97 Per Cent of Grade Seven Cohort Placed in High School

Minister of Education, Rev. Hon. Ronald Thwaites, has informed that 97 per cent of the island’s grade seven cohort have been placed in high schools this year.

Minister Thwaites, who was addressing the official opening of Jamaica College’s (JC) state-of-the-art museum on Thursday (Aug. 28), said that there is a place in school for every child from early childhood to the secondary level.

“This is a huge achievement in our times,” he said, adding that in former years educational access was restricted to persons in the upper echelon of society.

“It was a privileged opportunity,” he stated, noting that at Independence only about 10 per cent of the secondary age cohort were in a five-year high school.

In the meantime, the Minister noted that alumni associations play a pivotal role in the education process as they contribute billions of dollars to the sector.

He noted, however, that in addition to asking past students for monetary contributions, “we have to ask them to come back to their schools and to engage and to contribute in any way possible by mentoring, and by the transfer of skills.”