115 Principals Trained Under Respect Agenda

A total of 115 early childhood education principals from region one have been trained under the Ministry of Education’s Parental Values and Attitudes Promotion Programme (P-VAPP).

They are the first set of early childhood institution leaders to complete the programme, which is being undertaken as part of the Respect Agenda Campaign.

Addressing a ceremony held on September 4 at the Caenwood Centre on Arnold Road in Kingston, where the principals received certificates of participation, Education Minister, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, said the Respect Agenda “is to act as an antidote to the social ills that influence the youths.”

“What is holding back our education system now is the decline of social values and the weakness of our family structure. This is the greatest hindrance to achieving individual progress and national goals.  The training you have received is the beginning of what, I hope, will be a national movement,” he said.

The training sessions, held in July, were conducted by members of the Early Childhood Commission (ECC).

The principals, who were selected from early childhood institutions throughout Kingston and St. Andrew, underwent rigorous training in the core values of discipline, honesty, monogamy, obedience to authority, education and hard work, among others.

They will be required to train parents in imparting these principles to their children.

National Coordinator of the Respect Agenda Campaign, Reginald Budhan, told JIS News that the training of the remaining principals in region one will continue in September 2015.

“It is estimated that we have 450 principals in total, so we have another 335 to train. After that we will move to the other regions,” he informed.

Parents with children entering institutions in September, whose principals have undergone training, will be invited to participate in a 20-hour P-VAPP course.

The training will be delivered in 10-two hour sessions, with one two-hour session to be held per month, commencing in September and ending in June 2016.

The programme, which was launched in February 2014, will be delivered in early childhood institutions island-wide.

It aims to promote good social values and attitudes across the education system and the wider society.