THE GLEANER:  The Read Across Jamaica Foundation yesterday embarked on another mission to encourage the nation’s children to pattern fluent and impressive reading, by having influential persons in society and representatives from major organisations read to them during Read Across Jamaica Day.

 

Reading activities coincided with Child Month celebrations.

 

Children in schools across Jamaica shared in the joys of reading, through exhibitions and executions of different reading strategies, which assisted them with creating an interaction with text that may be above their independent reading levels.

 

CAPTION: Constable Shanika Holness from the Franklin Town police division reading to students from Alpha Infant School in St Andrew during Read Across Jamaica Day yesterday. Several organisations and influential persons in society visited schools across Jamaica to read to students.

THE GLEANER: Celebrations to honour teachers at the Jessie Ripoll Primary School in Kingston yesterday were overwhelmed by the students, who filled the classrooms with joy and excitement, while volunteers from Scotiabank engaged everyone in conversations and activities (skits and literature) on the topic of bullying.

 

At schools across Jamaica, students joined parents and various other groups in Teachers’ Day activities to honour the country’s educators.

 

Several teachers and principals were pampered and bestowed with gifts, as the students enthusiastically participated in the many activities.

 

“I was truly impressed by their reading level. It was unbelievable that they knew everything about cyberbullying,” service report representative at the New Kingston Scotiabank branch Taneisha James told The Gleaner of the Jessie Ripoll students.

 

Volunteer Shauna-Kay Christie expressed concern that too many students were willing to admit that they were bullies themselves.

 

“I realised the kids were really informed on what bullying is, but when questioned ‘Who is a bully?’, persons were readily getting up to say ‘I am’, and kids in the class could say that these persons are bullies. Persons were straightforward, and in asking them why they do what they do, they were able to express freely that they were being bullied and that’s why they bully,” she shared.

 

 

 

LINE OF DEFENCE

 

 

“There was this young lady who, when I asked why, she said that things were happening at home with her cousins and aunts. They say stuff about her and it causes her to be weak, so it’s a line of defence to get back at people when she is at school.”

 

Scotia’s Vice-president of Marketing Yanique Forbes Patrick said that the decision to focus on bullying was influenced by the Child Development Agency (CDA) and Child Month.

 

“We wanted to make sure that when we were coming, we weren’t just playing games and singing with the students. We had consulted the CDA, and one of the things they have been trying to focus on for the month is bullying. We have a growing problem [with bullying], and now it is taking other forms, and online and social media is driving it,” she said.

 

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CAPTION: Scotiabank volunteer Shauna-Kay Christie briefs students in her class at the Jessie Ripoll Primary School before they presented a skit demonstrating the effects of bullying during Teachers’ Day activities.

 

THE GLEANER: If a child in state care spends 12 months of a 15-month period without a parental visit, the Child Development Agency (CDA) is recommending that that should be specific grounds in law for a court to terminate parental rights.

 

Parental abandonment is one of three circumstances the CDA is proposing be “expressly iterated” in law to prevent children, outside of court intervention, from spending their lives in institutions.

 

The other two circumstances under which a parent could lose their rights are whether they have been deemed unfit due to long-term mental illness or mental incapacity or whether they have been found guilty of murder or manslaughter in relation to another child of the same home.

 

 

 

NOT TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY

 

 

“The power to permanently and irrevocably end parental rights is not one that is taken lightly by any jurisdiction, and can, if applied loosely, contravene the rights of both the parent and the child,” the CDA said this week in a submission to the parliamentary committee that is reviewing Jamaica’s sex offences laws to enhance protection of vulnerable groups in society.

 

“Yet,” it continued, “there are specific instances in which the rights of the child demand the abrogation of parental rights, particularly in order to secure a more stable, permanent placement arrangement for wards of the state.”

 

The CDA pointed to the United States, where laws are clear about the grounds for terminating parental rights.

 

Jamaica, the agency said, needs to follow as there is “no clear or consistent approach” to guide childcare professionals or decision makers.

 

Termination of parental rights under Jamaican law is mostly on a voluntary basis, it said. This is either through abandonment or with the consent of the parents for their child to be adopted. Courts, too, can order the termination if it is determined that a parent “unreasonably” withheld consent.

 

… Clarifying law would speed up adoptions

The Child Development Agency (CDA) is arguing that clarifying the law as it relates to parental rights would help speed up adoptions, a process that Floyd Green, junior minister in the youth ministry, has said is being simplified.

 

Typically, adoption processes start when a prospective ‘parent’ makes an application. There is no established mechanism to make a child “legally available” for adoption.

 

“What this means in effect is that there are children who enter the system at a relatively young age, and while their circumstances suggest that they are a candidate for termination of parental rights, they remain in the system for years before this option is even considered,” the CDA said.

 

It added that “as local adopters favour young children, this can result in children becoming stuck in institutions for life”.

 

“There are approximately 4,700 children in state care,” the CDA’s chief executive officer, Rosalee Gage-Grey, told The Gleaner. She could not immediately provide the number fitting the proposed abandonment criteria.

 

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CAPTION: Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Hon Floyd Green

JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says there must be a “full marriage” between traditional education and technical vocational education and training (TVET), and that separation is no longer an option.

 

Senator Reid, who was addressing the 3rd International Conference on TVET in the Caribbean on May 10, at the Hilton Spa and Resort, St. James, said the Task Force report on education in 2004 had inadvertently “missed the mark” in the reconfiguration of the education system as part of the prescription of its transformation and had left out the convergence with TVET.

 

“We have to now go back and fix that. So, within the context of the discussions we have been having in this regard, I want to formally announce the full marriage of what we know as traditional education and TVET.  They have now been joined together in ‘holy matrimony’ within the education system,” the Minister said.

 

Senator Reid added that to ensure that there is no ambiguity and that there is clarity in terms of its integration and understanding, the Ministry has moved ahead and launched, back in February, the National Qualification Framework of Jamaica.

 

The Minister said he is putting on notice the University of the West Indies and all other tertiary institutions to be aware of the new framework, noting that it will be a national standard to which they will all have to adhere.

 

“This became necessary so that we could bridge the gap between our understanding of the relevance and comparability of qualification and certification and what we are accustomed to as traditional certification and technical vocational qualification. So, you can look at the framework and you will know exactly where you fall on the spectrum,” Senator Reid added.

 

The Minister said the focus should now be on creating a track for what is now called occupational degrees and which is separate from traditional degrees, or “what some people call transfer degrees or straight vocational qualifications”.

 

“In addition, the matriculation and articulation requirements of the national qualification framework allow persons to get credits for courses done, whether through apprenticeship or in the formal system, or even on-the-job experience,” Senator Reid pointed out.

 

He said the national qualification framework levels the playing field by neutralising all qualifications, so multiple pathways and multiple assessments will allow persons to be qualified by age 30.

 

“We have a mantra now to move all our youth through a seamless education system where students beyond Grade 11 are allowed to specialise,” the Minister noted.

 

CAPTION: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, addresses the 3rd International Conference on TVET in the Caribbean on May 10 at the Hilton Spa and Resort, St. James, under the theme ‘TVET for Sustainable Regional Development’.

JIS: Education, Youth and Information Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says the observation of Education Week provides an opportunity to celebrate the important role that education plays in building the society.

 

He said that with education being at the core of Jamaica’s mission for social change and development “we must continue to raise the bar in celebrating our teachers, who are the vanguards of sustained transformation”.

 

Senator Reid was addressing the Jamaica Teachers’ Association’s (JTA) Education Week service at the New Testament Church of God in May Pen on Sunday (May 7). It was held under the theme ‘Navigating the Education Landscape: Transforming, Engaging, Collaborating, Facilitating and Leading’.

 

The Education Minister said the theme is relevant and applicable, recognising the many facets of the teaching profession and the contributions of the noble profession. “Teachers are nation builders and world leaders, who engender change and promote a world worth living in,” he pointed out.

 

He also noted the key role played by churches in the education system, noting that “out of colonialism and slavery… they were very early in facilitating the establishment of schools as we have them today.

 

Thus a significant number of our institutions are actually church schools”. President of the JTA, Howard Isaacs, said this year’s theme brings into focus several critical elements of the teaching-learning experience and “pinpoints the value of collaboration as we plot the course for Jamaica’s education system”.

 

“It is essential that all stakeholders recognise their critical roles in the process. Too often, the impression is given that teachers have a golden wand to bring about changes needed. All hands must be on deck, to be responsible as we develop an engaging, effective and efficient education system,” Mr. Isaacs said.

 

Rev. Rohan Ambersley, who delivered the sermon, reminded teachers that education must focus on clear and enduring principles, reconnect with foundational values  and realign these values where there is a disconnect.

 

Rev. Ambersley said that in navigating the educational landscape, the idea of transformation is important.

 

He noted, however, that for education to be transformational, “it must not only include knowledge but must also accomplish character formation. It must not just facilitate the expansion of mind but also transformation of hearts. It must not just tell us what to think, but guide us how to think”.

 

He said that for education to be meaningful it must impact how people act, and result in behavior change.

 

“We must… allow the knowledge we have to influence how we act. There is no sense in saying we know and then not do, because knowing without doing is madness, resulting in empty boasting,” Rev. Ambersley argued.

 

“You must convince your students that they must hear, observe and apply, that is what makes the difference; convince students that knowledge and practice will lift them out of poverty and add value to the world,” he added. Also in attendance were Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information,Dean-Roy Bernard; Chief Education Officer in the Ministry, Dr. Grace McLean; members of the JTA executive and students.

 

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

JIS: State Minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green, says the observation of Child Month provides an opportunity for Jamaicans to reflect on and renew their commitment to the nation’s children.

 

He noted that the theme for the month, ‘Take Action! Break the Chain of Abuse Against our Children’, serves as an urgent reminder that “all of us, as individuals and as a society, need to do more to protect our children”.

 

Mr. Green was speaking at a Think Tank at the Jamaica Information Service’s (JIS) head office in Kingston on Thursday (May 4) to announce activities for Child Month.

 

The Child Development Agency (CDA) is collaborating with the Office of the Children’s Registry (OCR) and other child-related agencies to undertake a number of activities in observance of the month.

 

On Tuesday (May 9), CDA Cares will be launched at The Knutsford Court Hotel, New Kingston. This initiative is a structured volunteer programme through which members of the public can assist residential childcare facilities by sponsoring a child, adopting a home, or volunteering in specific areas.

 

As part of the ongoing Child Protection Campaign, community walk-throughs will take place on May 12, 19 and 26.

 

Chief Executive Officer of the CDA, Rosalee Gage-Grey, who also addressed the Think Tank, noted that these walk-throughs, which will be held at CDA regions across the island, will enable face-to-face interaction with citizens.

 

“We are targeting those hotspot communities from which we get a lot of reports in relation to abuse and missing children,” she informed.

 

Some of the targeted areas include Half-Way-Tree and White Hall Avenue, St. Andrew; and Barrett Town community in St. James, where the late Ananda Dean lived.

 

On Saturday, May 13 the CDA and other agencies will participate in Food For The Poor’s 5K Run at Emancipation Park, to raise funds to build houses for the less fortunate.

 

On Monday, May 15, the CDA will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the United Kingdom (UK)-based Debate Mate for the staging of a four-week programme aimed at providing children in State care with debating and conflict resolution skills.  The programme will culminate with a debate competition.

 

The signing will take place at the Homestead Place of Safety, St. Catherine. One of the highlights of Child Month will be the staging of Child Management Day on Friday, May 19.

 

Mrs. Gage-Grey told JIS News that on the day, which is also observed as National Children’s Day, more than 200 wards of the State will assume management positions within CDA offices, parish councils, government ministries and agencies, and corporate companies.

 

“The child will be afforded the opportunity to make at least one decision on that day in his/her capacity as the chief executive officer, executive director, or managing director,” she pointed out.

 

On Labour Day, May 23, the CDA will partner with Food For the Poor and other stakeholders in giving a facelift to the home of a mother of three in Barrett Town.

 

International Day for Missing Children will be observed on May 25, with the staging of an International Safeguarding Children Conference at the Shaw Park Hotel in Ocho Rios. More than 300 children are expected to participate.

 

The CDA’s Child Month activities will culminate on Saturday, May 27 with a National Children’s Expo and Special Needs Resource Conference at Hope Gardens, St. Andrew.

 

The conference is being spearheaded by the Nathan Ebanks Foundation, with support from the Ministry, OCR, National Child Month Committee, National Health Fund (NHF), Diabetes Association, Sickle Cell Foundation, and Jamaica Down’s Syndrome Foundation, among others.

 

CAPTION: Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green (centre), fields questions at a JIS Think Tank on Thursday, May 4. He is flanked by Registrar at the Office of the Children’s Registry (OCR), Greig Smith (left); and Chief Executive Officer at the Child Development Agency (CDA), Rosalee Gage-Grey

JIS: 

 

Mr President

 

I am pleased to provide an update to members of the Senate on developments and programmes in the early childhood sector.

 

The Government of Jamaica, recognising that an emphasis on early childhood development (ECD) is strategic to national development has committed to a multi-pronged transformation programme aimed at achieving the best possible outcomes for all Jamaican children from birth to 8 years.

ECD Policy

 

Mr. President while government policy must meet the needs of all children, it is imperative that particular emphasis be placed on the most vulnerable, particularly children with special needs and those living in poverty. Our ECD policy therefore sets out the provision for comprehensive, universally available and equitable early childhood development programmes and services for children.

 

Historically, Jamaica has evolved a cooperative community based culture of child care provision through churches and civic societies such as the Jamaica Welfare Society which built the first crèche in Jamaica in 1948.

 

See Full Statement Here 

 

CAPTION: The Hon. Senator Ruel Reid, CD, Minister of Education, Youth and Information.

JIS: The Government plans to restructure the funding arrangements for tertiary-level education to make it more accessible.

 

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says he is looking at instituting a new model for financing tertiary education, which will entail a subsidy on loans.

 

Mr. Holness was speaking at a ceremony to induct him into the Park of Honour located at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, on May 3.

 

“If we are going to expand tertiary education, then the subsidy may have to shift from the fees to a subsidy for the financing, meaning you have to make it easier and more accessible for students to finance their education, rather than to give a subsidy for fees,” he explained.

 

Mr. Holness argued that “it might not be the best model, but it is the model that I believe could see an expansion in the number of students entering tertiary education”.

 

“It is the ability to access the financing of tertiary education, making it affordable over the lifetime of the student, treating it more like a mortgage on a house, because, effectively, your tertiary education is your greatest capital acquisition. It probably would mean an increase in the total cost borne by each person wanting to access (funding),” he noted.

 

Mr. Holness said the Government will be looking at expanding the resources available to fund tertiary education, with the assistance of financial institutions.

 

“In this context of a very fixed education budget, the solution has to be how do we engage (and) encourage financial institutions plus the government to increase the pool of the student loan (and to ensure that) the interest rates are affordable,” he argued.

 

The Prime Minister further suggested that under this funding proposal, preferential treatment would be given to programmes that support skills the country needs. In addition, he said greater programmes of bonding, and expanding the offerings of universities would also be considered.

 

“We cannot implement such a measure right away, but we must at least start the discussion, otherwise we will continue, every year, to have students who start their courses and can’t pay for it,” he said.

 

The Prime Minister said he will be engaging various stakeholders in discussions about the proposed new funding arrangements, including Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Peter Phillips.

 

In the meantime, Mr. Holness is imploring students who are to benefit from the Government’s recent financial support of $300 million to “pay back and pay forward”.

 

The money, which will come from the Education Ministry’s budget, will help financially challenged Jamaican students at UWI, University of Technology (UTech) and the Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI). The funds will be available as at September this year.

 

“We have assisted, but you must pay back (the money) so that others can benefit, and you must pay forward – help others who are coming (and) give back to society,” he said.

 

Mr. Holness is the 18th Head of Government to be inducted into the park, which was established in 2005 to honour UWI graduates who have been or are serving as CARICOM Heads of Government.

 

CAPTION: Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness makes a point while addressing attendees at a ceremony to induct him into the Park of Honour at the University of the West Indies, Mona, on May 3. Mr. Holness is the 18th Head of Government to be inducted into the park, which was established in 2005 to honour UWI graduates who have been or are serving as CARICOM Heads of Government.

JIS: Minister of State for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green, is calling on service clubs to partner with early-childhood institutions to assist them in meeting the certification standards.

 

He said that of the more than 2,700 schools across the island, only 34 have been certified as meeting the Early Childhood Commission’s (ECC) stipulations. The first one was approved last year.

 

“With your network and your resources, you would be able to move schools to certification,” he contended.

 

Mr. Green was delivering the keynote address at a luncheon hosted by the Lions Club of Kingston on Wednesday (May 3) at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

 

The 12 Standards for the Operation, Management and Administration of Early Childhood Institutions (ECIs) relate to nutrition; staffing; development and educational programmes; interactions and relationships with children; physical environment; indoor and outdoor equipment; health; safety; child rights, child protection and equality; parent and stakeholder participation; administration and finance.

 

Mr. Green noted that almost 90 per cent of early-childhood institutions are registered with the ECC, and urged the Lions Club members to contact the agency for information on how they can assist the schools to make the necessary improvements in order to meet the standards.

 

He further called on the service club to help in addressing child abuse in the communities that they serve.

 

He noted that more than 13,000 reports are made annually of children being ill-treated. He told the club members that while they face some hostility in their efforts, this should not be a deterrent in protecting the nation’s children.

 

“We still have to do the things that we know are right to protect our children; because (child abuse) affects all of us,” the Education State Minister said.

 

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

JIS: State Minister in the Education, Youth and Information Ministry, Hon. Floyd Green, has reiterated the call for more students to pursue studies in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

 

Mr. Green noted that TVET training is an asset in the global job market.

 

“The reality is that TVET is not a second-chance opportunity. It is not for those of us who are not so academically gifted. It is actually a necessary ingredient now in the reality of our modern world. Skills training is a valid choice,” he said.

 

Mr. Green was addressing a TVET Empowerment Forum hosted by the Ministry, at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on May 2.

 

He told the students in attendance from schools across the island that traditional and “old-time professions” are becoming more saturated and will not necessarily generate significant income in the future.

 

In addition, he said, with advancements in technology, some of the professions being clamoured over now will not be available within the next five to 10 years.

 

He noted, therefore, that it is the skills and competences of TVET that will prepare students for the technology-driven future.

 

“Vocational training now, therefore, has a greater role in our education system and in the formulation of educational policies,” he pointed out.

 

Mr. Green said it is in this regard that the Government is placing strong emphasis on apprenticeship and occupational degrees.

 

He noted that the HEART Trust/NTA is playing an essential role in preparing young people for existing and emerging technical jobs, through diversification of its programme offerings. Among them is its occupational studies and upskilling programme.

 

The TVET forum was held under the theme ‘Using Apprenticeship and Occupational Degrees as Educational Tools to Secure Productivity and Growth in Jamaica’ and saw a number of schools showcasing innovations in science and technology.

 

These included a solar-powered building, an irrigation system and haircare and skincare products.

 

The day’s activities included a National TVET Quality Awards ceremony to recognise institutions with the best TVET lab, project, and the student and teacher of the year.

 

Among the schools that participated were Bog Walk High in St. Catherine; Denbigh and Central High in Clarendon; Jamaica College and Holy Trinity High in Kingston.

 

CAPTION: State Minister in the Education, Youth and Information Ministry, Hon. Floyd Green, addresses a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Empowerment Forum hosted by the Ministry at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on May 2.