Minister Thwaites Says Textbooks Will Be Ready For Distribution

Education Minister, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, is assuring that textbooks will be available for distribution prior to the start of the new school term on September 1.

“I am instructed that all of the secondary schools texts, barring those being provided by one distributor, are in Jamaica,” he stated yesterday (August 19), while addressing an education symposium at the Sts. Peter and Paul Church Hall in St. Andrew.

Rev. Thwaites is encouraging principals to contact the Ministry if they have concerns that they may not receive books on time.

“If you are fearful or if you see signs that your needed books are not going to be available to you, please get in touch with us beforehand so that we may either reassure you or remediate your situation rather than to have the opening of term take place and the cries ensue,” he said.

Rev. Thwaites will speak about this and other matters in a national television broadcast “within the next few days” outlining the Ministry’s readiness for the 2014/15 academic year.

He lauded the principals for complying with the Ministry’s concerns regarding the modification of booklists, which have been distributed.

Several books were removed from the list including texts, which were already reviewed and found unsuitable, as well as those supplied by the Ministry such as workbooks for grades one to three as well as texts with contents similar to what appeared in books provided by the Government.

Minister Thwaites reminded schools that the list for supplementary texts must be “modest” and urged teachers to advise parents when the books will be needed, to prevent them from having to purchase all the books at once.

“The average parent does not know to choose between one purchase and another when their pockets simply cannot stretch,” he pointed out.

The Education Minister said that schools must utilise the book loan scheme as it is intended. “We have come across regrettable instances where schools order different books every year. Books should not be ordered until the end of the cycle of the existing text or if there has been some remarkable change in the title, which has been discussed with us,” he stated.

He also urged principals and administrators to give parents time to pay auxiliary fees. “Auxiliary fees are not optional anymore but people will need time to pay them,” he said.

The symposium, which was attended by scores of high school principals and board chairmen was held under the theme: ‘Changing the Education Landscape: Modernising Teaching and Learning for Relevance’.