GLEANER: The Ministry of Education has announced improvements in the performance of students in the Grade Four Literacy and Numeracy test.

 

Education Minister, Senator Ruel Reid says performance in the literacy portion of the exam increased by 5.5 per cent over last year.

 

He says 84.6 per cent of the students who took the test this year achieved mastery.

 

Mastery means that students mastered all three areas tested.

 

Senator Reid says 11.1 per cent achieved almost mastery, mastering one or two of the subtests.

 

He says 4.3 per cent of the students achieved non mastery in literacy.

 

Improvements have been recorded in numeracy as well.

 

The Education Minister says 66.9 per cent of students attained mastery in numeracy.

 

This is up 7.1 per cent over last year.

 

Reid says 25.1 per cent achieved almost mastery and 7.9 per cent received non mastery.

 

Senator Reid was speaking at a press conference yesterday.

 

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

JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says with the new imperative of the global economy, all young persons in the Caribbean should have a pathway to the highest level of education.

 

Addressing the Fifth Caribbean Youth Leaders’ Summit at the Jewel Runaway Bay Beach and Golf Resort in St. Ann on September 30, Senator Reid said while he is cognisant of the financial constraints many countries in the region are facing, there is absolutely no substitute for a good education.

 

“This is why as Minister I have been trumpeting free public education up to the age of 18. I have also been an advocate for full public education up to Grade 13 for all our youth… not just a few. Also, we have been championing training and involvement activities,” he said.

 

Senator Reid emphasised the importance of structuring the education and training system in such a way that young people can find entrepreneurial opportunities as well as the jobs that are emerging in the new economic and technological paradigm.

 

“There must be opportunities for participation, representation and advocacy. We must also look at sustainable development and its impact on climate change, financial policies and their specific impact on youth and youth programmes, concerns about accountability and transparency in government and public life, and the financing of public tertiary education,” he said.

 

The Minister said it should never be forgotten that for many years only two per cent of students in the English-speaking Caribbean went to a university.

 

“With the new imperative of the global economy, despite the concerns over the financing of tertiary education, we have to ensure that all our students get the opportunity to achieve their goals,” he added.

 

The Minister said the issue of how financing will be provided must be discussed, suggesting that student loans will have to be structured in an affordable way, so that paying back the loans will not be a strain on the pockets of the borrowers.

 

Senator Reid added that the issue of brain drain must also be looked at seriously, arguing that many countries in the region are losing some of their best talents to countries that are offering better opportunities.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (right), in conversation with 22-year-old Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, The Bahamas, Travis Robinson, at the Fifth Caribbean Youth Leaders’ Summit, held at the Jewel Runaway Bay Beach & Golf Resort, St. Ann, on September 30.

GLEANER: “One of the challenges I had when teaching children how to read was that there was a lack of concentration,” recalled Lena Gouldbourne, a retired teacher. “They were not interested. They preferred to watch TV and play video games.”

 

Yes, Jamaicans still read, but many things get in the way in the ever-evolving pace of life in the 21st century. It’s a fast-paced world and everyone and everything is constantly on the move.

 

One might not find enough time for reading, which is why there are audio books to tell you a story and programmes to check written work. Maybe people are beginning to take knowing how to read for granted, and this mindset, in turn, is taken up by children.

 

Many people put the importance of learning how to read on the back-burner like the forgettable relative and focus on English and the sciences. But, no one can do all without that one.

 

“Reading maketh a full man,” it is said. But, what does this phrase mean? Does it mean that no man can be called a man unless he knows how to read? Or maybe it means that with the ability to read, a man is exposed to the wide world and there are no limits.

 

It is continuously said that being able to read almost guarantees a person’s success, and the earlier he/she starts, the better. Reading has its benefits such as helping to develop a young reader’s mind and setting him up for success later on in his future. The individual would be able to comprehend various subjects.

 

“Teach children how to read as early as possible,” Gouldbourne said. “They grasp things easier and faster, and they will hold on to what they’ve learnt.”

 

Of course, they won’t be able to read Dickens when they are toddlers, but reading to young children on a regular basis familiarises them with words.

 

Read To Your Children

 

Listening to stories exposes children to new words, building their vocabulary, improving their comprehension skills, creating and building their imagination, not to mention introducing them to different cultures.

 

Setting aside a time to read such as before bed or on a Sunday afternoon will allow your child to be comfortable about the idea of reading and alleviate the anxiety that comes with reading something new.

 

“Bring home books that they would be interested in. Ask them what the story was about and what they understand,” Gouldbourne encouraged. “Be interested in what they are saying. it will make them feel good.”

 

According to Dr J. Richard Gentry in Psychology Today, children who get early literacy exposure with positive speech interactions have an advantage by age four over children who do not get this exposure.

 

“If a child doesn’t know how to read by age four or five, it’s going to be difficult to get them to read. They will lack interest in it,” it said.

 

When asked about modern technology and its impact on reading, Gouldbourne said that she wasn’t fond of children having access to gadgets all the time.

 

“Technology has its advantages, but it has disadvantages as well,” she said. “Learning tablets and gadgets can be helpful, but other tablets give children access to games and videos, and this is very distracting. If you give them the tablets for reading time,” she continued, “they will use the time to do something else. They need supervision during this time.”

 

Reading is as important as any daily function. No one has ever said, “Why am I learning to read? I won’t need it in the future.” It’s a necessity for everyone. One must be able to read to get an education, to get a job, even to carry out daily business. in banks or wholesales, one has to read to fill out and sign forms, and read labels. There is no escaping it. it is a must.

 

Unfortunately, the playing field is not equal. Many people do not get the opportunity to learn or the opportunity to expand on what they have learnt. People who are unable to read are at a huge disadvantage, as without it, they are left behind and are unable to make an adequate contribution to society.

 

“During reading sessions, everyone did not get a chance to read aloud. This was done to ensure that they pronounced words properly, understood what they were reading, and built their confidence to become fluent and frequent readers,” Gouldbourne explained.

 

“A lot of students missed school regularly, so when they came back, they were left behind on the reading, and I was able to help them. The basic school classes had 25 to 30 children. I wasn’t able to give each child individual attention.”

 

According to an article on UNESCO’s website, ‘Literacy’, at least 750 million people still cannot read and write and 250 million children are failing to acquire basic literacy skills worldwide.

 

In the article ‘Reading, writing, worrying JFLL targets 235,000 illiterate Jamaicans’, published in The Gleaner in January 2016, roughly 235,000 Jamaicans are said to be unable to read.

 

Slow At Understanding

 

For some children, however, it may not be so easy for them to learn to read. There are other challenges many of people face when learning to read. Some children get frustrated because they are unable to pronounce the words or understand phonemes and so are discouraged from continuing. One challenge may be that the learner struggles with dyslexia, and others are slow at understanding what they are reading.

 

“When I used to teach, my students were influenced by the people around them,” Gouldbourne said.

 

“Children mimic how the people around them speak, the parents, especially, and the people in their communities. it affects the way they pronounce words. So when they would come to me, they would be saying the wrong things.” Gouldbourne continued, “this would frustrate them and they didn’t want to continue.

 

“Some letters and combinations of letters were challenging for them. They couldn’t pronounce the letters “u” or “h” in certain words. It was difficult for them to sound “th” or “ch”. these were difficult habits to break.”

 

Many things come in to play when learning how to read and teaching people how to read. With everything there is hardship, but this is definitely not a can-live-without-it situation. To diminish the challenges of illiteracy, Gouldbourne has a few suggestions.

 

“Classes should be made smaller, especially basic school classes,” she suggested. “The education ministry should make the classrooms more attractive for the students and get special-ed teachers, ones who love what they are doing.”

 

Her idea of having community-based reading sessions for children was inspiring, organising as well as her suggestion of parents and guardians workshops to help them on how to motivate their children to read and choose suitable reading material for them.

 

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GLEANER: The Japanese government handed over Calculation Time booklets to the Ministry of Education. these booklets will be used across schools in Jamaica that have implemented the Calculation Time Programme during the 2017-2018 academic year.

 

With funding support provided by the Japan International Co-operation Agency in the amount of J$130 million, samples of the booklets were handed over to Ruel Reid, minister of education, youth and information by Kenji Tobita, resident representative of the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), and Ambassador of Japan to Jamaica, Masanori Nakano.

 

Minister Reid expressed gratitude to Ambassador Nakano, The Embassy of Japan as well as to JICA on behalf of the Government of Jamaica. he said that his Government would continue the legacy of strengthening the Calculation Time Programme by calibrating the methodologies and finding the solution to take the mystique out of math and modify methods to see how best math at all levels could be improved.

 

TANGIBLE SUPPORT

 

Ambassador Nakano said that in the area of Mathematics Education, the Embassy of Japan, JICA, as well as the Marubeni Corporation have been working together or independently under the “ALL-JAPAN” banner in consistently providing tangible support to the people and Government of Jamaica.

 

In March 2017, the Marubeni Corporation provided sponsorship to 15 Jamaican schools participating in the Calculation Time Programme. Each school received J$100,000 to purchase learning resources and equipment aimed at improving the teaching and learning processes of mathematics.

 

“Japan, as a long-standing development partner, will continue to provide its support towards Jamaica’s efforts to achieve continued growth and sustainable development through the Official Development Assistance, which includes grant and loan assistance, technical cooperation, and JOCV volunteers activities,” said Ambassador Nakano.

 

Ever since its inception six years ago by a Japanese math teacher, Yuichi Tsukasaki, the Calculation Time Project has been included in the official curriculum of Jamaica. It continues to be strengthened through the additional work of subsequent volunteers, Miwako Suguwara, who was in Jamaica between 2013-2015, and Kyoko Machida, who came here in 2015 and just left for Japan after completing her tenure. They were assigned to the Core Curriculum Unit of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information as well as a current junior volunteer, Yutaro Furuta, who is currently based in Port Antonio, assigned to the Ministry of Education, Region two.

 

Dean-Roy Bernard, permanent secretary; Lena Buckle-Scott, deputy chief education officer; Seymour Hamilton, education officer; Yasushi Satake, volunteer coordinator, JICA Kingston; Yutaro Furuta, JICA volunteer, MoEYI Region 2; as well as other officials and representatives from the Ministry of Education and the Embassy of Japan were present at the handover ceremony, which took place at Ministry of Education offices on September 26.

 

CAPTION: From left) Dean-Roy Bernard, permanent secretary; Ruel Reid, minister of education, youth and information; Kenji Tobita, resident representative of JICA; Ambassador of Japan to Jamaica, Masanori Nakano, and Yutaro Furuta, JICA Volunteer at MoEYI Region 2.

GLEANER: If children are taught the basics of mathematics in a way that they can understand, not only will they learn it well, but they will be able to teach their peers and craft a career path that can literally change the quality of their lives and Jamaica’s economic fortunes.

 

New York-based economist, Jamaican Linda Bailey-McWeeney is convinced that Jamaica could use this thrust as a tool to fully launch itself as a resource area for many of the emerging careers in the field of science and technology globally.

 

“There is a whole world of opportunities out there, and Jamaica has to take advantage of the global virtual marketplace, but first, we need to teach the kids math,” she says.

 

“Right now, we are creating jobs for the skill levels we have, but we have to look forward to the next ten years and ask ourselves, what kind of country do we want to be in the future? Math-based skills are predicted to be in great demand, and there is already a shortage of persons with math-based skills in Jamaica.

 

We need to train people to do things that are going to be valuable in the marketplace. It can be done in five years.

 

“It’s about leveraging the math skills. It’s something that will give us a lot more control. It’s really an opportunity Jamaica hasn’t had since the 1960s,” she says.

 

Last year Bailey-McWeeney took her concern about the high numbers of Jamaican students failing mathematics to a resolve, creating the Reggae Math Foundation to help children learn the basics of mathematics through a virtual class setting with local master teachers.

 

Convinced that half of the problem has to do with them not having learnt the basic concepts in mathematics well, she says that the intervention can happen at any time in the life of a student.

 

“You can take any child and they can learn at any time and they can teach anyone else.”

 

Campion College’s Kesang ‘Kippy’ Chin is already on-board for the secondary level, with plans in place to engage teachers for filming for the primary level.

 

Bailey-McWeeney has also arranged and facilitated workshops for local teachers with United States-based mathematics expert Dr Dionne Cross-Francis to help them review their strategies for teaching the foundation concepts.

 

The plan is to increase the number of children exposed to the free online videos, and the number of teachers engaged in the workshops, and the schools that can benefit from the resources available.

 

Many Opportunities

 

Bailey-McWeeney points to the many opportunities now open to young persons in the virtual marketplace.

 

“Our goal is not to teach them for exams, but so that they can teach someone else. We are looking at this as a long chain of events so that we are not just teaching math, but with math-based skills, you have the basic foundation, and you have a lot of options.

 

“The returns on education in some applied math careers are so large that people earn six-figure salaries in their 20s. Imagine if we can train students in Jamaica to learn math and extend it to training in these other careers! There is a possibility for Jamaica to remove itself from debt and address poverty in Jamaica in a meaningful way. This can happen in the next ten years if we address education problems. We cannot solve our economic problem without fixing the fact that almost 80 per cent of our labour force and current student body is not able to do globally competitive high school math. There is no path to prosperity without the majority of our citizens becoming educated. This is why we are doing this so that poor people have a path out of poverty, but we must fix math education first,” she says.

 

“It is no longer in the hands of other people to create our reality or wealth, and it is for Jamaica to take advantage,” she says.

 

Supports From Moe

 

The foundation already has the support of the education ministry and has reached out to other private organisations to make the project available to schools across the island.

 

This, Bailey-McWeeney says, is crucial as part of the reggae math foundation’s mandate is to address the high levels of absenteeism among, especially, rural school-age children, which often, forces them to miss out on key lessons and sessions.

 

“If students are missing class, they have to be able to see what the other students are doing. These students can then still learn and catch up.”

 

It is an ambitious project, but Bailey-McWeeney says that while the government is doing a lot, more needs to be done, and the initiative is one other way to help students appreciate the value of math-based skills to their future success.

 

Bailey-McWeeney says her interest in having persons get the basics of math right was triggered from as early as her high school years.

 

“I have wanted to do something for high-school-age children who weren’t learning math since I was at Immaculate Conception High School in the 1980s and realised that there were high-school-age children who could not add or subtract correctly. The desire to do something was compounded a few years later after I taught for only a few months at Wolmer’s Boys School in 1996.

 

“My experience taught me that if the students are given the right foundation and one-on-one support to make sure they are getting what they need, they surpass expectations. I believe that students in Jamaica are bright and motivated to learn.”

 

Bailey-McWeeney is currently an adjunct assistant professor at the College of Staten Island in the department of economics.

 

Jamaica-born, she grew up in Arlene Gardens in Kingston, migrating in 1998 to pursue a PhD in Economics from Michigan State University. Her focus then was labour economics especially economic Inequality. Her research interest are issues related to immigration policy, racial inequality, education and health.

 

“For me, doing economics was a way to understand economic inequality – why people were poor and what could be done. For Jamaica to address in any large way the amount of poverty and lack of economic opportunity that exists for many of her citizens, we must ensure that students are educated to be globally competitive in the future marketplace, which is global and taking place on the Internet.”

 

The Foundation will accept donations through its website https://www.reggaemathfoundation.org/donate/ or via smile.amazon.com, where Amazon’s Smile will donate 0.5 per cent of the purchase price to the Reggae Math Foundation if it is chosen. Please see https://smile.amazon.com/ch/81-3445051.

 

[email protected]

JIS: The Child Case Management System (CCMS) is making a significant impact in improving the management of information pertaining to the care and protection of the nation’s children.

 

The system, being implemented by the Child Development Agency (CDA), is part of efforts by the Government to strengthen the delivery of services to children, particularly those in the child protection system.

 

Team Leader for the CDA’s South East Region, Morvetia Hunter, tells JIS NEWS that since the introduction of the pilot in August 2015, the software has made a tremendous impact on operations by reducing duplication of efforts and ensuring that cases are properly monitored.

 

She notes that the system has created a greater level of efficiency and accountability as well as improving record keeping, as information for all case files is stored on a central system, making it easily accessible by all relevant stakeholders. This, in turn, has improved communication within the CDA’s regional offices.

 

“Rather than going to a desk and talking to an officer, we can go on the system where we can see what has taken place in terms of treatment or assessment for this child and rather than reinventing the wheel we continue the process. It is a one-stop-shop where you can access everything,” Ms. Hunter points out.

 

The CCMS, which incorporates the Social and Health Management (SOHEMA) software, assists child protection officers to manage case files for children registered in the child protection sector.

 

It populates the database with personal information about children, creating a profile, which includes contact details, demographics,  and relationships (immediate and extended family).

 

 Once a child becomes a client of the CDA, this information is captured in a case log, which details the circumstances by which the child came into the care of the agency and service delivery information.

 

The digital platform categorizes the services offered within the sector into three primary case types – child protection, clinical counselling and adoption.

 

With approximately 4, 800 children in State care as at March 2016, the CCMS is a vast improvement over the paper-based system previously used by the CDA, which saw officers manually composing reports at individual agencies, resulting in fragmented and inefficient use of resources.

 

The CCMS system addresses these and other issues as it is designed to accommodate the various business services of the CDA.

 

These are: intake, investigation, counselling, case planning, case management, residential care (children’s homes and places of safety), home and trial, children and family support units, living in family environments, foster care, family reintegration, adoption services and all court services.

 

These services are tailored to meet the individual needs of each child and the system shows the current and recommended interventions.

 

The software also facilitates real-time information sharing among key child protection agencies including the family and children’s courts; the Office of the Children’s Registry (OCR); the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA); the Office of the Children’s Advocate (OCA) and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information.

 

State Minister for Education, Youth and Information, the Hon. Floyd Green, says the case management system is part of the Government’s mandate to modernise and effectively monitor the child care sector using technological solutions.

  

“One of the key elements is that this software interface will allow us to connect with areas such as the children’s court, the family court, the OCR and CISOCA, as well as the Ministry. We can now have a streamlined system that is interlinked through technology,” he points out.

 

Mr. Green adds that a critical feature of the CCMS is an automated notification that alerts case workers when reports are due for follow-up.

 

“The system helps us to identify where we are falling short so that we can plug those gaps and better serve our children.  Our social workers will have greater support in relation to information and tracking and will help in improving employee efficiency and accountability which is critical, increasing the accuracy of client information and streamlining our services,” the State Minister says.

 

Systems Administrator for the CDA, George Bowes, notes that the software solution facilitates real-time tracking of cases as child protection officers will have ready access to information. This will enable faster turn-around time for investigations and actionable response to reports of child abuse.

 

“It will track a child from the point of intake in the system to the point when the case is closed or the child has exited our care. The CCMS will also record all areas of service delivery and is a powerful tool in planning and integrating our various programmes. We repositioned ourselves strategically to improve our case management processes and as a result, the CCMS is a key enabler to achieving success to improve efficiency, workflow and client support,” he says.

 

Mr. Bowes tells JIS NEWS that the “Jamaican-flavoured” case management system has been designed to address local challenges using international best practices in child protection systems.

 

In addition to ensuring accuracy of client information and streamlining service delivery, he reports that since activating the system, the agency has seen a 75 per cent reduction in the amount of paper used in the composition of reports.

  

The CCMS was developed by Canadian Software Company, Avocette, through $53 million in funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the ‘Transitional Living Programme for Children in State Care’ project and the Caribbean Child Development Centre (CCDC).

 

The system is being rolled out on a phased basis in the various stakeholder entities.

 

The CDA offers a range of family and children services. It serves children zero to 18 years old, who are declared by the courts as being in need of care and protection; children who are awaiting the outcome of court proceedings; and families experiencing difficulties raising their children.

 

CAPTION: State Minister for Education, Youth and Information, the Hon. Floyd Green (2nd left), has a light moment as he navigates the Child Case Management System (CCMS) during the official launch of the software on August 16 at the Child Development Agency (CDA) headquarters, downtown Kingston. Developed by Canadian software development company, Avocette, the software allows child protection officers to upload and track cases of children, who are registered in the child protection system. Others (from left) are: Systems Administrator at the CDA, George Bowes; Project Integration Manager for Avocette, Cathy Deluca; Acting Mission Director for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Jamaica, Rebecca Robinson; Chief Executive Officer for the CDA, Rosalee Gage-Grey; and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Avocette, Scott Ross

JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says the Ministry will, as of 2018, be able to place all students who sit the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) in a high school.

 

Addressing the Rotary Club of Downtown Kingston meeting at the Hotel Four Seasons, Ruthven Road in Kingston, yesterday (September 27), Senator Reid reported that 99 per cent of the students who sat the GSAT this year have been placed in high schools, which is two percentage points higher than the 2016 figure.

 

“We have added four more full high schools this year, but we have 762 primary institutions. So, you have far more primary schools… (and) the demand is now at the secondary level,” he noted.

 

Meanwhile, the Education Minister pointed out that the Government is doing all that it can to provide free education to children, as there should be no barriers to learning.

 

“We are providing five days of lunches (under the Programme of Advancement through Health and Education – PATH), when they come to school. So, they don’t have to worry about meals,” Senator Reid said.

 

“We need to have them in school, and we need to empower them through education. They must attend school regularly, and they must be supported as we transform them with free education policies, so they can become useful and productive citizens,” the Minister said.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, addresses the Rotary Club of Downtown Kingston meeting at Hotel Four Seasons, Ruthven Road in Kingston, today (September 27)

JIS: Three hundred of the nation’s teachers recently benefited from a summer skills training programme, aimed at exposing them to international best practices and standards.

 

The training, undertaken both locally and internationally, was carried out in 14 skill areas for HEART Trust/NTA instructors and secondary-school teachers at a cost of $20.5 million.

 

Of the sum, the Ministry of Education provided $14.5 million, while the HEART Trust/NTA provided $6 million.

 

The skill sets included advanced culinary; advanced tour guiding; heavy-duty vehicle maintenance; tractor operator maintenance; international professional baking; wellness promotion; auto mechanics, motor vehicle repairs; auto mechanics, heavy duty equipment; allied healthcare; healthcare assistance; intermediate multimedia production; building construction and drafting.

 

The participants were presented with their higher-level certificates at The Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston, on September 26.

 

They received varying levels of International Licensure and International Culinary Certification from Liaison College in Canada and Hocking College in the United States.

 

Addressing the presentation ceremony, Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, charged the recipients to impart the knowledge they have received to their pupils and colleagues.

 

“I am anxious to see the ripple impact of this investment that has been made in all of you. I believe in investing in you, our people, who are our greatest asset. It is important that those of you who have received training give back 100-fold,” he said.

 

He encouraged them to use their talents and skills in transforming the education system to ensure that no one is left behind.

 

Chairman, Joint Committee for Tertiary Education (JCTE), Dr. Cecil Cornwall, informed that 100 teachers attended Hocking College and Liaison College in Canada under the supervision of the JCTE Coordinator, Michael Foster.

 

He further disclosed that persons were trained locally at various HEART Trust/NTA sites across the country, in partnership with Hocking College.

 

Dr. Cornwall said the training is to ensure that the teachers receive greater skills necessary to develop higher-level programmes.

 

Beneficiary of the programme, Home Economics Teacher, Pembroke Hall High School, Rohan Salmon, said the training has boosted his confidence in imparting information to his students.

 

Mr. Salmon, who received a certificate in International Baking Technology, said the initiative was a “good experience”, pointing out that he was exposed to the various aspects in doing pastry and cakes.

 

“I will be going back to the classroom to share what I learnt with my students. I am more confident in teaching my students certain skills, for example pastry. It’s a good topic, but, skillwise, I was not that confident, but now I am more confident in teaching them,” he explained.

 

The summer 2017 local and international skills training programme was administered by the Joint Committee for Tertiary Education under the umbrella of the upskilling and retooling project.

 

The objective was to provide Jamaican workers, trainers and educators with the opportunity to advance and upgrade their skills through professional development programme licensure locally and internationally, in order to adequately prepare students and meet the labour market required skill set as identified by the labour market research.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (left), greets President, Liaison College, Rudy Florio (right), during the presentation of certificates to teachers who benefited from a summer skills training programme. The ceremony was held at The Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston on September 26. Also sharing in the moment is 1st Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, Liaison College, Suzan Mikler. Three hundred of the nation’s teachers benefited from the summer skills training programme which exposed them to international best practices and standards. The training, undertaken both locally and internationally, was carried out in 14 skill areas for HEART Trust/NTA instructors and secondary-school teachers at a cost of $20.5 million.

JIS: Education, Youth and Information Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says that students who damage, lose or fail to return the texts provided under the Government’s secondary-school book rental scheme will be required to pay for them.

 

He said further access to the scheme will be denied until payments are made.

 

Senator Reid was speaking at the Ministry’s recent Region Two town hall meeting at St. Theresa’s Roman Catholic Church in Annotto Bay, St. Mary.

 

He noted that the Ministry replenishes the stock of books at institutions each year through a routine system of incremental replacements for those that have deteriorated and are deemed beyond further use.

 

“So, we try to provide schools with what we call a ‘top-up’, which is (about) 20 per cent (of the books) each year. So after five years, your whole stock would have been replaced,” he explained.

 

The Minister said it was “unfair” for persons accessing the benefit to take the books and either damage, lose or fail to return them.

 

“We can’t have a system where students (either) don’t return books (or) they are damaged and then the Government is required to replace them each year. This is one area, unfortunately, I will not support,” he added.

 

Senator Reid said the Ministry is prepared to give consideration to compensatory arrangements for parents unable to pay for damaged or lost books.

 

“There has to be some responsibility, or they (students) can’t access the rental for the next period,” he reiterated.

 

The meeting formed part of Senator Reid’s itinerary for his visit to St. Mary, during which he toured several schools comprising the Ministry’s Region Two to mark the start of the 2017/18 academic year.

 

Among these were Devon Pen Primary School, St. Mary Technical High School, Annotto Bay High School, and Enfield Primary School.

 

CAPTION: Education, Youth and Information Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (right), addresses students of St. Mary Technical High School in Richmond, St. Mary, after touring the institution’s chemistry laboratory, which was renovated at a cost of approximately $1.8 million by State oil refinery, Petrojam. The school was one of several in St. Mary comprising the Ministry’s Region Two that were visited by Senator Reid as part of a tour of institutions to mark the start of the 2017/18 academic year.

JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says he is determined to have 100 per cent of primary-level students matriculating into secondary schools for a full five-year course of study.

 

Speaking to students from Wolmer’s Boys’ and Girls’ schools in Kingston during their devotion on September 25, the Minister said Jamaica is only one per cent away from achieving this target.

 

“For many years, over 70 per cent of students in Jamaica did not have access to education beyond grade nine. This year marks the first time in our history that we were able to place 99 per cent of our cohort into a full five-year high-school programme. Next year, hopefully, we’ll be able to place the full 100,” Senator Reid said.

 

“The message I share is about opportunity for all. There was a view that education was elitist. Today, the society is not going to be productive if only some have and the majority don’t have. We want a society where everyone gets equal opportunity for self-development and self-determination, aspiration for goodness and their own sense of self-worth and achievement,” the Minister added.

 

Senator Reid said he believes achieving the goal of getting 100 per cent of students enrolled at the secondary level up to fifth form and placed in a full five-year course of study will benefit the society in a major way in the long run.

 

“Currently, when you look on our workforce of 1.3 million persons, 15 per cent have tertiary education and training, 18 per cent have what we call technical certification from HEART Trust/National Training Agency (HEART/NTA) and City and Guilds, and then 67 per cent did not complete secondary education or any training – almost 800,000 Jamaicans,” he said.

 

The Minister said that through programmes being offered by the Government, such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), along with programmes from other organisations, the one per cent of students who were not placed in a full five-year course of study at the secondary level, can be reached.

 

“We have been pushing science, technology, engineering [and] mathematics largely because the world economy has changed rapidly. We’re now in the fourth industrial revolution where technology is taking over, and a lot of what we will do, how we’ll conduct business, produce goods and services, will be heavily impacted by technology,” he argued.

 

“When we talk about STEM, it is because this is the new economy, and so your education, your training have to be aligned to what is happening in the new economy and for the future. We can’t turn it back. We have to embrace it, prepare for it [and] equip ourselves,” the Minister emphasised.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth & Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (centre), listens to Principal, Wolmer’s Girls’ School, Colleen Montague, while on his visit to the school on September 25. At left is Region One Director, Ministry of Education, Capt. Kasan Troupe.