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.

 

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CAPTION: Education Minister Ruel Reid

JIS: Improved pass rates were recorded for 18 of the 34 subjects sat in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examination this year.

 

Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, revealed the results of the exam during a press conference at his National Heroes Circle offices in Kingston, on August 18.

 

He noted that overall, the highest increase was in Economics, which recorded an improvement of 12.6 per cent.

 

“There were also increases in the average pass rates for Additional Mathematics (3 per cent); Agricultural Science Double and Single Awards (2.5 and 4.4 per cent); Principles of Accounts (8 per cent); Information Technology (7.3 per cent); Technical Drawing (7.2 per cent) and Theatre Arts (9.3 per cent),” he said.

 

However, there were declines in English B of 13.2 per cent, and Biology, 12 percent, compared with the previous year.

 

The Minister further informed that five subjects had average pass rates of over 90 per cent. These are: Agricultural Science Double Award (96.8 per cent); Agricultural Science Single Award (91.3 per cent); Principles of Business (91.4 per cent); Physical Education and Sport (96.2 per cent); and Food (92 per cent).

 

Turning to Mathematics and English Language, specifically, Mr. Reid noted that these subjects recorded passes of 50.2 and 70.8 per cent, respectively.

 

“When the average attainment rates for Mathematics and English Language were compared with 2016 results, there is a satisfactory movement of 2.5 per cent increase in Mathematics and a little marginal decline in English Language of 0.4 per cent,” he said.

 

A total of 33,799 students sat the exam of the 35,619 that were registered. Sixty seven per cent (22,556) obtained passes at grades 1 to 3. Some 307 more students were registered when compared to 2016.

 

There were 195,498 subject entries of which 188,307 were sat. Of the subjects that were sat, 69.1 per cent were awarded grades 1 to 3.

 

This was a 1.1 per cent increase compared to the previous year.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (left), highlights a point while addressing a press conference at his National Heroes Circle offices in Kingston on August 18. The conference was held to discuss the 2017 results of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examination. Others (from second left) are: Permanent Secretary, Dean-Roy Bernard; and Chief Education Officer, Dr. Grace McLean

JIS: The performance by students in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), improved by 3.2 per cent this year.

 

This was disclosed by Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, at a press conference held at his National Heroes Circle offices in Kingston, on August 18.

 

He informed that there was improved performance in 23 of the 36 subjects, when compared with 2016. The overall subjects included four new areas.

 

“There was a total of 59,740 subject entries for Units 1 and 2. Of this number, 56,468 (approximately 95 per cent) sat these examinations, with an average pass rate of 89.8 per cent, compared to 86.6 per cent last year when 59,394 subject entries were sat,” he said.

 

Providing a further breakdown of the results, Mr. Reid informed that Unit 1 had a total of 41,948 subject entries, of which 39,463 were sat with a pass rate of 88.9 per cent.

 

Of the 17,792 subject entries for Unit 2, a total of 17,005 were sat, with a pass rate of 91.8 per cent.

 

Turning to the performance of students in specific subject areas, the Minister informed that Electrical and Electronic Technology recorded an increase of 29.6 per cent, while Integrated Mathematics saw an increase of 28.8 per cent over the previous year.

 

However, Applied Mathematics and Pure Mathematics saw slight declines of 7.8 and 1.9 per cent respectively, when compared with 2016.

 

In the meantime, Mr. Reid informed that public schools accounted for 84.4 per cent (50,408) of the subject entries for Units 1 and 2. Of this number, 48,116 were sat, with an average pass rate of 91.3 per cent, which is an increase of 3.4 per cent over the previous year.

 

“Unit 1 had a total of 35,129 subject entries, of which 33,413 (95.1 per cent) were sat, with a pass rate of 90.6 per cent, representing a 2.4 percentage points increase from the previous year. Of the 15,279 subject entries for Unit 2, a total of 14,703 (96.2 percent) were sat, with a pass rate of 93 per cent, registering a 5.7 percentage points increase compared with 2016,” he said.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, responds to questions from journalists during a press conference at his National Heroes Circle offices in Kingston on August 18. The conference was held to discuss the 2017 results of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examination.