Reports in the media indicated that a probe has been launched into two second round Group J Manning Cup football matches after 28 goals were scored and there appears to be allegations of improper conduct.  

In a recent letter to Education Minister Ronald Thwaites the Inter-Secondary Sports Association (ISSA) disclosed that it, too, has concerns about the recent incidents.

Sonia White, principal of St. Patrick's Primary School in the Corporate Area, receives supplies of Literacy 1-2-3 textbooks from Claudette Carter, director of the United States Agency for International Development /Ministry of Education’s  Improved Reading Outcomes Project, which funded the recent procurement of 613,000 books. Approximately 800 schools along with parish libraries and teachers’ colleges will receive supplies of the Literacy 1-2-3 books. Other Ministry of Education personnel are assisting with the sorting and distribution process.

March 27, 2015: Some 261 students with a variety of special needs were among the 38,470 candidates who sat the two-day Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) that ended today. The Test was postponed by a week due to the adverse effects on nearby schools of smoke from a fire at the Riverton City disposal site in St. Catherine.

Rolls out suite of behavior change programmes

THERE ARE behavioural and social issues and challenges affecting our children that cause a major cramp in the education system. Data from the Ministry of National Security’s Safe School Programme indicated that during the 2012/2013 Academic Year, three thousand six hundred and seventy one (3,671) students were cited for anti-social behaviours of varying degrees. Therefore, we are concentrating on developing positive social attitudes and customs.

How countries prepare their teachers to engage the 21st Century learner is again being brought into sharp focus by educators, many of whom gathered in Malaysia last week for the International Conference on School Leadership in the 21st Century.

Principals are being reminded that all measures should be implemented in order to reduce the costs of graduation packages. This includes facilitating students wearing their uniforms on the day of the activity. Parents would then not need to make new purchases for white dresses and suites. Other costs associated with acquiring corsages and the renting of school gowns should not be considered if these costs are burdensome to parents.

The Ministry of Education is cognisant of the many challenges facing parents whose children have to attend schools that are far from where they live. Among the concerns are the availability and cost of transportation as well as the cost of lunch.

These factors sometimes limit children’s attendance to three days per week. Schools also have been concerned about how students’ learning is affected by absenteeism.

The Ministry of Education advises that all is in place to facilitate the sitting of the Grade Four Literacy Test on Tuesday June 30 by 58,125 students.

On Wednesday July 1, some 43,127 students will sit the Grade Four Numeracy Test. The candidates for both examinations include 14,998 repeaters.

SOME 21,223 FEMALES AND 21,904 MALES WILL SIT THE NUMERACY TEST IN 1470 CENTRES ACROSS THE ISLAND, WHILE 25,641 FEMALES AND 32,484 MALES WILL SIT THE LITERACY EXAMINATION IN 1650 CENTRES.

October 20, 2015:

JUST RELEASED data has shown that Jamaican students performed creditably in the latest City & Guilds mathematics and English examinations.

Last year the Ministry of Education decided to underwrite the cost for 10,000 students to write City & Guilds Maths and English in a move to expand the options for external examinations available to students.

The Ministry of Education, in collaboration with teacher-training institutions, will embark on a vigorous recruitment drive to identify potential candidates from the secondary school cohort for its Mathematics and Science scholarship programmes.

The Insurance Association of Jamaica (IAJ) recently spent just under $800,000 sponsoring four workshops for teachers of mathematics and integrated science in Montego Bay, Runaway Bay, Toll Gate and Kingston.The purpose of the workshop is to equip teachers to properly prepare their students to sit the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate exams in a few months’ time.

 The Ministry of Education will be hosting activities from March 6 to March 10, 2016 to mark the fourth staging of the National Mathematics Week with the objective of improving attitudes to the teaching and learning of Mathematics.

 Students at Holy Trinity High School in Central Kingston are singing a new song.

“Before students joined the school choir, teachers and parents had complained about their bad behavior,” recounted Andrew Coley, music instructor at the school for 20 years. He reported that since their participation in the choir students’ attire and speech have improved as a result of the discipline that accompanies music education.

MINISTER OF STATE in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information Floyd Green has congratulated Shamoy Hajare on her selection as Commonwealth Caribbean/Americas Young Person of the Year 2016.  

Plans are progressing well for the implementation of the Alternative Pathways to Secondary Education (APSE) in September 2016, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information is reporting.

Deputy Chief Education Officer for Curriculum and Support Services in the Ministry, Lena Buckle Scott, said there is now a National Standard Curriculum (NSC), replete with three pathways to education at the secondary level.

JIS: Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, Minister of Education, Youth and Information, is looking to work more closely with the Jamaica Autism Support Association (JASA) to better address the needs of children with autism.

“I want to invite you at your earliest convenience to have a sit down to examine how the great work of JASA can be enhanced through greater twinning with the mandate and work of the Ministry. I believe that all our children deserve an equal opportunity to learn,” he said.

 JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Senator Ruel Reid, is appealing to parents not to choose entertainment over the care and protection of their children.

Addressing a ‘Safe Children Forum’ in May Pen earlier this week, Senator Reid noted that parents have been leaving young children at home in the care of older siblings to attend popular entertainment events.

These activities, he said, often take precedence over assisting with homework, and providing general guidance.

JIS:Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says the Government has a fundamental position on how education is funded.

“In our Charter of Rights, we have a responsibility to provide State-funded education to our youth up to the age of 18. We don’t like a structure where there are fees that impede or impair access,” the Minister said.

All primary schools across the island will now have access to the ‘Calculation Time’ Mathematics application (app), which is designed to improve students’ knowledge and appreciation of the subject.

The app, which was officially launched at the Courtleigh Hotel and Suites, in New Kingston, on April 29, is one of the methodologies used under the ‘Calculation Time’ programme, which aims to make learning Mathematics fun for students.

JIS: Several teachers and education officials are lauding the Education Partnership for Improved Reading Outcomes, for equipping the education system with the tools for steady progress in literacy.

Under the three-year project, which ended in March, the Education Ministry,  in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID),  provided capacity building and technical assistance to the National Literacy Programme, implemented in 2010, through a comprehensive reading programme in 450 schools.

The Gleaner: IN A RECENT ARTICLE, 'The CAP doesn't fit', published in the In Focus section last Sunday, co-authors Franklin Johnston and Radley Reid appeared oblivious to the fact that 5,000 students currently benefit from the additional two years of secondary schooling under the Career Advancement Programme (CAP).

Minister of Education, Youth and Information Ruel Reid (centre) participates in the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Jamaica-based Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI) and GAT Cluster Caribes in Martinique last week. CMI is to provide regional capacity building services. Other participants from left are Dr. Ibrahim Ajagunna, Director of the School of Academics, CMI; Ms Sandra Casanova, President GAT Cluster Caribes; Dr Fritz Pinnock, Executive Director, CMI and Mr Balfour Peart, CEO Tycarbal Associates, USA.

National Child Month Broadcast by Hon. Floyd Green
State Minister, Ministry of Education, Youth & Information
for National Child Month Celebrations May 2016

Fellow Jamaicans,

All children deserve to grow up in a caring and loving environment -- yet, across Jamaica, thousands of children are neglected or abused each year, often causing lasting consequences. Although effectively intervening in the lives of these children and their families is an important responsibility at all levels of government, preventing abuse and neglect is a shared obligation.

JIS: The National Youth Service (NYS) has been allocated $295 million for the implementation of various youth-development programmes during the 2016/17 financial year.

Speaking at a JIS Think Tank recently, Acting Executive Director of the NYS, Dennis Lawrence, noted that these programmes, which aim to equip young people with the necessary training and life-coping skills to foster their personal and career development, have collectively benefited some 20,000 persons in the last financial year.

JIS: State Minister for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green, is encouraging technology innovators to develop applications that can be utilised by Government to improve its operations and processes.

“The Government definitely needs more of you to look at some of the problems we have in governance and find new ways for us to solve those problems,” he said.

“I want to see more of you develop applications that a government can use to aid its processes; to develop services, to deliver services to the people of Jamaica,” he added.

JIS: The HEART Trust/NTA is partnering with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information to identify the gaps in the training needs for the workforce.

Portfolio Minister, Senator Ruel Reid, says he has also requested the private sector to highlight the areas of need.

The minister said this is necessary, “as we look at the emerging job opportunities, such as animation, business process outsourcing, hospitality, maritime and logistics”.

JIS: In its bid to boost the cadre of Mathematics and Science teachers, the  Ministry of Education, Youth and Information (MEYI)  is offering scholarships to 500 suitably qualified persons.

They are being offered in collaboration with The Mico University College, and include 200 Mathematics Education, 200 Science Education and 100 Technical Vocational Education scholarships.

JIS: Three top Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) students have received scholarships valued at $50,000 each from Facey Commodity Company, under its Tang brand.

The students are Michaelia Nesbeth of Old Harbour Bay Primary School; Jessica Simms, St. Richard’s Primary School, and Roan Maye, Black River Primary School.

JIS: The education sector has received more than 1,000 pieces of school furniture from the Joseph Assignment Global Initiative (JAGI).

They were handed over today (August 23) by representatives of the group to officials of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, at its Heroes Circle offices, in Kingston.

JIS: During the 2016/17 academic year, the Government will remove 12 more schools from the shift system.

Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, notes that 14,395 students will be impacted.

Senator Reid was speaking at a back-to-school press conference, held on August 31 at the Ministry’s Heroes Circle offices in Kingston.

The institutions include three primary and junior high schools and nine high schools.

JIS: The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information is imploring parents and guardians whose children will sit the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) in 2017 to ensure that they complete the registration or entry form by the deadlines set by the schools.

The Ministry, in a statement, said parents should now be in the process of completing the document.

Parents, who have not yet received a form, are advised to contact their child’s teacher immediately.

JIS: The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information is looking to make foreign languages compulsory for students from grades one to nine.

Portfolio Minister Ruel Reid said the move forms part of the Ministry's foreign language policy in schools.

JIS: Youth from selected inner-city communities are to benefit from internships under the Jamaica Social Investment Fund’s (JSIF) Poverty Reduction Programme next fiscal year.

A sum of $349.8 million has been set aside in the 2017/18 Estimates of Expenditure for this and other initiatives under the project.

The selected young persons are to also benefit from development workshops to be offered.

JIS: THE Early Childhood Commission (ECC) recently formalised a partnership with Digicel Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide assistance to five early-childhood schools to become certified under the ECC’s 12 Operating Standards.

The schools are New Works Primary and Infant, Westmoreland; Upper Rock Spring All-Age and Infant School, Hanover; Pratville Infant Department, Manchester; Carisbrooke Infant Department, St Elizabeth; and Cassava River Primary and Infant Department, St Catherine.

JIS: The Industrial Arts Department of Vauxhall High School on Friday (March 24) hosted an Open Day to showcase the skills of secondary students preparing for careers in technical and vocational fields.

The institution was supported by students from Kemps Hall, Dunoon and Donald Quarrie Technical High Schools, who also mounted displays, some of which were a part of students’ School Based Assessment (SBA) projects for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination.

JIS: Preparations are in high gear at Genesis Academy, where students and teachers are making the final push towards full readiness for the school’s upcoming spell-off.

This is no ordinary spelling competition. It is a contest for high school students between the ages of 12 and 25, who are diagnosed with physical and intellectual challenges.

JIS: Knox Community College in Manchester, with its four campuses, is impacting the lives of young people, especially from central Jamaica.

Principal, Rev. Dr. Gordon Cowans, tells JIS News that the community college is a premier tertiary institution, serving Jamaicans for more than 40 years.

JIS: Principal of the 123-year-old St. Joseph’s Infant School, located in downtown Kingston, Rosemarie Clarke, is seeking support to enable the institution to attain the Early Childhood Commission’s (ECC) 12 operating standards.

It has, so far, attained 77 per cent of the requirements for certification, but now needs help to meet the other 23 per cent, which covers building renovation, hiring nine additional teachers and preparation of documentation.

JIS: The Allman Hill Primary and Junior High School in Above Rocks, St. Andrew, now has an Infant Department complete with amenities for early-childhood growth and development.

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information provided more than $2.1 million towards the project, which involved refurbishing an existing structure on the school’s compound to create classroom space, internal and external play areas and bathrooms.

JIS: The Marlin Avenue Basic School in Portmore, St. Catherine, is a step closer to achieving full certification under the Early Childhood Commission’s (ECC) 12 Operating standards for Early Childhood Institutions (ECI).

On Monday, April 3, Deputy Director General of Regulatory Affairs at the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA), Rohan Campbell, presented at cheque valued at   $809,309.31 to the principal of the School, Margaret Campbell, to assist in the certification process.

JIS: Some $40 million has been allocated by the Government for renovation work at several children’s homes and places of safety this year.

This sum is in addition to the more than $80 million spent by the Government to renovate a number of children’s homes and places of safety in 2016.

The institutions identified for the refurbishing project include Granville Place of Safety, St. Augustine Place of Safety, Summerfield Child Care, Maxfield Park Children’s Home and Homestead Place of Safety.

JIS: Director for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information’s Western Regional Office, Dr. Michelle Pinnock, says home economics education continues to be an important subject area that plays a critical role in nation building.

The Government will be moving to convert private early childhood institutions to publicly-run facilities.

This was disclosed by Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, who said the process is slated to begin in September this year, with the conversion of the Jamaica House Infant School.

The Minister was speaking at an awards function for the Project for the Advancement of Early Childhood Education (P.A.C.E.) Canada, at the Terra Nova All-Suites Hotel in St. Andrew on April 28.

JIS: The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information will be placing an additional 400 trained teachers in basic schools and infant departments as part of measures to strengthen early-childhood education.

State Minister in the Ministry, Hon. Floyd Green, said the initiative will be done through the Housing, Opportunity, Prosperity, Employment (HOPE) programme.

“These are trained teachers, who will be assigned throughout the region. Clearly, we are going to target those schools that don’t have any,” he said.

JIS: An Oversight Committee, headed by Professor Maureen Samms-Vaughan, has been established to oversee the development of a comprehensive strategy to revitalise the vision for Jamaican children eight years and younger.

This was stated by Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, during the Senate’s sitting on Friday, May 5.

JIS: Student achievement in mathematics at the John Rollins Success Primary School in St. James was not always something that could be spoken about with pride.

But this was before the introduction of the Calculation Time programme in 2011.

The initiative, which is a collaborative effort between the Governments of Japan and Jamaica, is designed to improve students’ knowledge and appreciation of the subject.

OBSERVER: LASCO/Ministry of Education Teacher of the Year 2016/17 Kerene Nelson has a vision in which primary schools across the island are assigned resident teachers of Spanish to give them the opportunity to learn Spanish as a second language.

The St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) teacher believes that adavnatage should be taken of primary school students' eagerness to learn at that age.

JIS: The diaspora has contributed US$186,000 to the education sector for the period April 2016 to March 2017.

This was reported by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, while speaking at a Jamaica Diaspora Day Breakfast event held on Friday (June 16) at the Jamaica National Financial Centre on Belmont Road, Kingston.

JIS: Thousands of students attending primary schools across the island are scheduled to sit the Grade Four Literacy and Numeracy examinations on June 21 and June 22.

The Tests are administered to children to determine their literacy and numeracy, at grade four, in keeping with international requirements and standards.

For the numeracy segment, students will be tested on number operation and representation; measurement and geometry, and algebra and statistics. 

GLEANER: Cabinet is looking into the possibility of setting up a coffee academy to commence production within schools in Jamaica.

Addressing yesterday's post-Cabinet media briefing at Jamaica House, Minister of Education Youth, and Information Ruel Reid said the recommendation that the production of coffee be incorporated in the curriculum of local schools came out of a visit he and a four-member delegation made to Japan last week.

JIS: MORE than 900 youngsters from institutions and organisations islandwide participated in the third annual National Children's Summit, which was held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston on Wednesday.

The event, which brings together children aged 12 to 18 for discussions on issues relating to their personal development, as well as matters of national and global interest, was held under the theme 'Children... Securing a Brighter Future Today for Tomorrow'.

JIS: Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen is urging students to use tertiary training for the advancement of the country, through critical thinking.

He said demands of the workplace include creativity from employees, critical and divergent thinking, self-awareness, and integration of knowledge to tackle various challenges.

JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says the Government’s unwavering commitment to education is reflected in the nearly $38 billion it is spending to enhance the secondary school system.

The sum, he said, includes far more than the $19,000 provided per student to cover operational costs.

JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says Jamaica has universal enrolment of children in school up to age 16.

This is according to the 2015 Survey of Living Conditions, which measures the living standards of Jamaicans.

Speaking at a post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House on Wednesday (October 4), Senator Reid said the findings also show improved enrolment among older age groups.

JIS: Deputy Chief Education Officer, at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Lena Buckle Scott is encouraging Jamaicans to do more to protect the nation’s children from incidents of abuse.

She noted that parents and other stakeholders should be sensitised on how to report suspected cases.

OBSERVER: Educators from six Caribbean countries, including Jamaica, are in the island for a week-long capacity building project intended to improve their delivery of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) Green Engineering syllabus.

The syllabus was launched in Guyana in July 2016, and the first papers sat in the exam period of 2017.

OBSERVER: A total of 232 private schools with a sitting population of 4,365 students had 89.1 per cent mastery in the 2017 Grade Four Numeracy exams, compared to 64 per cent of the total public school students who achieved mastery. Nine point eight per cent of the private school students achieved almost mastery, compared to 27.1 per cent in the public school system, and just one per cent achieved non-mastery in private schools, compared to 8.8 per cent in the public school system.

JIS: The Government is to spend $700 million to increase learning opportunities to students by providing them with more access to tablet computers and other information and communications technology (ICT)-based equipment, under the e-Learning Project.

The students will also receive support from teachers trained in the effective integration of such technology, which will be incorporated into the teaching and learning process.

OBSERVER: A Japanese Government grant for new classrooms will soon make life more comfortable for students of Fair Prospect Primary School who will no longer have to contend with termite-infested facilities and puddles that create obstacle courses whenever it rains.

Also, space problems at Black River High School will be eased as the St Elizabeth school has also received a grant from the Japanese Government to build additional classrooms to address overcrowding at the 48-year-old institution.

JIS: After losing both her parents in quick succession, Maxine Williamson found herself in an interesting situation.

The two children that her parents fostered had suddenly become her responsibility. Rather than having them return to the residential-care system, Ms. Williamson, who was living in Canada at the time, decided to return to Jamaica to take care of the children.

“I left my corporate job in Canada and came to Jamaica ‘cold turkey’, because I really wanted to provide a home for these children,” she tells JIS News.

OBSERVER: Stacey Taylor of Hatfield Primary and Junior High School in Manchester is the 2018 National Mathematics Teacher of the Year.

The announcement was made at Mona Visitors' Lodge in St Andrew, on Wednesday, March 28.

Taylor was chosen from a list of 17 regional finalists and five national finalists. A total of 63 primary and secondary school teachers from across the six education regions were nominated for the award.

JIS: The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information has developed a new curriculum for students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities.

The document, which replaces the curriculum that was developed by the Jamaica Association on Intellectual Disabilities (JAID), focuses on five main areas: life skills, functional mathematics, language and communication, science, and physical education.

As with the National Standard Curriculum (NSC), information technology and the arts function as the principal drivers.

JIS: Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green, says the Parenting Education Project will be expanded to reach more parents across the island.

The initiative, which is currently in six parishes, aims to promote positive parenting practices and family management skills among parents and caregivers of children, ages two to six, who are beneficiaries under the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH).

JIS: The Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) is constructing an infant department at the Barrett Town Primary School in St. James at a cost of $34 million.

Funding is being provided by the European Union (EU) under its Poverty Reduction Programme (PRP IV).

Project Manager at JSIF, Celia Dillon, said that the four-classroom infant school, which will accommodate more than 110 students, is slated to be completed in July of this year.

JIS: Three hundred primary school teachers from Jamaica, Turks and Caicos Islands and Belize are expected to gather at the annual three-day mathematics training workshop, Amazing Math Powers (AMP), from August 21-23 at the Shortwood Teachers’ College in Kingston.

JIS: The University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC) has established an Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology Centre, thereby providing a space for students and innovators with entrepreneurial and new technology-driven ideas to create practical solutions that can contribute to Jamaica’s growth.

The facility, located at the UCC’s main campus along Worthington Avenue in St. Andrew, was officially opened on Wednesday (September 25) as part of the institution’s third annual Academic Research Conference.