OBSERVER: NOTING the important role the Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB) plays in the service delivery of education to the country, Minister of Education Senator Ruel Reid has indicated that he intends to have a look at how his ministry can assist the work of the bureau.

 

He pointed out that currently the SLB does not fall under his remit as education, youth and information minister, but the partnership within the governance structure encourages that he work with the institution.

 

“Our point is that as the Ministry of Education and Youth we need to be integrally driving the policies that govern the operations and execution of the Students’ Loan Bureau to assist the beneficiaries, which are the students,” he said.

 

In responding to questions of the concerns of students regarding the ease of doing business with the bureau, the minister said: “I hope to have further dialogue — we’ve had preliminary meetings — to see how we can improve the service delivery [at the SLB]. People have this bad impression of the public sector that we’re not customer-centric or we’re not customer service- driven, and I am very high on customer service. So I’d love to see that as part of our transformation, and I believe in the context of the public sector transformation and reform, the Students’ Loan Bureau must be seen as that exemplar of that excellence in the service delivery.”

 

Last year April the Government, in a move to ease the burden on students, introduced a reducing balance calculation on repayment amounts. This was aimed at passing on significant savings for beneficiaries, compared to the previous add-on interest rate. The monthly amounts payable by beneficiaries under reduced balancing method will be reduced by approximately 28 per cent.

 

“We are largely funded by the taxpayers through the percentage taken off from the proceeds of the education tax, and I know they’re trying to pay off some of the debt they had before, and to that end we even want to accelerate that so as to streamline funding from the education tax,“ Reid said.

 

The minister acknowledged the hardships faced by students to access and fund tertiary education and spoke to the challenges that recent graduates experience.

 

“We had committed in the manifesto to extend the amortisation period and that’s one of the things we’d like to see done. But there was an ‘Obama prescription’, which, by the way, is now endorsed by UNESCO; their proposal is to cap the loan repayment at 15 per cent of gross salary when students begin work. That I believe would be music to ears of borrowers. As the minister of education that is my medium-term objective, to negotiate with my Government and SLB for that reform to make things manageable,” Reid said.

 

He went on to commiserate with students, citing his experience when he served on the appeals committee of the bureau, and singled out the nurses whose challenges he was familiar with.

 

Reid highlighted that the ministry has worked with central government to increase the funding to SLB as demands on its resources continue to increase.

 

In speaking to the achievements of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Reid highlighted that $200 million has been reassigned to the SLB from the HEART Trust/NTA. Admitting that more will be needed as more positive student outcomes are achieved, he said that this is an area in which he committed to see improvement.

 

CAPTION: REID… the Ministry of Education needs to be driving the policies that govern the operations and execution of the Students’ Loan Bureau 

JIS: Twenty-three retired educators from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Region Two, who have served between 18 and 43 years, were honoured during a Recognition Ceremony held on September 19 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston.

 

The retirees, who worked at primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in the parishes of Portland, St. Thomas and St. Mary, were presented with citations in recognition of their sterling contributions to the education sector.

 

Portfolio Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, who delivered the keynote address, lauded the commitment of the honourees.

 

“It is my distinct pleasure to be here as we celebrate and honour our great principals, president and other distinguished educators who have served us so well… . You have been stalwarts of the teaching profession,” he said.

 

“We honour and recognise your outstanding service and professionalism and commitment to [the] education and training of students. The nation is proud of you,” he added.

 

President of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), Georgia Waugh-Richards, who brought greetings, encouraged the retirees to continue to contribute to education by sharing the wisdom that has been garnered over decades with the younger generation of teachers.

 

“The Jamaican education system has need of you. Residing in you is a wealth of pedagogy that younger educators can benefit from. As your professional organisation, we encourage you to find a young teacher that you can mentor. Find a school that is in need of your skill and a community programme you can volunteer for and make lives better,” she said.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (right), greets retired Principal of Lyssons Primary in Morant Bay, Ena Barclay. Occasion was a Recognition Ceremony for 23 retired educators from the parishes of Portland, St. Thomas and St. Mary held on September 19 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

 

JIS: Starting next year, staff at residential childcare facilities will receive training and counselling services that will better enable them to address the needs of wards in their care.

 

Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Floyd Green, in making the disclosure yesterday, said that the Child Development Agency (CDA) is developing the modules for the training and counselling, which will be undertaken in private and State-run residential care facilities.

 

He said that the services are crucial for the caregivers and will place them in a better position to take care of the wards.

 

“We always speak about the welfare of our children, but we often don’t speak about the welfare of the staff in the homes and we have to start dealing with that…We speak about the mental well-being of our children, (but) we don’t often speak about when a staff member needs some counselling,” Green argued.

 

He noted that the CDA has a responsibility to provide consistent training for workers employed to the facilities. “Not only do we have to ensure that the people are well vetted but that they get continuous training,” he added.

 

The State Minister was speaking at a licensing sensitisation workshop for residential childcare facilities held on the grounds of the Alpha Institute in Kingston.

 

The event sought to provide guidance on the requirements to be met. Every three years, private and State-run residential childcare facilities are required to undergo a relicensing process as part of measures to improve the standards of the child protection sector.

 

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

OBSERVER: IN an effort to bolster educational outcomes across the island, the Ministry of Education has earmarked $34 billion that will go directly into the coffers of secondary level institutions over the just-begun academic year.

 

Speaking with the Jamaica Observer in a one-on-one on Tuesday, Minister of Education Senator Ruel Reid advised that the Government is committed to fuelling and funding the sector with the resources needed to secure a Jamaican workforce ready to take on the opportunities that will become available.

 

In an unprecedented move, the minister released a report of the allocation to high schools across the six regions of the ministry. The report indicates that the majority of institutions are being allocated more than $220 million each for the academic year 2017/18, with a few institutions in regions one, five and six identified to receive in excess of $300 million each.

 

Norman Manley High, Excelsior High and Kingston College top the allocations in Region One. For Region Two, Seaforth, St Mary and Titchfield high schools lead that region, having been allocated more than $245 million each. Brown’s Town, Ocho Rios and Marcus Garvey high schools lead Region Three, with St James, Black River and Old Harbour high schools being allocated the most money in regions four through six, respectively.

 

The allotments include operational grants, regular subvention, as well as support for infrastructure, maintenance, safety, ICT, staffing, among other things.

 

Notably, approximately $2 billion has been included across all regions for the feeding programme under the auspices of the Programme for Advancement Through Health and Education.

 

The minister spoke to the belief that there exists a budgetary fallout after the ministry’s insistence on a cap on parents’ contribution and the elimination of mandatory fees to institutions.

 

“If you look at the total parent contribution, it was approximately $1.2 billion… we could easily argue that, technically, if all the parent contributions were collected, the new allocations would have covered that entirely; and yet they are still getting some parent contribution,” he said.

 

He continued that schools will acknowledge, and the data will support it, that “half of the total parent contribution collected came only from Region One; it’s only there in that area that there was any real compliance”.

 

He stressed, therefore, that the other five regions would now be “benefiting tremendously from the policy”.

 

“I know schools want more and more, and they have some needs, but as a ministry we still have to have a policy; we can’t have a free-for-all and no control. The sector must have order,” he said.

 

Senator Reid indicated that, “There is no such realisation that an income stream had been closed for schools. This is [the] second year, and that has not happened.”

 

He indicated that schools are encouraged to prepare and present budgets that reflect the support need for their programmes and they will see the funding is in place and the programmes are run by “labour support”.

 

“Overall, I think it is a great win-win, as schools now have a set of funding that insulates them,” Reid explained.

 

“We have given them funds to run the core programme, and they have substantially more resources to cover this.”

 

In reference to the allocation per student, Minister Reid said: “The $19,000 was a reference point, but we have had to give support to TVET (Technical And Vocational Education and Training), science, and other programmes; staffing included.

 

“All this has been done within the budget that we were given. It all has to do with how creative Dr McLean [chief education officer] and the team have been to deliver what we considered to be the responsibility for the Government.”

 

Minister Reid made sure to add that the primary schools had not been left out.

 

“We have increased grants to primary schools by some 169 per cent. We have been fixing up their canteens. They have already got increases for their janitorial services and maintenance. We’ve spent over $554 million in the improvement of the physical space for primary schools.

 

“We [are] working on more resources for safety and security in those schools. We can’t do everything overnight, but we working on it,” he said.

 

Reid reinforced that it was a promise of his Government to support education across the island and to raise the educational outcomes and available opportunities for access to especially at-risk youth.

 

“What we don’t want is for finances to be any sort of barrier to student access to programmes. We are committed to this, we have allocated the funding, and see that the institutions receive it in a timely manner,” he said.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education Senator Ruel Reid speaking with the Jamaica Observer at his Heroes’ Circle offices in Kingston.

JIS: Work is now complete for the merger of the Child Development Agency (CDA) and the Office of the Children’s Registry (OCR), and is awaiting approval by Cabinet.

 

Making the disclosure, Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green, says by the end of October, the “merger will be operationalized”, while work continues on the legal aspects of the entities.

 

In an interview with JIS News, the State Minister said both the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, and the Public Sector Transformation Unit gave feedback on the structure of the new entity, and all the changes have been shared with critical partners.

 

“Those have been finalised, and we expect that within a few weeks, Cabinet will sign off on the approval,” he informed, adding that the two agencies are now operating on a parallel basis as they await a formal decision by the Cabinet.

 

In January, the Government appointed a committee chaired by University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Director, Michael McAnuff-Jones, to streamline the services offered by the agencies, and as part of forward planning, the CDA and the OCR recently met at a retreat and agreed on a strategic three-year plan, in keeping with the objectives of the new-look agency.

 

“We are in the process of circulating that draft strategic plan among staff members,” Mr. Green said, noting that work is far advanced for the reallocation of spaces.

 

“The changes are holistic. This is a complete reorganisation of divisions, the creation of a new department, as well as strengthening the internal efficiencies and accountability, to ensure that the agency functions with secrecy and in a timely manner,” the State Minister explained.

 

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

JIS: In light of recent reports of bullying among students and the traumatic impact on the victims, the Child Development Agency (CDA) is imploring parents to engage their children on a deeper level.

 

“It is important that parents have frequent dialogue with their children and ask the right questions,” advises marketing and public relations manager at the CDA, Rochelle Dixon.

 

Dixon said the agency had been getting calls from concerned parents and has executed a number of interventions in different institutions. She noted, however, that the victims may not necessarily reach out for assistance until the case becomes extremely severe.

 

She said that there are a number of telltale signs that parents may look for to determine whether something is amiss with the child.

 

“Your child may express a desire to stay away from school. There may be changes in the child’s mood and behaviour pattern. He or she may be apprehensive about discussing what happens in class, as well as other stress-induced symptoms may present themselves,” she explained.

 

A United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)/CDA study conducted in 2015 found that six in 10 students report being bullied at some point in their lives, with the majority of cases occurring at school.

 

Dixon is encouraging parents to forge partnerships with the teachers and guidance counsellors at the schools their children attend and report incidents to the school’s administration. Additional support may also be had by reaching out to the CDA.

 

CAPTION: A United Nations Children?s Fund (UNICEF)/Child Development Agency study conducted in 2015, found that six in 10 students report being bullied at some point in their lives, with the majority of cases occurring at school.

 

JIS: The Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI) will officially become Caribbean Maritime University on World Maritime Day, September 28, at an official Charter Day ceremony to be held at the National Arena in Kingston.

 

This follows passage of relevant legislation in Parliament earlier this year to grant the institution university status and to confer degrees, awards, certificates, diplomas and other academic distinctions.

 

The Charter Day ceremony, which will be open to the public, will get under way at 3:00 pm, ending at approximately 10:00 pm with fireworks and a logo burn that will be visible across the capital city.

 

More than 5,000 persons are expected to attend, including several regional heads of state and other officials from around the world.

 

Among the guests will be the university’s first Chancellor, His Royal Majesty King Drolor Bosso Adamtey I, king of one of the largest tribes in Ghana.

 

Included in the Charter Day activities will be the installation of a president and a deputy president.

 

Speaking at a JIS Think Tank on Tuesday (September 19), Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, said with university status, the governance structure of the institution will change.

 

“There is a transition policy as enshrined in the (Caribbean Maritime University) Act, so we are moving from a Board to a council and from an executive director to a president. The current Board becomes the council and the existing executive director, unless otherwise so determined, will now become the first president of the new university,” he explained.

 

The university, which was established in 1980 with 30 students, has grown significantly over the years. Enrolment increased from 300 students in 2007 to just under 5,000 in 2017.

 

Senator Reid, in hailing the growth as “remarkable”, noted that according university status is a natural step as the institution establishes itself as a leader in its class.

 

“I don’t think we’ve had another tertiary institution that has grown as exponentially as CMI, but it’s exciting for all of us. This is another layer of the growth prospects that we seek in Jamaica. We are making the connections with education, training and industry, and this is a massive part of our armoury in transforming the Jamaican education and economic landscape,” he pointed out.

 

The Minister noted further that the granting of university status will, among other things, allow for the CMI to access global grant funding from various agencies and entities worldwide, which will enable the institution to better administer its functions and perform its role as a national economic driver through education, training and certification.

 

The CMI continues to make a significant contribution to the Jamaican economy by bridging the employment gap, with approximately 85 per cent of CMI graduates being placed in jobs within six months of graduation.

 

The Palisadoes-based institution is the only international entity approved for maritime training in Jamaica, with 80 per cent of the teaching/support personnel and 50 per cent of the board of directors drawn from organisations within the industry.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, addresses a JIS Think Tank on Tuesday (September 19).

JIS: The Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI) will officially become Caribbean Maritime University on World Maritime Day, September 28, at an official Charter Day ceremony to be held at the National Arena in Kingston.

 

This follows passage of relevant legislation in Parliament earlier this year to grant the institution university status and to confer degrees, awards, certificates, diplomas and other academic distinctions.

 

The Charter Day ceremony, which will be open to the public, will get under way at 3:00 pm, ending at approximately 10:00 pm with fireworks and a logo burn that will be visible across the capital city.

 

More than 5,000 persons are expected to attend, including several regional heads of state and other officials from around the world.

 

Among the guests will be the university’s first Chancellor, His Royal Majesty King Drolor Bosso Adamtey I, king of one of the largest tribes in Ghana.

 

Included in the Charter Day activities will be the installation of a president and a deputy president.

 

Speaking at a JIS Think Tank on Tuesday (September 19), Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, said with university status, the governance structure of the institution will change.

 

“There is a transition policy as enshrined in the (Caribbean Maritime University) Act, so we are moving from a Board to a council and from an executive director to a president. The current Board becomes the council and the existing executive director, unless otherwise so determined, will now become the first president of the new university,” he explained.

 

The university, which was established in 1980 with 30 students, has grown significantly over the years. Enrolment increased from 300 students in 2007 to just under 5,000 in 2017.

 

Senator Reid, in hailing the growth as “remarkable”, noted that according university status is a natural step as the institution establishes itself as a leader in its class.

 

“I don’t think we’ve had another tertiary institution that has grown as exponentially as CMI, but it’s exciting for all of us. This is another layer of the growth prospects that we seek in Jamaica. We are making the connections with education, training and industry, and this is a massive part of our armoury in transforming the Jamaican education and economic landscape,” he pointed out.

 

The Minister noted further that the granting of university status will, among other things, allow for the CMI to access global grant funding from various agencies and entities worldwide, which will enable the institution to better administer its functions and perform its role as a national economic driver through education, training and certification.

 

The CMI continues to make a significant contribution to the Jamaican economy by bridging the employment gap, with approximately 85 per cent of CMI graduates being placed in jobs within six months of graduation.

 

The Palisadoes-based institution is the only international entity approved for maritime training in Jamaica, with 80 per cent of the teaching/support personnel and 50 per cent of the board of directors drawn from organisations within the industry.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, addresses a JIS Think Tank on Tuesday (September 19).

JIS: Education, Youth and Information Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says that schools across the island will be mandated to institute a physical activity programme for students at all levels.

 

“They must have… a programme for exercise that promotes good, healthy lifestyles for all grade levels. From grades seven right through to 13, and certainly at the early-childhood institutions, we will be promoting good health,” he said.

 

Mr. Reid was speaking to JIS News at Cumberland High School in Portmore, St. Catherine, on September 19, as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Jamaica observed the World’s Largest Lesson (WLL) 2017.

 

The Minister noted that recently, Health Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, revealed that there is a “very high level of obesity” in Jamaica, with close to “42 per cent of the population considered obese”. This, he noted is “very worrying”.

 

“We also learnt from the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) that about 30 per cent of our population has high blood pressure. A lot of the high blood pressure and the obesity have to do with what we eat, and so this (physical activity programme) is important,” he pointed out.

 

In keeping with the healthy-lifestyle programme for schools, Mr. Reid informed that the policy on nutrition for canteens is expected to be completed by the end of the Christmas term.

 

“We would like school canteens to have certain amounts of calories in each of the products and meals they are serving. How you manage your nutrition is the amount of calories you are (consuming),” he said.

 

The WLL seeks to introduce the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), also known as the Global Goals, to children and young people.

 

The 17 SDGs are condensed in three objectives – end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and fix climate change.

 

UNICEF hopes to achieve the objectives within the next 15 years, and encourages schools around the world to teach a lesson or assemble to introduce or remind students of the Goals and get them to think about how they can help in achieving them.

 

Quality Education Specialist with UNICEF, Dr. Rebecca Tortello Greenland, said for this year’s WLL the focus is on SDG three, which speaks to hunger, good health and well-being.

 

Under the theme ‘Every Plate Tells a Story’, children are invited to consider

 

how their food choices impact the SDGs and to pledge to make changes.

 

These include healthy eating, reducing wastage, eliminating the use of plastic packaging, and sourcing food closer to home.

 

“Really, what we in Jamaica as UNICEF are trying to do, and my colleagues elsewhere, is to get teachers to have fun exploring the bank of material that exists on the SDGs,” she said.

 

Dr. Tortello Greenland noted that lessons exist in the SDGs, which are age-appropriate for students from early childhood to high school.

 

The Minister, while at Cumberland High, spoke to the grade-seven class about the SDGs and how they can make an impact.

 

CAPTION: Education, Youth and Information Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (3rd left) and Quality Education Specialist, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Dr. Rebecca Tortello Greenland (2nd right), observe as grade-seven students at Cumberland High School complete a written activity. Occasion was UNICEF’s observance of the World’s Largest Lesson (WLL) 2017 at the institution in Portmore, St. Catherine, on September 19. The students (from left) are Kamal Malcolm, Jah-mealla Baker and Annmarie Baker.