JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, has hailed the National Parenting Support Commission (NPSC) as a catalyst for social change in Jamaica.

 

The Minister, who was speaking at the NPSC’s Mentorship Programme graduation ceremony, held at the Jewel Dunn’s River Beach Resort & Spa in St. Ann on Tuesday (July 31), said the Commission has been playing a key role in social change by re-enforcing the need for good parenting practices in the country.

 

“It is catalytic, because we have been promoting the importance and efficacy of parenting and holistic education, [while] understanding how we prepare ourselves to become parents in the same instance,” the Minister said.

 

According to Senator Reid, the country’s battle with crime and violence largely had its genesis with the breakdown of families, and, as such, he is encouraging struggling parents to seek help from the requisite government agencies instead of “falling prey to their circumstances”.

 

He added that his Ministry, in a collaborative way, is establishing brain-builder centres in every constituency across the island to offer additional support to parents.

 

“If we can provide support through the National Parenting Support Commission for those who are poor and vulnerable, through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s PATH programme…. [then] we have to work to make sure that all our children are getting an equally good start, equally good nurturing and caring environment,” he said.

 

In the meanwhile, he lauded the graduates for their commitment and reassured them that they are needed in the field to ensure that all is being done to support the holistic development of the nation’s children, and that parents are playing their part to facilitate this development.

 

Some 42 volunteer parent mentors graduated from the Mentorship programme, which has become the flagship programme of the NPSC. It is a volunteer-based programme that offers 10 modules in effective parenting.

 

The graduates represent the fourth cohort of parents who have been trained under the programme, dubbed ‘From Street Talk, to Real Talk’.

 

 CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth, and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid. (File)

JIS: Fifty animation instructors from training institutions across the island have upgraded their skills under the Government’s Youth Employment in the Digital and Animation Industries (YEDAI) Project.

 

The instructors, who were selected from secondary, tertiary and vocational institutions, went through extensive skills development as part of the ‘Train The Trainers’ component of the project, which is being executed by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).

 

Speaking at a closing ceremony for the participants on Friday (July 27) at the Excelsior Community College in Kingston, Principal Finance Officer at the OPM, Rosalie Phipps, urged them to pass on the new skills to students so that Jamaica can gain more from the US$ 220 billion global animation industry.

 

She noted that the training is intended to “continuously build the capacity of Jamaican instructors, which will, in turn, improve the skills of young people so that they can participate in the growing animation industry.”

 

Ms. Phipps informed that the ‘Train The Trainers’ initiative  has been growing since YEDAI as implemented over three years ago, noting  the success of students  in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).

 

Being undertaken through funding from the World Bank, YEDAI has the objective of fostering entrepreneurship and employability among Jamaican youth and creating a favourable and innovative ecosystem for the emergence and growth of youth-led start-up enterprises.

 

The ‘Train the Trainers’ component aims to enhance effectiveness in the delivery of local animation training programmes.

 

It is designed with input from local animation studios and institutions, and international education experts, for effective instruction in the fundamental principles of 2D and 3D animation.

 

Vice Principal at Excelsior Community College, Dr. Zaria Malcolm, said that the institution was happy to host the training programme, which will help to prepare youngsters to participate in a lucrative global industry.

 

“We are committed to playing our part in the (training) of the Jamaican labour force,” she added.

 

CAPTION: Principal Finance Officer at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Rosalie Phipps (2nd right), along with Co-Task Team Leader at the World Bank, Karlene Francis (2nd left), and Project Manager for the OPM Youth Employment in the Digital and Animation Industries (YEDAI) Project, Margery Newland (right), celebrate with animation instructors at the closing ceremony for YEDAI’s ‘Train the Trainers’ course held on (July 27) at the Excelsior Community College in Kingston. Fifty animation instructors participated in the training.

JIS: Minister of Education, Youth, and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says the tertiary education system is being restructured in order to meet the demands of the 21st century and beyond.

 

He said the objective is to better enable the sector to “lead the way in positioning the rest of the education system to prepare for the future as well as retrofitting and re-aligning its programmes to meet the needs of the labour market over the short and long-term.”

 

“This will herald a change in the formulation of the entire sector (and) will include the re-organisation of the governance arrangements for oversight, funding from government, provision of grants, scholarships and bursaries for students and re-organisation of individual institutions in keeping with the mandate and needs of the sector,” Minister Reid outlined.

 

He was addressing the University Council of Jamaica’s (UCJ) Strategic Planning Retreat held on July 26 at the Iberostar Rose Hall Suites Hotel in Montego Bay, St. James.

 

Senator Reid informed that a draft policy has been prepared, outlining the necessary steps towards the establishment of a higher education commission, which will provide oversight of the sector.

 

“This arrangement will see a full restructuring of the bodies that currently provide oversight and will also call for new legislation,” he indicated.

 

As part of the re-organisation, the sector will be referred to as the ‘higher education” system and will incorporate academic, vocational, professional education and training as well as lifelong learning in a more comprehensive way.

 

Minister Reid further informed that efforts will be made to broaden the appeal of the various institutions to better attract the interest of the international community.

 

“The system shall be internationalised through the inclusion and integration of regional and global perspectives and dimensions into its systems, policies, curricula, and processes,” he noted.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth, and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid.

JIS: Mathematics Coordinator in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Dr. Tamika Benjamin, is calling for private-sector partnership in the thrust to get more students to embrace mathematics.

 

“We want to encourage members of the private sector, who are willing to come on board through a public-private partnership, in supporting us as we continue to push for all Jamaicans to recognise that mathematics is important in our everyday lives,” she said.

 

She argued that “if we are going to take our country to a place where the average individual is going to be able to access jobs that pay well… we have to ensure that everyone is competent in mathematics”.

 

“For many of the fields, whether traditional or non-traditional, people need to be mathematically competent,” she emphasised.

 

Dr. Benjamin was addressing TANG’s Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) Scholarship Awards luncheon at the Hotel Four Seasons in St. Andrew on July 26.

 

Three students – Vitannia Bedward, Khadedra John and Tai Grant – were presented with scholarships valued at $50,000 each for scoring 100 per cent in mathematics.

 

Vitannia, who attended Mico Practising Primary and Junior High in St. Andrew; and Khadedra, from Southborough Primary in Portmore, St. Catherine, will be attending Immaculate Conception High School in September.

 

Tai, who attended Black River Primary in St. Elizabeth, will be moving to Munro College.

 

Dr. Benjamin commended the students for the excellent work, so too the teachers, parents and others who helped to lay a strong foundation.

 

She also praised TANG for its continued support to education through the scholarship programme.

 

Brand Manager for TANG, Shellian Thompson, noted that the awards scheme, now in its seventh year, aims to recognise outstanding achievement in maths by rewarding top-performing GSAT students.

 

“TANG wants to help the Ministry of Education to remove the stigma and fear often associated with maths by providing incentives to our students to shine in the subject,” she said.

 

CAPTION: Business Development Manager at Facey Commodity Company Limited, Pernal Elliston (second right), speaking with 2018 TANG Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) Scholarship Award recipient, Tai Grant (right) during the TANG GSAT Awards luncheon held at the Hotel Four Seasons in St. Andrew on July 26. Fellow scholarship recipients, Khadedra John (left) and Vitannia Bedward, share the moment. Facey Commodity is the distrbutor of TANG in Jamaica.

JIS: Starting in September this year, entrepreneurship classes will become mandatory in all high schools.

 

State Minister for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green, says this is one of the major initiatives of the Government to revamp the education system to produce more rounded individuals.

 

“[We have] realigned our curriculum in what we now call the new standards curriculum to focus less on the passing of exams and more on the person we create at the end of the educational journey,” he notes.

 

The State Minister was addressing the opening of a two-day Youth for Sustainable Development Conference at the University of Technology (UTech) in St. Andrew on Thursday (July 26).

 

He said that for a long time, in Jamaica and across the Commonwealth, the educational system has focused on the “conveyor belt” approach, where students keep moving along the system regardless of the outcome of their schooling.

 

Mr. Green argued that this practice has to change in order to produce critical thinkers and individuals who are capable of creating sustainable, meaningful futures.

 

He noted that a key part of this undertaking is to provide students with the tools to become self-sufficient through exposure to entrepreneurship principles.

 

To this end, the Ministry has partnered with Junior Achievement Jamaica (JAJ) to incorporate the Junior Achievement Company of Entrepreneurs (JACE) programme into the ninth-grade curriculum.

 

“So, all our grade-nine students will come together in groups, and they will have to work with a business plan, they will have to put together a business and the business must have the principles of sustainability,” he said.

 

The programme, which has already reached 40 schools, with another 80 high schools targeted in the new school year, provides hands-on experience in running a business while students learn the fundamental skills necessary to make successful enterprises.

 

It is expected that the learning and practical experience gained from running the companies will provide students with a viable option to pursue entrepreneurship as their main income stream or may supplement it while being employed in their particular areas of training.

 

The JAJ is part of the global non-profit organisation, Junior Achievement Worldwide, which provides training for young people in entrepreneurship, financial literacy and work-readiness.

 

CAPTION: State Minister for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green (left), in discussion with Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Founder of Youth for Sustainable Development (Y4SD), Rochelle Reid James, prior to the start of a two-day Y4SD conference at the University of Technology (UTech), in St. Andrew, on Thursday (July 26

JIS: The Government has earmarked $8.39 billion in budgetary support for high schools for the 2018/19 academic year.

 

This represents a $435.8-million increase over the previous year, according to Education, Youth and Information Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid.

 

He was speaking during a post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House on Wednesday (July 25).

 

Senator Reid said operational and social grants allocations will total $3.76 billion, an increase of nearly $50 million.

 

“This increase can be attributed to the almost 2,400 increase in enrolment for the upcoming year,” he pointed out.

 

The Minister said allocations for staffing support have also been increased by more than $317 million, and that approximately $292.3 million has been provided for the Career Advancement Programme (CAP), which has been rolled out in all high schools.

 

“These variations facilitate implementation of our K to 13 programme, ensuring that all students receive a full seven years minimum of high-school education and leave with a skill and improved work-readiness,” he added.

 

Senator Reid noted that the Government has also increased the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) feeding grant by $43.7 million.

 

“Infant, All-Age, Primary, and Primary and Junior High Schools receive similar grants to high schools… but also receive financial support for clerical assistance, environmental wardens, water, Internet, janitorial support and security grants as well as support for cooks and canteens,” he indicated.

 

“The total allocation to be made for the upcoming academic year for these schools across all six regions is $4.22 billion. The first allocation has already been sent to schools and will assist (institutions) to prepare for the upcoming start of the 2018/19 academic year in September,” he added.

 

Senator Reid said another three tranches will follow throughout the course of the academic year.

 

He noted that the PATH accounts for the largest allocation to Infant, All-Age, Primary, and Primary and Junior High Schools, standing at $2.23 billion for 2018/19.

 

Another $323.1 million is budgeted for cooks’ support, while $306.6 million has been allocated for infrastructure and maintenance.

 

Regular grants, totalling $583.7 million, have been allocated, in addition to the other areas listed.

 

The Ministry provides grants to high schools for furniture; infrastructure; maintenance; special tourism programmes in some schools (newly introduced this year); science; information and communications technology; staffing; PATH feeding programmes; CAP; transportation (in the form of the Rural Bus Pilot Programme); industrial technology; home economics, as well as computer lab technicians; school support officers, and social premiums and operational grants.

 

CAPTION: Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Fayval Williams, addressing journalists during Wednesday’s (July 25) Post Cabinet Press Briefing at Jamaica House. Looking on is Education, Youth and Information Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid.

JIS: Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green, has underscored the value of mentorship programmes in improving outcomes for underperforming or unattached young people.

 

Mr. Green, who was addressing the Jamaica Leadership Summit at The Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston on Thursday (July 19), noted that initiatives that match students who are not doing well in school with their high-performing peers help to boost academic results.

 

He gave the example of Belmont Academy in Westmoreland, which has developed a model that pairs top-performing students with the weaker pupils as mentors.

 

The nine-year-old institution was ranked as the most-improved high school in the 2016 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams by Educate Jamaica, with 93 per cent of its students passing five or more subjects, from 75 per cent in the previous year.

 

“They (Belmont Academy) have been able to do well by using their mentorship model,” Mr. Green pointed out.

 

The Education State Minister noted, however, that mentorship is not only needed in education but “right across the board”.

 

“So (we need to) establish formal and informal mentorship that pairs more experienced persons with the younger people or models that focus on leadership competencies,” he said.

 

He noted that many young people are unable to express themselves well, and peer-mentoring relationships will enable them to communicate their feelings and emotions more effectively.

 

“So, you’re pairing people who can complement each other. Mentorship, in general, is more effective in communicating messages clearly among peers. They will know how to reach each other.

 

You’ll see somebody who is doing much better and they will know how to help the other to do better,” Mr. Green said.

 

“It is something that we’ve seen that has worked tremendously,” he added.

 

The Jamaica Leadership Summit, hosted by Mind Food International, was targeted at leaders and aspiring leaders in the public and private sectors, equipping them with best practices to enable them to attain their goals and better lead others.

 

CAPTION: Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green (left), addresses the Jamaica Leadership Summit held at The Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston on Thursday (July 19). Seated from right are Natasha and Jamar Wright of Mind Food International, which organised the event.

JIS: With the Primary Exit Profile (PEP), teachers will have a more complete assessment of students’ capabilities, better enabling them to design lesson plans to meet their learning needs, says Senior Education Officer in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Alicia Lindsay.

 

“So teachers can plan more strategically as they look at what the trends are, what the weaknesses are, and then see how best they can put a plan in place, so that (students) can overcome those challenges,” she noted.

 

She was addressing Brunswick Jamaica’s 2018 Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) awards luncheon held on Monday (July 23) at the Hotel Four Seasons in St. Andrew.

 

PEP, which replaces GSAT as the national secondary-school placement test, will assess students’ knowledge, in addition to placing increased emphasis on their demonstration of 21st century skills, for example, critical thinking and communication.

 

Students going into grade six in September will be the first PEP cohort. They will do the examination in 2019.

 

Brunswick awarded scholarships totalling $125,000 to three top-performing students in GSAT – Kayla Harrison, Breanna Phillips, and Brian Henry.

 

Brand Manager at the company, Simone McFarlane, said the students are being recognised for their outstanding performance.

 

“We also want to play our part in encouraging more students to continue striving for excellence,” she said.

 

She urged the students, who will be attending high school in September, to extend kindness to others, be respectful and “be mindful of bad influence and persons who will want to lead you astray”.

 

Immediate Past President of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), Howard Isaacs, congratulated the students and urged them to continue to make the best of school life.

 

He thanked Brunswick for rewarding the students, and called on the parents to remain diligent in guiding their children.

 

Brunswick is celebrating 125 years this year.

 

CAPTION: Senior Education Officer at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Alicia Lindsay, addresses Brunswick Jamaica’s 2018 Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) awards luncheon for three top-performing students held on Monday (July 23) at the Hotel Four Seasons, St. Andrew.

JIS: The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information is partnering with the National Parent-Teacher Association (NPTAJ) to stage a series of information fora on the Primary Exit Profile (PEP).

 

Making the disclosure, Chief Education Officer, Dr. Grace McLean, said the islandwide events will commence during the last two weeks in August and will include presentations from portfolio Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid; and other officials, who will “provide more detailed information for the parents”.

 

“We are extending this invitation to our broad-based stakeholders such as persons who do extra lessons. We will go through some of the fundamentals that persons who are engaged in assisting our students, would need to know,” Dr. McLean informed.

 

She was speaking at the Sixth Biennial General Meeting and National Conference of the NPTAJ held recently at Jamaica College in St. Andrew.

 

PEP, which will be administered for the first time in 2019, replaces the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) as the national secondary school placement examination.

 

While GSAT focused primarily on content and assessing students’ knowledge of subject areas, PEP is centred on critical analysis and seeks to accurately measure how students use the knowledge, abilities and skills they have developed to solve problems.

 

PEP is built on the notion that competency involves both student knowledge and what a student is able to do with the knowledge that they possess.

 

Dr. McLean said that for the new programme to be successful, support from parents is crucial, hence the partnership with the NPTAJ.

 

“We are depending on you to assist with those sessions, so that persons can be sensitised and for children to maximise their potential,” she said.

 

Manager of the Student Assessment Unit at the Ministry, Terry-Ann Thomas Gayle, said that under PEP, “more opportunities will be provided for teachers to identify students’ strength and weaknesses”.

 

This, she said, will better enable them to design a more customised programme for children at the primary level in order for them to successfully move on to secondary education.

 

CAPTION: Chief Education Officer, Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Dr. Grace McLean, addresses the National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica’s (NPTAJ) Sixth Biennial General Meeting and National Conference at Jamaica College held in St. Andrew recently. In the backgrond are President of the NPTAJ, Everton Hannam; and Manager of the Student Assessment Unit in the Ministry, Terry-Ann Thomas Gayle.

JIS: The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, and the Mexican Embassy in Jamaica have partnered on a project to further boost the Government’s capacity to digitally preserve the nation’s priceless archived records and historical data.

 

The initiative, titled ‘Project for Capacity Development in Digital Preservation for Records and Information Professionals’, was launched by Permanent Secretary, Dean-Roy Bernard, and Mexico’s Ambassador to Jamaica, His Excellency Juan José González Mijares, during a ceremony at the Ministry in Kingston on Thursday (July 19).

 

The project aims to develop a cadre of public-sector records and information management (RIM) professionals with the requisite digital preservation skills who are capable of training other persons in this area; and to create a user manual that will be integral to the process.

 

Local stakeholder partner engagement will be led by the Jamaica Archives and Records Division, an agency of the Education Ministry, in collaboration with the Cabinet Office and the Ministries of Finance and the Public Service, and Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.

 

Representatives of the General National Archives of Mexico will undertake study tours to conduct system assessments at a number of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), and training of personnel from July 19 to 24.

 

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Bernard said the project is being undertaken against the background of a need, based on a study, to boost persons’ capabilities to professionally preserve records and information and the extent to which information and communication technology (ICT) is leveraged in this regard.

 

He explained that the training will be based on principles and concepts of digital preservation in relation to migration, encapsulation and emulation of digital records.

 

The subject areas, the Permanent Secretary further outlined, will include records capture; records classification and indexing; metadata assignment; maintenance and utilisation; appraisal and disposition, including retention schedules; preservation processes; and methodologies for training trainers, among other areas.

 

Mr. Bernard said the project will involve an additional capacity-building exercise and a study tour of the General National Archives of Mexico by local participants at a later date.

 

“By implementing this project, government efficiency and service delivery will improve, making Jamaica an enabling business environment. This project is aimed at modernising the public service and making it more efficient and democratic. Additionally, it is consistent with (the goals of) our Vision 2030 Jamaica long-term National Development Plan,” he added.

 

For his part, Ambassador Mijares said the project represented a continuation of scientific and technical cooperation, which the Mexican Government has extended to Jamaican institutions over several years in a number of areas.

 

These, he pointed out, include agriculture, data management, disaster risk management, and biotechnology.

 

Ambassador Mijares said the Mexican Government recognises the pivotal role of national archives in countries’ economic, political and social development.

 

“This particular project for capacity development and digital preservation with the Jamaica Archives and Records Department… is part of our broad technical and scientific cooperation programme, which will be renewed in order to continue with activities in 2018 and 2019,” he added.

 

CAPTION: Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Dean-Roy Bernard (left), greets Mexico’s Ambassador to Jamaica, His Excellency Juan José Gonzalez Mijares (right), at Thursday’s (July 19) launch of the ‘Project for Capacity Development in Digital Preservation for Records and Information Professionals’, at the Ministry in Kingston. At centre is Director for Information Technology at the General National Archives of Mexico, Erick Cardoso Espinosa.