120,000 Parents Targeted for Support

Some 120,000 parents across Jamaica who need support with child-rearing are being targeted for intervention by the Ministry of Education and Youth.

Portfolio Minister, Hon. Fayval Williams, said that the objective is to promote positive behaviour change within the home, school and wider society.

She explained that under the measure, to be implemented by the National Parenting Support Commission (NPSC), parents will be interviewed and evaluated, after which a programme of support will be designed to meet each family’s need.

“We [want to] begin to help them to understand that parenting requires a lot from them and that they have to model the behaviour that they want to see in their children,” she said.

Minister Williams was addressing the Kiwanis Club of St. Ann’s ‘Violence in Schools and its Impact on Society’ seminar, held recently at First Assembly of God in Ocho Rios, St. Ann.

The Minister noted that the initiative will complement the National Age Four Readiness Assessment, which is administered by the Early Childhood Commission (ECC).

The assessment helps to determine the readiness of four-year-olds for the primary education system by evaluating their literacy and numeracy skills as well as their behaviour.

“So, this is one of the real ways in which we are trying to get the families to alert them and to say, ‘your child, even at age four, is exhibiting behavioural issues, early numeracy and literacy issues and need some intensive working with’,” Minister Williams explained.

“[So], I think those are two significant programmes… and we are hoping to… see some positive results,” she noted.

The seminar featured participants from St. Ann’s teaching fraternity, as well as members of the diaspora, who joined via an online platform.

They discussed strategies and made recommendations on how to better address violence among students.