going to be lifted even higher.”

 

“Young people, you are being given this opportunity, take it seriously,” Dr. Troupe urged, while pledging the Ministry’s support for the continued development of the college.

 

Chairman of the institution, Dr. Joan Spencer-Ernandez, said the college is a winner, and lauded iTELBPO Smart Solutions, for “demonstrating confidence in our ability to effectively deliver this programme, and in our students to be successful as they take on this challenge.”

 

Head of Training at the BPO company, Shurland Buchanan, noted that their commitment is to “train and nurture these future graduates.”

 

Located at Eighth Street at the site of the former Trench Town High School, the multi-disciplinary community college provides a holistic curriculum that is designed to give students a competitive edge.

 

CAPTION: Regional Director at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Dr. Kasan Troupe (third left) and Member of Parliament for South St. Andrew, Mark Golding (second left), cut the ribbon to officially open the iTELBPO Smart Academy, at the Trench Town Polytechnic College (TTPC), on October 11. Principal of the College, Dr. Dosseth Edwards-Watson, is at left. At right is Head of Training at iTELBPO Smart Solutions, Shurland Buchanan.

JIS: Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green, says students are showing signs of improvement since the implementation of the new model that will prepare them for the Primary Exit Profile (PEP).

 

“What we are seeing is… since the curriculum now calls for that individualised attention, a lot of our children are doing a lot better. A lot of our children are now more engaged, especially because it calls for that sort of hands-on approach to learning,” he said.

 

Mr. Green was speaking at The Mico University College Care Centre’s 7th Biennial Education Conference at Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston on Thursday (October 11).

 

PEP, which has replaced GSAT as the national secondary-school entrance examination, is intended to provide a better and more complete profile of students’ academic and critical-thinking capabilities at the end of primary-level education. It comprises a Performance Task, Ability Task and a Curriculum-Based Test.

 

Grade-six students will sit the Performance Task aspect of PEP in March 2019, while the Ability Test and Curriculum-Based Test components will be conducted in February 2019 and April 2019, respectively.

 

The PEP grades will be made available to schools in the third week of June every year.

 

Meanwhile, Mr. Green assured that children with special needs will be adequately accommodated for the assessment.

 

He noted that “all the systems that we had in place to cater to them for [the Grade Six Achievement Test] GSAT, will be in place to cater to them in relation to PEP”.

 

“We have systems that will give our exams in braille for children who can’t see. Our children who have difficulty in relation to speech, we have persons that we provide to work with them for the exam. For those who can’t speak English, we provide translators, things of that nature, so our children with disability will not be disadvantaged in relation to our PEP,” he said.

 

During the last sitting of GSAT, 315 students with special needs were registered to do the examination – 166 in region one; 13 in region two; four in region three; 20 in region four; 33 in region five; and 79 in region six.

 

CAPTION: Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green (centre) exchanges greetings with President, The Mico University College, Dr. Ashburn Pinnock (right), at Mico Care Centre’s 7th Biennial Education Conference at Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston on Thursday (October 11). Sharing in the moment is Board Chairman, The Mico University College, Professor Neville Ying.

JIS: The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, in collaboration with the Office of the Cabinet, has launched the Records and Information Management (RIM) Policy Implementation and Sensitisation Programme, geared towards ensuring that all activities and decisions of the Government are fully and accurately documented, managed and monitored.

 

The policy will govern records and information management across all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the Government.

 

Implementation of the RIM policy will facilitate accessible, efficient and effective service delivery to the citizenry; data sharing across MDAs;  ease of doing business, research and attraction of investments; increased transparency and accountability through the creation, processing, maintenance, use and disposition of records in conformity with local policies, standards and international good practice; preservation of national and cultural identity; leveraging cultural assets; informing the citizenry; and the overall attainment of national development goals.

 

At the launch, held on October 4 at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston, Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, said the RIM policy is transformational and will help with the storage of important records.

 

“Our reality today, in the digital age, is that every small unit has its own de facto registry, and each computer is host to volumes of official records, be it emails or documents, which are saved and stored, often in an unstructured way,” the Minister said.

 

“While this experience is not at all unique to Jamaica, we accept that without a robust RIM system which provides ready access to relevant and historical documents and which evidences our work, we cannot truly offer to the people of Jamaica good governance, sound policy development and decision-making, efficient and effective services or accountability and transparency,” he added.

 

The Minister called on the stakeholders present at the launch, who represented various government MDAs, to ensure that during the implementation there is adherence to managing their digital records in conformity with the prescriptions of the policy, especially with respect to emails, which are official records.

 

Senator Reid also thanked members of the Cabinet Office for their effort, which is contributing to the success of the Public Sector Transformation and Modernisation (PSTM) Programme.

 

Meanwhile, Director General, PSTM Programme, Office of the Cabinet, Veniece Pottinger-Scott, shared about the RIM policy.

 

“Implementation of the RIM programme originated within the overall work of the Public Sector Transformation and Modernisation Programme at the Cabinet Office, and is regarded as one of the major initiatives aimed at driving public-sector efficiency and enhancing the ease of doing business,” Mrs. Pottinger-Scott said.

 

“It is aligned with Jamaica’s economic growth priorities articulated in the Vision 2030 – National Development Plan. It seeks to address systemic issues that significantly affect public-sector performance, [with] information management being one of them; and records. As such, it is prioritised that the improvement of the quality of government data and the strengthening of information sharing across government, must be our priority,” she added.

 

Copies of the Government of Jamaica Records and Information Management Policy were also presented at the launch to Permanent Secretaries and Directors of Documentation, Information and Access Services in the various ministries.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (left), listens to Director General, Public Sector Transformation and Modernisation Programme, Office of the Cabinet, Veniece Pottinger-Scott, at the launch of the Records and Information Management (RIM) Policy Implementation and Sensitisation Programme on Thursday (October 4) at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston.

JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Education, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid has reiterated that in about five years, students sitting Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) subjects will do some aspects of their examinations online.

 

“They’re already doing marking online, and all CXC exams are likely, within the next five years, to be online,” Senator Reid said, as he addressed a Teacher Sensitisation and Consultation Session for the Primary Exit Profile (PEP), held at the Old Harbour New Testament Church in St. Catherine on Tuesday (October 2).

 

He said the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information is positioning itself to support this new approach, through the National Standards Curriculum.

 

“A lot of the things that we are doing, even the National Standards Curriculum, will have to incorporate online teaching and learning, so all of us have to now get with the technology and prepare ourselves to navigate in this 21st century and beyond,” Minister Reid said.

 

He added that like CXC with new technology, the Ministry makes adjustments to its curriculum to meet the new standards set regarding subjects, papers, syllabuses and sample items.

 

At a press conference to launch the CXC Learning Hub, at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on May 10, the Minister said that students would soon be required to take some aspects of their examinations online, as part of the Hub.

 

Through the Hub, students now have increased access to CXC material as well as resources produced by the examination body’s external partners.

 

In welcoming the move by CXC at that event, he said with the advancement of technology, it is only fitting for Jamaica’s education system to start testing the use of online examinations for students exiting the secondary level.

 

The Minister said online testing for CXC will now include audiovisuals, videos and animations in multiple-choice tests, which provide a particularly attractive option and will help students to perform better in external examinations.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (left), speaking to teachers and principals at a Teacher Sensitisation and Consultation Session, held on Tuesday (October 2) at the Old Harbour New Testament Church in St. Catherine.

JIS: The Performance Task aspect of the Primary Exit Profile (PEP), previously scheduled for December, has been pushed back to March 2019.

 

The Ability Test and Curriculum-Based Test components will be conducted in February 2019 and April 2019, respectively, as previously scheduled.

 

Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, made the disclosure during a press briefing at his offices in Kingston on Wednesday (October 3)“That will allow us to grade and provide scores and placement of our students on schedule for June 2019,” he said.

 

He informed that the change was based on the recommendation of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) for an adjustment in the PEP schedule.

 

“The next round of discussions will be held with Board chairs and vice chairs, principals, vice principals and bursars, to make sure that at the leadership level they are all cognisant of what we are doing for PEP and other policies. This will then complete the circle of educators’ discussions with me,” he said.

 

Senator Reid said that coming out of consultations with other stakeholders, such as the National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica and the Book Industry of Jamaica, “other changes were taken on board in the best interest of the children”.

 

These include that students will have an option to choose for the Performance Task; teacher-engagement activity will be provided at least one month before the actual assessment is to be done; questions will be organised in such a way as to prevent students from having to flip the paper several times; a national committee will be formed to review test items; removal of teachers’ names from the individual students’ reports; and teachers will also be involved in the marking of papers and the development of test items.

 

“I am very pleased with the feedback and support we have been getting from all our stakeholders, and we intend to continue to listen and make adjustments where necessary and in keeping with the best interest of our children,” Senator Reid said.

 

He said that the Ministry will be continuing the weekend PEP camps for students, teachers and parents as well as teachers’ sensitisation sessions across the island.

 

He noted that over the last eight weeks, the Ministry has distributed a suite of materials to schools across the island, including practice items, registration manuals and sample test booklets.

 

“The final set of key resources will be the official practice booklets and answers for both teachers and students, for which distribution will begin this week,” he indicated.

 

Senator Reid noted that the PEP website should be fully operational by Friday of this week, adding that a PEP software application will be available in another two weeks.

 

Meanwhile, he said Performance Task mock results for grade five have been distributed to schools. The mock test was conducted in June to assess the readiness of students for PEP.

 

Overall, the results showed that 83 per cent of the students met or nearly met the standards for English Language; 48 per cent met or nearly met the standard for Mathematics; 52 per cent met or nearly met the standard for Social Studies; and 22 per cent met or nearly met the standard for Science.

 

He said additional resources, such as specialist teachers, will be utilised to improve the results for Science.

 

“The mock showed that greater support will have to be provided for teachers in the areas of drawing conclusions and taking informed actions, as well as gathering and evaluating sources, which were two of the areas assessed in the mock exam,” he said.

 

He said the Ministry is pleased with the responses of the students and the effort that was made by teachers to understand and administer the assessment.

 

“The signs are encouraging, and we now have tangible data to move forward,” he said.

 

Senator Reid informed that the Ministry will continue to fine-tune the preparations for the administration of PEP, through extensive engagement with teachers, parents and other stakeholders.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (left), engages with Minister of State, Hon. Floyd Green, just before the start of a press conference at the Ministry’s National Heroes Circle offices in Kingston on October 3.

JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says a new website to assist teachers, parents and students in preparation for the Primary Exit Profile (PEP), will be launched by the end of the week.

 

He was speaking at a Teacher Sensitisation and Consultation Session for PEP at the Old Harbour New Testament Church in Clarendon on Tuesday (October 2).

 

“By the end of this week, we’ll have, fully running, a dedicated PEP website with everything you need to know about PEP; practice items – all the materials… will be available for you 24/7,” Minister Reid informed.

 

“Two weeks’ time, after Friday, we hope to have an app that you can just click on and all that information will be available. We have to transition into the 21st century… . We will have the technology-aided teaching and learning material,” he added.

 

Minister Reid noted that printed material will also be circulated. “We’ve had to pull out all the stops [for] those of you who were not comfortable with some of the material online… [and] we have agreed to print the material for you,” he said.

 

The Education Minister reiterated that the content for PEP has not changed from the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT); the “enrichment, the methodology in terms of how we deliver the content, however, would have changed with the National Standard Curriculum (NSC)”.

 

“We are seeking to draw out of the students those high-order skills; not just get them stuck at recall but moving up the ladder from comprehension, analysis, moving right up to synthesis and evaluation,” he pointed out.

 

PEP has replaced GSAT as the national secondary-school entrance examination. 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.

 

It comprises a Performance Task, Ability Task and a Curriculum-Based Task.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (second left), fields questions during a Teacher Sensitisation and Consultation Session on Tuesday (October 2) at Old Harbour New Testament Church in St. Catherine. He is flanked by (from left) Chief Education Officer, Dr. Grace McLean; Acting Deputy Chief Education Officer, Dasmine Kennedy; and Assistant Chief Education Officer, Core Curriculum Unit, Winnie Berry.

JIS: The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, under its Safety and Security Programme, is on a mission to increase the number of uniformed groups in schools.

 

The move is part of measures to improve discipline among students. Research shows that the presence of clubs and uniformed groups on the school grounds helps to promote positive values and attitudes.

 

In addition, students who are members of these groups do better socially and academically than those who are not affiliated with such organisations.

 

“We are anticipating that for students who are involved with groups, it will help with their behaviour, help with self-discipline and group discipline and certainly help with the reduction of violence and critical incidents within our schools,” says Director of the Safety and Security Unit in the Ministry, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Coleridge Minto.

 

The Jamaica Combined Cadet Force (JCCF), one of the oldest uniformed groups in the island, is among the entities that the Ministry has engaged in its drive.

 

ASP Minto tells JIS News that the objective is to increase student involvement in the cadet corps from 3, 000 to 10,000 in the next three to five years.

 

“The schools have been very supportive of this expansion effort and 120 persons, including principals and teachers, have expressed interest in becoming cadet officers. Fifty commenced the basic officers and adult rank course in July 2018,” he informs.

 

Commandant of the JCCF, Colonel Errol V. Johnson, tells JIS News that the organisation now has a presence in over 50 per cent of high schools across Jamaica; however, in the next two years, the force will be in all high schools.

 

The JCCF is open to male and female students attending school at the secondary level, who can enlist as cadet recruits.

 

During the training process, which can last up to four months, recruits are exposed to the rules and regulations of the corps, basic drills, and learning to march and salute.

 

Recruits are also exposed to weapons training, field craft, map reading, some social graces, community involvement, disaster management, first aid, music and environmental consciousness.

 

Adults are trained by the JCCF to become cadet officers, and Colonel Johnson is appealing for more persons with suitable leadership qualities to volunteer to serve.

 

Currently, professionals such as pilots, engineers, nurses, doctors, teachers, and lawyers serve as officers in the cadet corps.

 

Other uniformed groups being engaged by the Ministry include the Scouts Association, St. John Ambulance and the Caribbean Merchant Marine Cadet Corps.

 

Currently, there are Scouts groups in 80 public schools, mainly at the primary level, while St. John Ambulance will roll out its youth brigade this year.

 

At the primary level, the students will be called Humming Bird; the St. John Cadet at the secondary level; and the St. John Link at the tertiary level. Students will be taught first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), among other things. Meanwhile, the Caribbean Merchant Marine Cadet Corps, which is operated through the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU), was established just over two years ago and, to date, there are active cadet units in 30 schools with approximately 900 cadets.

 

ASP Minto pointed out that other groups, such as the Boys’ and Girls’ brigades, Girl Guides, National Interschool Brigade Movement, and the Dynamic Cadet Corps, will also be incorporated into the Ministry’s Safety and Security programme.

 

He informs that the Ministry will support these groups through funding, endorsements as well as assisting with their expansion programmes.

 

He says that the Ministry is ensuring that all the groups it endorses are approved to operate in schools.

 

“As with any external body, uniformed groups are required to submit the necessary documentation to the Permanent Secretary when attempting to integrate their club into a school,” he points out.

 

CAPTION: Drummers of the Jamaica Combined Cadet Force (JCCF) practise in preparation for a parade.

JIS: Principal of Petersfield Primary and Infant School, in Westmoreland, Susan Rattray Hammond, says the school’s robust mathematics programme will ensure that students’ performance in the subject improves significantly over time.

 

During an interview with JIS News, Mrs. Rattray Hammond said that in an effort to get students excited about mathematics, the school has implemented several activities based on the subject.

 

“We have a maths pageant, and we have an event called Maths Explosion, which is held annually in November,” the Principal informed.

 

Maths Explosion consists of each grade at the school setting up displays that highlight various strands and techniques of mathematics, after which teachers and students make the rounds to the classes to view the displays.

 

The day is topped off with a maths pageant in which children from both lower and upper school participate, culminating with a Maths King and Queen being chosen.

 

For her part, Mathematics Coordinator at the school, Toni Simpson Reid, said the added attention to the subject has, so far, been rewarding, and has inspired even more maths-centred activities.

 

“We also have a daily maths quiz, which sees questions being posed daily to lower and upper school… . The students go to work them out, and the first to get the correct answer gets a free lunch that day, so it helps to boost (their excitement),” Mrs. Simpson Reid noted.

 

She argued that Literacy had been topping Numeracy over the years and it is time to put both on the same level.

 

The Coordinator said that not only was the school focused on improving performance in maths, but it also wanted to make the subject appealing and fun. One way of ensuring this is the school’s monthly newsletter, which is not only purchased by students but given to parents and other stakeholders.

 

“Pictures from maths and other school-related events, general knowledge, and maths quizzes are put in there. We sell it to the students and teachers, and it sells quickly, especially in November.

 

We also give copies to stakeholders in the community, and also leave copies at the post office, supermarket and the library,” Mrs. Simpson Reid informed.

 

She also added that the school’s ‘Pull Out’ programme, which involves giving students who are falling behind in maths special attention in the school’s Maths Centre, underscores the school’s determination to improve numeracy grades.

 

CAPTION: Principal of Petersfield Primary and Infant School, Susan Rattray Hammond, speaks to students in a classroom