JIS: As teachers and students prepare for the 2017-2018 academic year, Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says the Government is committed to providing high-quality care and education within an inclusive and enabling environment.

 

This, he said, will ultimately help more of “our people” to be socially conscious and productive.

 

The Minister was addressing educators on the final day of the 52nd Annual Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) Conference at the Hilton Resort and Spa in St. James on August 23.

 

“As we do this, we aim to reduce the number of children and youth at risk through public education and needs-based intervention programmes,” Senator Reid said.

 

“Our objectives are, therefore, to maximise the percentage of Jamaican children aged three to 18 who have access and/or attachment to good-quality education, as well as to increase the number of Jamaican youth who have access to opportunities for governance and advocacy, continuing education, training and work experience,” he added.

 

The Minister noted that significant strides have been made in the transformation of the education system, noting that the past 18 months have seen a number of major accomplishments under his watch through the Education System Transformation Programme (ESTP), which was established in 2004.

 

“Under the ESTP programme, the new Administration advanced the Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) and Jamaica Tertiary Education Commission (J-TEC) legislation, started the full implementation of the National Standards Curriculum and completed the new structure for a transformed Ministry,” he pointed out.

 

The Minister said the Administration also recognises the need to intervene in the lives of children, even before they enter the formal early-childhood education system.

 

“It is within this regard that the Ministry has budgeted $130 million to partner with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to reactivate the Early Stimulation Programme for mother and child from birth to age three,” he said.

 

The Programme, he said, has been revamped and is being implemented through the Early Childhood Commission (ECC). “We expect that by the end of this month (August 2017), just over 100 early-childhood institutions will have been certified,” Senator Reid explained.

 

“The ECC has been crafting a strategy for the full transformation of the early childhood sector, to be rolled out in the new 2017/2018 school year,” the Minister noted.

 

Senator Reid said it is also worth pointing out the significant improvement being shown by males in the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) when compared to their female counterparts.

 

“For the first time in five years, the male students had a higher mean percentage score (76.7%) in Language Arts for 2017 than that of the female students (68.5%),” the Minister added.

 

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

JIS: State Minister for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green, says plans are in an advanced stage for the creation of an all-island national mentorship scheme.

 

He noted that the plan involves a partnership with the National Security and Economic Growth and Job Creation Ministries.

 

The State Minister was speaking to JIS News at the third staging of the Sagicor Foundation Scholarship Awards ceremony, held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, on August 24.

 

Mr. Green informed that work to achieve the all-island national mentorship scheme has already started under the Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) Programme, launched in May this year by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness.

 

“We’re tapping into university students, recruiting them and getting them to sign up to start some training to become mentors,” he said.

 

The HOPE Programme is geared at improving the social prospects of Jamaicans, particularly the youth.

 

Mr. Green pointed out that an examination of the use of technology to make the mentorship scheme “more effective and wide-reaching” will also be done.

 

The State Minister indicated that, in short order, an outline for a holistic plan will be made available.

 

Meanwhile, in his remarks to recipients of the scholarships, Mr. Green urged tertiary students to mentor at least one child at the primary and secondary levels.

 

He also encouraged the secondary-level students to get involved in co-curricular activities.

 

To the parents and guardians, the State Minister urged continued support and guidance of all students.

 

“Parental support makes the difference. It is not just financial (support) but encouragement. That goes a far way. Continue to support the children and join the parent-teacher association (PTA),” he encouraged.

 

For his part, Managing Director of Crafton Holdings Limited and Lecturer at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies, Damion Crawford, commended the Education Ministry for its role in increasing the allocation per student at the primary level from $850 to $2,500.

 

Meanwhile, recently appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Sagicor Group Jamaica, Christopher Zacca, encouraged the awardees to work hard “for better grades, to study longer and aim for excellence”.

 

“As a Sagicor scholar, you have a responsibility firstly to yourself to maintain being a top performer and to also ensure that you continue to serve as a shining example to future awardees,” he said.

 

Mr. Zacca asserted that the Sagicor Foundation will continue to play its part in supporting education, as it is the “passport to the future and to a better life”.

 

Sixty-eight scholarships were awarded by the Sagicor Foundation to 37 exceptional Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) recipients transitioning to secondary school and 31 students at the tertiary level.

 

Fourteen children of members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) benefited from educational grants valued at $40,000 each for one year, and the remaining 23 GSAT scholarships are valued at $50,000 each for five years, renewed annually.

 

The tertiary scholarships are valued at $250,000 annually and are renewed for each academic year. 

 

CAPTION: State Minister in the Education, Youth and Information Ministry, Hon. Floyd Green (centre), listens to scholarship awardee, Dexia Dixon (left), at the third staging of the Sagicor Foundation Scholarship Awards ceremony, at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, on August 24. At right is Dexia’s mother, Sceanie Clayton.

 

JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says the Government is working on the revised policy for the establishment of a new overall teacher-pupil ratio of 1:25.

 

“For the technical areas, we will have a ratio of 1:20 (one teacher to 20 students). This will allow for closer attention to be given to each student,” he explained.

 

The Minister was speaking on the third and final day of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) conference at the Hilton Resort and Spa in St. James, on August 23.

 

Senator Reid pointed out that it has been reasonably demonstrated that students are more likely to learn when personalised attention is given, especially in the case of a slow learner or late bloomer.

 

“The one-on-one attention, which is very vital, is often not possible when you have a class size of one teacher to 60-plus students. This has not served us well and has resulted in many of our students being hard-pressed to keep up. What we are doing here now in reducing the class size as per teacher to students, and this should make learning both easier and less stressful inside our classrooms,” the Minister said.

 

Meanwhile, Senator Reid said that as part of the effort to ensure no one is left behind, as of September 2017, the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), National Vocational Qualification of Jamaica (NVQJ) and Caribbean Vocational Qualifications Framework (CVQ) examination fees will be fully covered by the Ministry for students on the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), wards of the State and others in dire need who may not be on the PATH Programme.

 

“In addition, as we customise education, it is expected that all our students leaving the secondary level are ready to enter the world of work or higher-level education,” the Minister said.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, addresses educators at the 52nd Annual Conference of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) at the Hilton Resort and Spa on August 23

JIS: The Office of the Children’s Registry, through the Ananda Alert Unit, is advising parents and guardians that as they prepare their children for the new academic year, they should ensure that they are made aware of issues regarding their safety.

 

In an interview with JIS News, Head of the Ananda Alert Unit, Nathalee Ferguson, said that there are some key things that parents and guardians must consider when sending their children to school.

 

“Whether it is for the first time or it is back-to-school, it is very important that you don’t have these young children travelling alone,” she implored.

 

Miss Ferguson said even if older children are allowed to travel alone to and from school, it is important to warn them against taking vehicles that are not licensed to transport members of the public.

 

She also pointed out that it is imperative that parents/guardians have a recent photograph of their children.

 

“What we have experienced is that when a child goes missing, all that is available is a baby picture, so it is difficult to identify the child,” she added.

 

Miss Ferguson said parents should also take note of the clothes that the child is wearing when he or she leaves home, so they will be able to give a very descriptive account to the police if the child is missing. She is also encouraging them to get to know the parents of other children at their child’s school, and friends of their child.

 

They should know the full names and contact information.

 

Likewise, parents/guardians should also be in contact with their child’s school administration; attend parent-teacher association (PTA) meetings; and always keep abreast of school events, so they know where the child is at all times.

 

Miss Ferguson said parents ought to make an extra effort to get to know their neighbours and be familiar with other community members.

 

Meanwhile, she said children should know that they must not loiter or go to persons’ homes without the knowledge of their parents or guardians, because children may never know if these persons are trustworthy or have ulterior motives when they form relationships with them.

 

For the first quarter of this year, 449 children went missing, 382 returned, 65 are still missing and one is dead.

 

CAPTION: Head of the Ananda Alert Unit at the Office of the Children’s Registry (OCR), Nathalee Ferguson.

JIS: Prime Minister Andrew Holness has declared that no child should be discriminated against by virtue of their inability to afford education.

 

Speaking at a function at Jamaica House on Wednesday (August 23), to honour students who sat the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) this year,  the Prime Minister stressed that every child has a right to education.

 

He said the Government would explore ways to make it an offence to deny a child the right to education on the basis of affordability.

 

“Do not in any way shape or form deprive or discriminate against students who are not able to afford the fees that you are charging. The fees are not obligatory, and no child should be discriminated against by virtue of their economic circumstances. They did well and got the space in the schools and are entitled to it and no principal, no teacher should do anything at all that could be considered discriminatory to a student,” declared the Prime Minister.

 

Prime Minister Holness said the Government is spending significant resources on education.

 

“We have increased significantly the resources we give to schools. There are some schools which set higher standards than what is available for the average public school but the children who are placed in those schools by virtue of the GSAT public system should never be made to feel less than or to be discriminated against,” explained Prime Minister Holness.

 

He noted that education is the vaccine against poverty and crime and violence.

 

In the meantime, the Prime Minister said the education system should be broad enough that it gives functionality to all students so they can reach the pinnacle of their natural God given talent and skills.

 

He added that the Government will take the necessary steps to re-engineer the education system so that every single child gets access to the best educational opportunity.

 

“Public resources must be used to improve the life chances equally for every single Jamaican, and give every single Jamaican the type of education that allows them to fulfil their goals,” stated Prime Minister Holness.

 

CAPTION: Prime Minister Andrew Holness shares a photo opportunity with students of staff members at the Office of the Prime Minister. The students who sat the Grade Six Achievement Test this year were honoured by the Prime Minister during a special ceremony on Wednesday, August 23 at Jamaica House. Also sharing in the moment is Mrs Audrey Sewell, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister.

JA delegation articulates youth priorities at Commonwealth Youth Ministers conference

A Jamaican delegation to the recently concluded Ninth Commonwealth Youth Ministers Meeting (CYMM) in Kampala, Uganda, headed by Floyd Green, Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information (MOEYI) has committed to keeping youth issues at the centre of public policy.

The Jamaican delegation comprised Minister Green, Senior Director Youth and Adolescents Policy at the MOEYI, Mrs. Michele Small Bartley, Mr. Gihon Mitchell, president, Jamaica Professional Youth Workers Association and Russell Barrett, Youth Advisory Council Member. In different sessions, outlined a range of programmes and activities that are being undertaken locally.

Under the theme of the conference “Resourcing and Financing Youth Development: Empowering Young People” discussions were centred on innovative ways to obtain funding and partnership for youth development within each country. Additionally, mechanisms used to strengthen youth development practices within each country were explored. 

In his presentation, Mr. Green emphasised that youth development was at the top of the Jamaican government’s agenda adding that concerted efforts were being made to enhance youth participation, establish and strengthen innovation hubs and “ensure youth mainstreaming across Ministries.”

He cited the input made by the newly formed Youth Advisory Council in the formulation of national policies and members input on various boards, as well as the re-establishment of the National Youth Parliament as examples of giving young people primacy of place in the national agenda. The Minister also emphasized the evidence-based approach to formulating policies related to youth. 

The Minister also referred to the support given to the professionalisation of youth work. “We have made significant strides in enabling the professionalisation of youth work. First, the establishment of an association that seeks to train and assist in the development and strengthening of the competences of those working with youth,” he told the delegates including ministers and senior officials from 32 countries. “Additionally, as a Ministry we have ensured that all our Youth Empowerment Officers are trained in youth work, as we know that youth are at a developmental stage that requires specific competence to treat with,” he said.  

In a separate session among senior officials, Mrs Small Bartley updated the meeting on Jamaica’s youth development strategies by providing information on the National Youth Policy, the strategic merger of HEART-Trust, NYS and JFLL as a means to further amplifying the youth reach in terms of employment and training. Information about the LEGS and HOPE programmes were also highlighted as avenues to entrepreneurship, training and building core skills. 

In the Stakeholders Forum Gihon Mitchell also presented on the professionalisation of youth work, its origin and its progress over the years. Russell Barrett passionately articulated the role of the Youth Advisory Council and the benefits it has brought to young people in being a part of the decision making at the national level. 

The conference ended with a communiqué that was supported by each country and commitments to support on-going programmes, while exploring new mechanisms for financing and resourcing youth development and the creation of an innovation hub within the Commonwealth Secretariat to lead empowerment of young people across countries.  

The Government of Jamaica has offered to host the 10th Commonwealth Youth Ministers’ Meeting in 2021.

 

GLEANER: Education Minister Senator Ruel Reid, yesterday, made a public apology to the nation’s teachers and school administrators for his reference to several learning institutions as extortionists.

 

“The satisfaction of teachers and effective administration of our schools run in my blood, having been a classroom teacher, master teacher,

 

JTA (Jamaica Teachers’ Association) president, now minister, and a parent,” a repentant Reid said yesterday, while addressing the 53rd annual conference of the JTA at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa in Montego Bay.

 

“It is also my desire that we are as satisfied as possible, so it is within this context and with respect to the wonderful relationship that we have had – the leadership of the JTA, the

 

principals’ association, and our boards – and so as a lay

 

preacher myself, I have to lead by example (and I remember, at times, Jesus Himself used some harsh words and He Himself had to reflect on it), and I have personally reached out and have withdrawn those statements, but I want to publicly apologise for any hurt that may have occurred in that regard.”

 

Held Hands, Prayed

 

After this act of contrition, the roomful of educators stood, held hands, and repeated the Lord’s Prayer.

 

Reid made the controversial comment at a post-Cabinet press briefing where he singled out several prominent high schools and accused them of corruption and extortion in charging auxiliary fees. This drew the ire of the JTA and other interest groups, which demanded that he withdraw the statement.

 

… Says teachers the biggest cost for education

Education Minister Ruel Reid and his team went to the Jamaica Teachers’ Association conference well prepared for a face-off one day after the 24,954 membership association rejected a three per cent wage increase offer from the Government.

 

“Just for the record, there has been a lot of discussion about education, and the biggest cost are us, the teachers,” Senator Reid said. “So there is no truth that any recent government has spent only $19,000 per capita per child.

 

“Certainly, at the secondary level, we are spending upward of $37 billion on secondary education alone, and so some schools will see a higher per capita of a $119,000 and some will see $176,000. Whatever has come our way, we have not withheld anything from you. We have even been creative and have given you more and above that which you have asked or thought about.”

  

Encourage Contributions

 

 Reid said that wherever there were persons willing to make contributions to education, the ministry would encourage it. “So I don’t want people to twist and misunderstand what I am saying.

 

“We do not have a mandatory-fee policy, but what we are saying is that Government must provide as much resources as is necessary – make sure we fund the core services, make sure we pay our teachers – and the parents should be so motivated that those who can, can make their contribution.”

 

The JTA conference is being held under the theme “Navigating the Education Landscape: Transforming, Engaging, Collaborating, Facilitating and Leading”.

 

CAPTION: Senator the Honourable Ruel Reid, Minister of Education 

GLEANER: As a mark of the achievement of 130 years of service to the people of Jamaica, The Overseas Examinations Commission (OEC) has announced its intention to invest $200-million in ICT equipment, inclusive of computers, software, UPS and security systems, to schools across the island over the next three years.

 

The first tranche is to be distributed in the first term of the new 2017/2018 school year to 30 schools across Jamaica, which will each receive 30 computers each.

 

This initiative comes in light of the stated intention of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) to move all Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate CSEC and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination CAPE examinations online and the recognition that most schools are not equipped with computers to begin to move from paper-based examinations to the online platform.

 

HAPPY TO PLAY A ROLE

 

OEC Chairman Brian Bennett-Easy noted that “although this will not satisfy the demand for computers in high schools in Jamaica either for exams or for the classroom needs, the commission is delighted to be able to play a role in bringing some schools and the students they serve closer to meeting the CXC implementation of the new examination conditions”.

 

He said over the next few months, the OEC will be finalising the short list, based on need, infrastructural capability and the satisfaction of the Government’s procurement guidelines before making the announcement of the final list of schools to benefit.

 

On November 10, OEC will celebrate its 130th anniversary. The commission is an agency of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information and acts as a proctoring (supervisory) body for many overseas examining boards for secondary- and tertiary-level education.

 

CAPTION: 

GLEANER: Increased cooperation with the police and a comprehensive bus system are two of the measures to be introduced by the Ministry of Education as it moves to increase the security of students when the new school year begins,

 

Education Minister Ruel Reid says he has already initiated discussions with various stakeholders to see how best to protect the nation’s students come September.

 

“In light of the increasing crime rate, it’s not entirely an activity that the ministry itself can do. We have to work with law enforcement. What we normally do is to have our regional officers meet with the principals, the police and other stakeholders in working out a plan,” said Reid.

 

“We have done that from time to time with west Kingston and so on, if you have flare-ups. In a sense, you speak with the community. As the community appreciates the value of education, they tend to ‘simmer down’ the level of violence, so to speak.

 

  

PROACTIVELY ENGAGED

 

 “We are already proactively engaged with the Police High Command to see how we can work together on the ground to see how we can ensure safe passage for our students to and from school,” added Reid.

 

In the meantime, Ronald Thwaites, the opposition spokesperson on education, is urging the security forces to provide adequate protection for students so that they can make it to classes.

 

“I’m advising everyone to brave whatever fears they have and go out. It’s such a tragedy to miss even a day in school, and looking at the statistics, there is about 20 per cent of our students who are absent every day. That’s almost unrecoverable,” said Thwaites.

 

“The general advice is to be brave and to go out to school every day. As far as intra-school violence is concerned, principals and teachers must partner with parents and they must take charge of their schools.

 

“There is no room for indiscipline or lack of discipline in any school,” added Thwaites.

 

[email protected]

 

CAPTION: Education Minister Ruel Reid