GLEANER: As Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) continues to be integrated into general education, not only in Jamaica but also within the region, Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator Ruel Reid has reiterated its importance.

 

According to Reid, TVET will become a driving force in propelling the effort to strengthen the economies of the region and the world.

 

While commending the progress made to standardise vocational education and its impact on human capital development and economic competitiveness in the region, Reid said the integration will provide the relevant platform to respond to the demands of the modern workforce.

 

Addressing the WorldSkills International Competition and Ministers Technical and Vocational, Education and Training Summit in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates earlier this week, the minister said with the addition of TVET, the country’s education system is undergoing a much needed transformation in response to changing job market demands and global economic trends.

 

The promotion of TVET, he said, is a strategic move to prepare the Jamaican workforce to seize the employment opportunities that are increasingly opening up in the technical and vocational fields.

 

RELEVANT TO GLOBAL SHIFTS

“While technology is changing and forcing changes in education, the gate keepers of traditional programmes in the major universities must now look at diversifying its degree programmes to students. Policy makers must now drive the discussion of deconstructing the traditional offerings at the tertiary level, making them more relevant to global shifts in the employment market,” Reid said.

 

Reid, who spoke on the topic ‘Voice of the Youth: Ground Realities in the Age of Disruption’, said with the Caribbean Maritime Institute now attaining university status, this change has created major waves in Jamaica that has allowed for individuals who attend the institution to achieve more globally competitive advantages when they begin to seek jobs or move towards entrepreneurship.

 

“A radical shift is needed in the education sector, as economic growth areas such as business process outsourcing, tourism, constructions, agriculture, are significant employers of youth who are trained in TVET,” Reid said.

 

“The way forward is TVET and this need to become a global imperative and all voices must be included as equal partnerships in the process of youth empowerment. Jamaica is on that path of development.”

 

… Summit explores policy solutions in skills development

 

The World Skills International Competition and Ministers Technical and Vocational, Education and Training Summit, held in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates earlier this week, was organised by the Abu Dhabi Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training. It complemented the WorldSkills International Competition and Conference 2017, where leading figures from industry, government and international organisations gathered to shape the global skills agenda, as well as to watch thousands of skill competitors from close to 60 countries vying for gold, silver and bronze medals.

 

The summit provided a forum to explore pressing issues and potential policy solutions in the realm of skills development. It also offered opportunities to engage with partners of the global Vocational Education and Training (TVET) arena and the World Skills community.

 

The panel included: Jamaica’s Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator Ruel Reid; Minister of Education of the United Arab Emirates Hussain Ibrahim Al Hammadi; Director General of Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission Michel Servoz; Minister of Labour and Employment, Republic of Korea, Kim Young-Joo; Engineer, Spectrum Quality, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, UAE, Sara Ahmad; and youth forum participant and WorldSkills Champions Trust representative for Europe and Russia, Anna Prokopenia.

 

[email protected]

 

JIS: The two-year-old Trench Town Polytechnic College in St. Andrew is looking to boost enrolment as it carries out its mandate to equip persons with skills to meet the demands of the labour market.

 

The institution, which started classes in October 2015 offering programmes with a focus on aligning training with industry needs, has already attracted hundreds of students from communities within its vicinity and areas as far away as Portmore, Harbour View and Papine, in day and evening classes.

 

Principal of the institution, Dr. Dosseth Edwards-Watson, tells JIS News that all the programmes are undersubscribed and the administration will be striving to reach more persons.

 

She says that the courses offered are market-driven, matching skills with labour industry needs. “We rely on industry to tell us what is in demand… . At the Polytechnic, we are big on inculcating employable skills,” she says.

 

She notes further that “every programme has entrepreneurship built into it”, so not only are students prepared for a job but to also create their own employment.

 

Dr. Edwards-Watson says that a major focus of administrators and staff is to ensure that the school environment represents all the attributes of care, so that human capital can be developed for national and global impact.

 

“We strive to maintain a compassionate environment and demonstrate a culture of care,” she points out.

 

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

 

Through collaboration with HEART Trust/NTA, Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) and the Jamaican-German Automotive School (JAGAS), the college offers programmes in areas such as data operation, auto body repair, customer service, maritime studies, port operations, and logistics.

 

There are also courses in mathematics, English language, career and personal development, entrepreneurship, computer repairs and electronics, social work, renewable energy, culinary arts, theatre arts and production, and scores of other disciplines.

 

Having received the Council of Community Colleges of Jamaica (CCCJ) stamp of approval, the institution is now empowered to award 10 associate, 12 applied associate, four bachelor’s, and three applied bachelor’s degrees.

 

Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says the institution is providing opportunities for continuous education, filling a gap for students between grades 11 and 13.

 

“This is the model that we are going to replicate right across the country,” he says.

 

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dean-Roy Bernard, notes that often, persons are not trained for available jobs, but the college will “help to close that gap”.

 

CCCJ Executive Director, Dr. Donna Powell-Wilson, informs that the college will be subject to the organisation’s quality assurance process and course expansion to reach more people.

 

She notes that Trench Town Polytechnic is responding to the needs of residents of the area and its environs “at a time when it is crucial for young people, as well as mature Jamaicans, to become certified”.

 

Dr. Powell-Wilson contends that with the confidence that has been shown in the institution by the certifying body, members of the Trench Town business sector must now partner with the college to ensure its success.

 

“All hands are needed on deck to make this venture succeed for Jamaica’s sake,” she says.

 

For President of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), Donna Drummonds, having a “model school” in the community known for producing some of the world’s greatest reggae artistes, “is the way to go”.

 

She is urging young people, in particular, to take advantage of the opportunity to transform their lives.

 

Board member of the institution, Pastor Winston Clarke, notes that in its short existence, the college has already made a mark as a “key community asset”.

 

He says that residents now have an opportunity to improve their academic standards and job-readiness skills.

 

“We envision deeper partnerships with other community institutions in offering new and exciting courses,” he says.

 

The college can be contacted at [email protected], or 501-1264, 501-1253.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (third left), receives the document for the Trench Town Polytechnic College to offer Council of Community Colleges of Jamaica (CCCJ)-certified courses from Executive Director, CCCJ, Dr. Donna Powell-Wilson (second right) at the recent media launch of the St. Andrew-based institution. Others (from left) are Chairman of the college, Dr. Joan Spencer-Ernandez; nursing student, Shanique Rumble; and Principal of the college, Dr. Dosseth Edwards-Watson.

OBSERVER: THE Government has initiated a youth-development programme to engage young people in the promotion of peace while building the capacity of youth clubs to steer community growth.

 

According to state minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information Floyd Green, under the youth club rebuilding initiative, dubbed ‘Youth Club Charge Up’, from which the groups are provided with grants, young people are encouraged to foster conflict solving through joint club and community projects.

 

“We are saying to young people that where conflicts exist, come together, use the youth club as the umbrella to discuss the issues and come up with a project that can build peace throughout the communities,” the junior minister told JIS News in an interview.

 

Following the launch of the programme recently in St Thomas, the youth clubs are now able to grasp opportunities for financial support, training, mentorship and strengthening from the Youth Division in the ministry, while also enabling young people to access programmes for their personal development.

 

It encourages youth to take charge and offer leadership in their communities, and to actively get involved in community-development projects.

 

The state minister said the programme forms part of Jamaica 55 initiatives.

 

“Let us set a new paradigm; let us come together and look at joint projects across communities and clubs,” he urged.

 

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

GLEANER: The Catherine Hall Primary and Infant School is the latest in a series of schools to benefit from an initiative by the Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) III aimed at building the capacity of school administrators, guidance counsellors, and academic staff to offer support to behaviourally challenged students.

 

Forty-three members of staff from the Montego Bay, St James-based institution, including the principal, vice-principal, and the school’s dean of discipline, turned out for a workshop geared at the development of cognitive skills and curbing at-risk behaviour last Thursday at the Sea Garden Hotel in the Second City.

 

Psychological Services Coordinator with the CSJP III Dr Melva Spence said that the programme, which started in 2016, came about out of realisation that there was a high number of referrals to the psychological services unit by schools due to poor behaviour of students. It was also a response to increasing numbers of incidents of violence in schools.

 

REFERRALS OVERWHELMING

 

“The referrals were overwhelming, and when we do the assessment with them, many of the times, it’s due to grief or anxiety from separation, trauma, or depression, which displays itself as misbehaviour,” she said.

 

Spence said that Thursday’s workshop focused on helping teachers and administrators understand how to support students in expressing emotions and how to reflect on the basis for their actions.

 

“I think the teachers must take more time to process what is going on with the children as [sometimes] the child doesn’t necessarily want to misbehave or to fight, but the emotions that they are feeling, they are not processing them properly, and so it comes out that way. So that’s what we want to achieve, [an environment] where teachers are better able to interact with the students, understand what they are going through, and assist them,” she explained.

 

CSJP hopes initiative will benefit all schools

Stacey-Anne Whittingham-Tucker, psychologist with the Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) III, said the hope is that last Thursday’s workshop for teachers, geared at the development of cognitive skills and curbing at-risk behaviour, will have an impact the wider school community. The training session was held at the Sea Garden Hotel in Montego Bay, St James.

 

Social Worker with CSJP Western Desmond Stewart echoed this hope, noting that primary schools have been targeted to allow teachers to help students receive intervention early.

 

“Some of the teachers say that they were not aware that some of the behaviours displayed by students were due to mental challenges, and knowing this, staff would now be able to approach it in a different way, and they are appreciative of it. We are happy we can help in that way as we understand that if these problems are not solved, it can lead to students becoming dysfunctional members of society,” he said.

 

Principal of the Catherine Hall Primary and Infant School, Dudley James, described the session as informative and engaging. The school is the latest in a series of institutions to benefit from the initiative.

 

“The information that we gleaned from the workshop will be quite useful in the classroom as it looks at the child’s whole cognitive development and at how best we can look at the child’s thought processes and see what strategies we can apply to curtail certain behaviours. For me it is a very important workshop,” he said.

 

Representatives from the Dispute Resolution Foundation and the Restorative Justice Unit also delivered presentations to the participants, featuring ways in which schools can access services.

 

CAPTION: Psychologist with the Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) III, Stacey-Anne Whittingham-Tucker, delivers a presentation to a group of teachers and administrators from the Catherine Hall Primary and Infant School, during a capacity-building workshop at the Sea Garden Hotel in Montego Bay.

GLEANER: Recognising the recurring struggles that parents have to motivate their children, Maverick Communications Limited (MCL) will be hosting a parenting seminar later this month, to give caregivers proper guidance and tips to help their children achieve success.

 

Under the theme ‘Improving Children’s Engagement towards Achievement’, more than 100 parents, teachers and guardian sare invited to learn how to better understand and address the educational needs of children in their care.

 

Melody Cammock-Gayle, managing director at MCL, said it was an issue she acknowledged as a parent herself, as there were challenges in creating an atmosphere that pushed her child to have a deep appetite to achieve.

 

“This seminar was birthed from my own struggles as a parent who wants to see her child operating at optimum from a place of self-regulation and a deep drive to do well. I needed to learn, and I figure there must be other parents like me. So this engagement seminar intends to provide the tools, pathways, social protocols and best practices for parents to engender in children a genuine passion for learning so that they can get, and keep their children tuned in to learning,” she told The Gleaner.

 

Through enriching and impactful presentations, sessions will effectively cover: identifying your child’s learning style and the importance of working with the teacher to co-create assessment criteria; the role of nutrition in learning; keeping cool despite your child’s disengagement; and motivating your child to aspires, and create professional quality outcomes.

 

“It is no secret the role that encouragement and parental guidance play in helping children stay attuned to learning. As parents, we have to know how best to get through to our children, and we promise that this seminar will be just what parents need to help boost their relationships with their children and understand how best to guide them academically,” Cammock-Gayle said.

 

Gathering some of the most popular names in education, nutrition and child care, the line-up of facilitators for the seminar include: Dr Patrece Charles, counselling psychologist; Dr Joy Callender, consultant nutritionist; Kaysia Kerr, chief executive officer of the National Parenting Support Commission, among others. Also scheduled to attend is Minister of State in Education, Minister Floyd Green, who will be delivering a special lunch-hour presentation.

 

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

JIS: Cabinet has approved the final draft of the National Youth Policy by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, to be tabled in Parliament as a White Paper.

 

Speaking at a post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House on October 4, Portfolio Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, said the policy establishes a framework within which youth can be supported to pursue and achieve their goals.

 

The Minister added that it outlines and explores areas for action, and indicates six priority areas – education and training, health and well-being, employment and entrepreneurship, youth participation, social inclusion and reintegration, and institutional and youth sector arrangements.

 

In the meantime, Senator Reid said Cabinet also gave approval for an updated Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Policy and Implementation Plan, and also for the completion of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport/Bureau of Gender Affairs, to be tabled as a Green Paper in Parliament.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (right), conversing with Press Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Noami Francis, prior to the start of yesterday’s (October 4) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House in Kingston.

JIS: The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information has announced improvements in the results for this year’s Grade Four Literacy and Numeracy tests.

 

Speaking at today’s (October 6) sitting of the Senate, Portfolio Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, informed that 84.6 per cent of all the candidates who sat the Grade Four Literacy Test received a level of mastery, while 66.9 per cent of students received mastery level in the Numeracy Test.

 

He said the figures for Literacy represent a 5.5 percentage point increase over the 79.1 per cent recorded last year, while there was a 7.1 percentage point increase over the 58.9 per cent attained for Numeracy in 2016.

 

Mastery indicates that students attained mastery on all three areas tested. Students who have mastered one or two subtests are classified as ‘almost mastery’, while students who have not mastered any of the subtests are classified as ‘non-mastery’.

 

Senator Reid noted that 11.1 per cent of candidates achieved an almost mastery in Literacy and 4.3 per cent of candidates were assessed as having a literacy level of non-mastery.

 

“Of the total number of students who achieved mastery in the Literacy Test, 78.5 per cent were males and 90.8 per cent were females. In terms of non-mastery, more males achieved this level than females (2.1 per cent difference),” he said.

 

Senator Reid pointed out that there was a slight increase in the number of students sitting the exams in the public schools, with 33,270 this year, as against 32,525 last year. “Within the public system, there was an 80.6 per cent mastery pass rate, as against 77.5 per cent last year,” he added.

 

He said that students’ performance in two of the three subtests –Reading, Comprehension and Writing Task – had an increase in the percentage of students mastering when compared to the 2016 academic year.

 

“These two areas saw an increase of two per cent and 6.4 per cent respectively. Students’ performance in Word Recognition decreased marginally by 1.1 per cent when compared to 2016. The subtest that had the lowest mastery rate among the students who sat the Grade Four Literacy Examination in 2017 was the Writing Task (88.3 per cent). This was also the case in the 2016 sitting of the same test,” he said.

 

Providing a breakdown for the General Achievement in Numeracy (GAIN) test results, Senator Reid said 25.1 per cent of students achieved an almost mastery numeracy level and 7.9 per cent of students received a numeracy level of non – mastery.

 

“The data show that mastery of Numeracy from 2014 to 2017 has fluctuated over the period. However, an increase was seen between 2016 and 2017. The change in mastery of Numeracy in 2017 of 7.1 percentage points above the previous year’s average, is, therefore, significant,” Senator Reid said.

 

He informed that throughout all six regions, female students outperformed male students in terms of overall attainment of mastery on the numeracy and literacy tests.

 

Senator Reid paid tribute to administrators, parents, teachers and Ministry officials for the improvements in students’ performance.

 

“We are pleased with the improved results. We do recognise that there are areas that require greater attention, and we will attend to those weak areas identified. The Grade Four Literacy and Numeracy test results are indicative of the positive trend shown this academic year in other national tests, such as the GSAT and external exams, such as CSEC, CAPE, and City and Guilds,” he said.

 

A total of 37,894 students – 19,002 males and 18,892 females – sat the Literacy examination on June 21. On the Numeracy side, a total of 37,848 students sat the examination for the first time (18,977 males and 18,871 females) on June 22, 2017.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, emphasises a point while updating the nation on the results of the 2017 Grade Four Literacy and Numeracy tests in the Senate today (October 6).

JIS: Jamaica is to benefit from a US$4-million Improved Safety and Security in Schools Project aimed at reducing the crime level among the nation’s youth.

 

The initiative, targeted at youth between the ages of 10 and 29 years, including 981 primary and secondary schools, and 50 communities, was launched during a breakfast meeting at the Spanish Court Hotel in New Kingston on Wednesday (October 4).

 

It involves collaboration among the Minister of Education, Youth and Information, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Education Trust (NET).

 

The project will be undertaken over two years with US$3 million in funding from USAID and $1 million from the Government of Jamaica.

 

The specific objectives of the Improved Safety and Security in Schools Project include reducing violence and critical incidents among youth; reducing antisocial behaviour among youth; engaging more parents and communities in the behaviour change process; providing co-curricular activities that will engage students and assist them with developing better social and life skills; conducting data collection and analysis, along with monitoring and evaluating activities, which will continue to inform decision makers on the management of crime and violence, particularly among youth; and building capacity in the Education Ministry and its agencies.

 

At the launch held during a breakfast meeting at the Spanish Court Hotel in New Kingston on Wednesday (October 4), Education Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, said education is one of the best ways to reduce crime in Jamaica.

 

He said research shows that increasing enrolment in secondary school reduces the risk of war. “Education fosters peace,” he noted.

 

Senator Reid said that not only will the project have a ripple effect on crime at the national level, but is a major investment in Jamaica’s education system.

 

“We are here, because we believe in the liberating force of education. Education is the safest investment. When you invest in education, you breathe life into people. Education opens up a world of possibilities. Its importance to human development cannot and can never be disputed,” he added.

 

Acting Deputy Chief of Mission, United States Embassy in Jamaica, Maura Barry-Boyle, noted that the project is part of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative aimed at strengthening regional cooperation on citizen security and combating the flow of illicit narcotics and other transnational crimes that threaten regional security.

 

She noted that the Safety and Security in Schools Project will serve to make inroads into crime and violence at the micro level.

 

“The objective… is to implement the necessary measures to transform schools and their immediate surroundings into safe zones through a multilayered, multisectoral approach utilising communities, parents, public and private partnerships in an effort to ensure a quality education system and to raise the bar to benefit all learners.

 

“We all know that education is the basis for everything that comes later in life. The school is a home away from home that can inspire, encourage and invigorate students. Education is what grows our communities. It brings children and parents alike together with a common goal and purpose,” she pointed out.

 

NET Managing Director, Marcia Phillips Dawkins, in her remarks said the entity “is proud to advance the partnership for continued support from the people of America through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative to the people of Jamaica in a most crucial area of our country, the safety and security of our youth”.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (2nd left), is in conversation with (from left) Chairman of the National Education Trust (NET), Nicholas Scott; Deputy Chief of Mission, United States Embassy in Jamaica, Maura Barry-Boyle; and Chief Executive Officer, Digicel Foundation, Dane Richardson. Occasion was the launch of the Improved Safety and Security in Schools Project at the Spanish Court Hotel in New Kingston on Wednesday (October 4).