GLEANER: The fears of parents, teachers and children that the Primary Exit Profile Examination (PEP) would interrogate primary-school children’s knowledge of foreign language has been allayed by the Ministry of Education, whose officials say that is not an area for testing in 2019.

 

PEP, which will replace the Grade Six Achievement Test, was widely expected to gauge students’ ability in a foreign language, reportedly Spanish. Schools, mainly in the rural parishes, expressed fears that their children would be at significant disadvantage, as the teachers have no training in Spanish or any other foreign language.

 

Responding to questions on the issue during a Gleaner Editors’ Forum on Monday, the ministry’s representatives put the matter to rest.

 

“As part of the curriculum, we recognise that different subject areas will provide a different kind of experience for the children. So, we group these disciplines based on the kind of experience they [students] will get.

 

“When you talk about the foreign-language component, it is treated as part of the enrichment experience for the children. So, they will not be assessed when they are doing their national examination on foreign language,” explained Clover Hamilton-Flowers, assistant chief education officer with responsibility for core curriculum.

 

Continuing, she said: “But by allowing them to interact in settings through games and songs at the early years contributes to language development. As they get older, when we allow them to interact in these ways, it becomes much easier for them than later on when they want to embark on a career pathway and they want to specialise in languages.

 

“At that stage, they are struggling. So, the idea is not that they will be writing a foreign-language examination for PEP, but it would be part of the experience they will get through play,” said Hamilton-Flowers.

 

[email protected]

 

CAPTION: Dr Clover Hamilton-Flowers

GLEANER: The performance task component of the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) seeks to minimise parental interference and allow students to apply analytical skills to make sense of the world around them through projects.

 

“… We are aware that many times, the projects that children get at the primary level is actually the parents’ projects. We see them [parents] going to school with them. We see the parents at the office getting all different kinds of things to assist them,” Dr Grace McLean, chief education officer, told a Gleaner Editors’ Forum on Monday.

 

Performance tasks will be administered during grades four and five during the summer and Christmas terms in grade six. Students will do performance tasks in language arts and mathematics in grades four and six and all four subjects, which include science and social studies in grade five.

 

She explained, “The performance task may involve, for example, a field trip to a corner shop in Brompton or Marley Hill or Sturge Town, and so on, while in Kingston, it may be a supermarket.”

 

The chief education officer noted that the students would examine the processes at play and then discuss links to principles they have learned in a particular subject.

 

McLean continued: “Now, when the teacher is satisfied that he or she would have generated enough discussion and there is some understanding in terms of the fundamental principles, then there will be a particular day when the students will be allowed to answer some specific questions … .”

 

The scripts will be collected and marked by select teachers in a standardised manner, similar to the process employed for the communication task in the Grade Six Achievement Test.

 

Terry-Ann Thomas Gayle, manager of the Student Assessment Unit at the education ministry, explained that the scoring for the performance task during the three years represents 20 per cent of the overall grade.

 

She outlined that parents would be able to request a review and an independent panel will rescore the script. There is a quality assurance framework to detect and address irregularities.

 

In addition to the performance tasks, the curriculum-based tests, consisting solely of grade six content, will account for 50 per cent of a student’s grade and the ability test has a weight of 30 per cent.

 

[email protected]

 

CAPTION ONE: Terry-Ann Thomas Gayle, manager, Student Assessment Unit, Minister of Education, Youth and Information.

CAPTION TWO: Dr Grace McLean, chief education officer, Ministry of Education, Youth and Information

GLEANER: State Minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Floyd Green, is to appoint an advisory council and boards of visitors for residential childcare facilities, following the completion of a strategic review of state facilities by a private consultancy earlier this year.

 

Green noted that following his review of the recommendations highlighted in the report, the ministry cited the need for urgent intervention in the residential childcare sector, in particular the monitoring process and actions taken in relation to critical incidents in state facilities.

 

“The advisory council, as envisioned by the regulations to the Child Care and Protection Act, will provide a significant layer of oversight to ensure accountability in residential care and ultimately to raise the standards of care for our children,” Green said. “It will also be positioned to provide the ministers and our Child Protection Agency (CPFSA) with strategic advice as we meet the needs of children who are housed at our childcare facilities.”

 

Green added that recommendations were accepted for the re-establishment of boards of visitors for residential childcare facilities, as part of a crisis prevention and intervention model.

 

“Unlike the first model where visitors were appointed for each parish, we are seeking to ensure that every home has a board of visitors who will make announced and unannounced visits to the facilities and file reports. This is to reinforce accountability in light of recent critical incidents,” he explained.

 

Individuals on the board of visitors will be appointed for two-year terms.

 

Persons interested in serving on the board of visitors are being asked to contact the

 

Child Protection and Family Services Agency by calling 876-967-1614 or email [email protected]

 

CAPTION: Floyd Green, Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information

GLEANER: Chief Education Officer Dr Grace McLean is assuring the public that education officials – being parents – are cognisant of the anxieties surrounding the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) and, therefore, will ramp up sensitisation efforts by the Ministry of Education.

 

Speaking at a Gleaner Editors’ Forum yesterday at the company’s North Street offices, McLean said that, with the mock exam of the performance task component of PEP now completed, the ministry would begin to refine the feedback and begin a full round of sensitisation come August. She noted that, in addition to continuing town-hall meetings, the ministry would also be sending information to churches island-wide for dissemination.

 

“Also, we’re going to ask them to invite us to come to speak to their Sunday school or Sabbath school teams or to speak at their homework centres … . So, that is a new approach that we’ve decided to take because we want the information to get out there to our parents, as well as our students. We intend to have this approach finalised in July with a view to commence in August,” McLean explained.

 

She also advised that sample questions for the curriculum-based test and ability test for grade six would be sent to schools this week.

 

McLean further disclosed that in September, the ministry would be providing a full publication with different kinds of questions showing how they are aligned to the curriculum so that parents, teachers and stakeholders can have this information to guide the preparation of our students. McLean noted that the ministry would be utilising social media to get the information out.

 

Persons needing information about PEP can get in touch with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information by calling its WhatsApp number, 876-455-3003, or email terri.thomas@[email protected].

 

CAPTION: Dr Grace McLean, chief education officer, Ministry of Education, Youth and Information.

GLEANER: The Primary Exit Profile (PEP) will equip educators with data on students, especially slow learners, to better facilitate their transition into the high-school system, according to officials from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information.

 

Children will be placed on one of three pathways designed to meet their level of competence. Pathway one is for students who are performing satisfactorily, the second pathway is for children who have some form of delayed learning, and the third is for students with special needs.

 

“They will be placed on a particular pathway based on the scores that they would have received in the subject areas,” explained Terry-Ann Thomas Gayle, manager of the Student Assessment Unit at the education ministry.

 

“On these pathways, the programmes at the secondary level will be customised to cater to them (students) at the different levels at which they are leaving the primary schools and entering the high schools,” Gayle told disclosed during a Gleaner Editors’ Forum yesterday.

 

Dr Grace McLean, chief education officer, added that teachers would have to analyse the performances of students starting from grade four. At that point, children would have to do their first performance task, which is a project that allows them to apply skills learned to real-world scenarios.

 

She added, “With that projection, we are now able to put the intervention in place to allow them to transition from pathway two to pathway one or for us to identify the special needs and to treat with [them] and to modify the curriculum to treat with those on pathway three.”

 

[email protected]

 

CAPTION: Terry-Ann Thomas Gayle, manager, Student Assessment Unit, Minister of Education, Youth and Information.

JIS: Minister of State in the Ministry of Education Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green, is encouraging young people to focus on acquiring a skill in order to become more employable.

 

Mr. Green, who was speaking at a Youth Enrichment Programme consultation on crime and violence at the Sea Gardens Hotel in Montego Bay on Thursday (June 21), said that persons need to equip themselves for opportunities that now exist and those that will emerge as technology advances.

 

“I know sometimes our parents are trying to push us in various directions… (but) the jobs that they believe are the ones that are making money now, that’s not so. Those days are gone. What they need to say to their young people (is) focus on the skills areas because as we are going into what is called the fourth industrial revolution it is the skills that are important,” he outlined.

 

He noted that the Ministry is training 15,000 people over the next three years to take up jobs in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector which, he noted, offers many opportunities.

 

“The demand is extremely great, but it is not just that, I don’t want you to focus on (BPO) as a second chance because it is not. Those are the areas that make real money and it’s not just now,” he said.

 

Mr. Green noted that the Government is making strides in preparing young people for the job market, evidenced by the eight per cent decrease in unemployment among youth.

 

“We are now at 25 per cent of our young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years old who are unemployed, that’s a lot because two years ago …we were at 33 per cent of our young people who were unemployed,” he pointed out.

 

The Education State Minister, in the meanwhile, commended Custos of St. James, Bishop the Hon. Conrad Pitkin, for initiating the Youth Enrichment Programme throughout the parish.

 

“I realise that you have hit the ground running and I am happy that you have decided to place your focus on the youth. It is important that we have leadership at every level and I believe that Justices of the Peace (JPs), persons who act as Custodes, they have an extremely important job to play in touching and connecting with our young people and you are leading that charge,” he said.

 

The Youth Enrichment Programme, launched by the Custos, seeks to engage youth between the ages of 17 and 35. It involves collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information and the Ministry of National Security

 

The programme is aimed at removing the stigma associated with youth within inner-city communities, providing an opportunity for them to gain a skill, employment or to continue their education, and to address the social ills perpetuating crime in the west.

 

CAPTION: Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green (right), converses with Custos of St. James, Bishop the Hon. Conrad Pitkin, at a Youth Enrichment Programme consultation on crime and violence at the Sea Gardens Hotel in Montego Bay, St. James, on Thursday (June 21).

JIS: Ground was broken today (June 19) for the construction of five additional classrooms and four technology laboratories at Immaculate Conception High School (ICHS) in St Andrew, at a cost of approximately $76 million.

 

The project, slated for completion by early 2019, is being spearheaded by the school’s Home-School Association (HSA) and aims to provide additional space for the student population, which averages just under 1,700, as well as increase the use of technology in the school’s curriculum.

 

Funding is being provided through a partnership involving the Ministry and private-sector stakeholders collaborating with the HSA.

 

Education, Youth and Information Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, who took part in the ceremony, said he welcomed the initiative, which he described as the school’s response to the Ministry’s call for more schools to be built and expanded to facilitate the provision of quality high-school education.

 

“The excellence that you have at Immaculate is what we want for all students,” the Minister said.

 

“We want universal access for all students… so that we have a population that is highly skilled, trained and certified. Not only will (this) add to the local productivity on the one hand, but, equally, we will be able to attract higher quality of investments into Jamaica, so that all of us can grow and prosper,” he added.

 

Senator Reid also lauded ICHS’s administration for its outstanding work at the institution, which, he noted, has laid the foundation for the students’ success.

 

“All of us are proud of your performance at this noble institution (which) has been stellar, and the Ministry wants to thank you as a school and church family for your commitment to education (and) what you have been doing in uplifting the lives of our young ladies,” he added.

 

Meanwhile, President of the HSA, Donovan Mayne, said the project represents the first major building development undertaken at the school in approximately 20 years.

 

Mr. Mayne thanked Senator Reid for committing the Ministry’s support for the undertaking, and also the various private-sector stakeholders partnering on the project. They include the NCB Foundation and Barita Investments.

 

Additionally, Mr Mayne expressed gratitude to the staff and students, who were instrumental in raising approximately $4 million that will go towards the project.

 

For her part, Principal, Sister Angella Harris, also welcomed the project’s implementation, which she said will further enhance the environment for the students’ development and their exposure to technology, thereby preparing them for substantive careers.

 

CAPTION: Education, Youth and Information Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (left), breaks ground on Tuesday (June 19) for five additional classrooms and four technology laboratories at Immaculate Conception High School in St. Andrew at a cost of approximately $76 million. Also participating are grade-nine student, Avalei March (centre); and Home-School Association President, Donovan Mayne.

JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says the Government is committed to an education system that promotes equity and inclusiveness,  providing opportunities for all students up to age 18.

 

As such, he indicated that focus will be placed on interventions at the earliest level, even before children enter the formal system.

 

The Minister said he has “asked that the system pull back a little and strengthen the foundation” by engaging persons at the community level, ensuring that vulnerable homes and parents are being taught about good parenting and children are properly developed and stimulated from birth.

 

“It doesn’t make sense we spend money at the top end without fixing the root. What we want is equity in readiness and preparation for the education system,” he said.

 

Minister Reid was speaking during the Ministry’s back-to school conference for regions three, four and five held recently at the West Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Mount Salem, St. James.

 

Additionally, he noted that a K-13 strategy has been employed where every child up to 18 years old will be properly stimulated and engaged.

 

“So, the overarching framework is that the youth in Jamaica no longer should detach themselves from education, training and certification because our aspiration is that by the time our youth in Jamaica reaches age 18, they must have acquired training and certification equivalent to at least an Occupational Associate Degree,” he outlined.

 

Senator Reid noted that part of the K-13 strategy is to provide opportunities for all  students to participate and learn.

 

“We need special education institutions, inclusive educational institutions in every parish.  As systems become more inclusive, efforts to build the capacity of schools to respond to the needs of students with exceptionalities, from those with higher levels of intellectual abilities to those who need special care and attention [ will be increased],” he said.

 

The back-to-school conference was held under the theme: ‘Ramp It Up and Fix It Up; K-13 – An Inclusive Education for All.’

 

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

 

 

JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says that all of the island’s 171 high schools now have metal detectors.

 

Most institutions are equipped with handheld scanners.

 

“We have some walk-through detectors now being installed in selected schools and another 200 (handheld) devices are being procured to ensure that defective ones are readily replaced,” Senator Reid said.

 

He was speaking at the back-to-school conference for regions one, two and six held at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston, on June 14.

 

The equipping of schools with metal detectors is part of measures to improve safety and security for staff and students.

 

Senator Reid informed that all institutions are required to have an active safety and security committee, which is audited on a regular basis, along with the entire school, to ensure that the safety policies are being implemented.

 

He said that the Ministry works closely with the police, and there are over 200 school resource officers assigned to schools, who provide support as necessary.

 

In addition, the Education Ministry has started the roll-out of closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems in schools.

 

Senator Reid said this is to ensure that institutions are able to review incidents and take corrective action where necessary.

 

“We would like to put CCTV in every school… that helps you to better survey your compound, better give you information on students who are regularly conjugating at a particular location and displaying certain antisocial behaviour,” he noted.

 

He said it is expected that by the year 2020 at least 80 per cent of schools will have this technology.

 

Meanwhile, Senator Reid noted that the Ministry understands the importance of having uniformed groups in schools and is working towards increasing such groups across the system.

 

Uniformed groups help to enhance discipline and socially acceptable behaviours among students. To date, over 600 schools have some form of uniformed group.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid addresses the back-to-school conference for regions one, two and six held at the Jamaica Conference Centre 

JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says a Special Education Policy has been developed and is ready for Cabinet submission.

 

He made the disclosure at a back-to-school conference for regions one, two and six, held at the Jamaica Conference Centre on June 14.

 

“We have never had a special-education policy, and we need to put it into legislation. We are about to submit that to Cabinet. We have done the work, and once that has been approved, we will [distribute] it to all our stakeholders,” the Minister said.

 

The Special Education Policy seeks to ensure access and equity for students with special needs in the education system.

 

Senator Reid also informed that a School to Work Transition Resource Guide (STWT) has been developed, which will guide educators in developing transition programmes for students with special needs at the secondary level.

 

“Research indicates that students with special needs are more likely to drop out of school and have more challenges transitioning to the world of work or tertiary education programme, once they complete secondary education,” the Minister noted.

 

Senator Reid said that over the last academic year the Ministry increased the support for students with special needs in the general education setting by providing additional Shadow/Caregivers through the Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) programme.

 

“Over 60 families are benefiting from this programme, which allows students with special needs to remain in their community schools and be educated among their peers while receiving the support needed to function effectively in the school environment,” the Minister said.

 

He said among these are several students in rural Jamaica who are blind and would have otherwise had to board in Kingston to attend the School for the Blind.

 

Meanwhile, Senator Reid noted that the Ministry has undertaken to provide financial and technical support for a new programme at the School for Therapy Education and Parenting (STEP Centre).

 

“This programme targets students at the early-childhood level who have physical disabilities and are also visually impaired. The programme is intended to equip these students to transition to the primary level,” he explained.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (standing), makes a point as he addresses the Back-to-School conference for regions one, two and six, held at the Jamaica Conference Centre on June 14. Seated at left is Chief Education Officer in the Ministry, Dr. Grace McLean.