500 Educators to Be Trained Under NEST Programme This School Year
By: , September 10, 2026
Photo: Danielle Myers
Executive Director of the Early Childhood Commission (ECC), Karlene DeGrasse Deslandes (front left) and Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Ambassador Rocky Meade (front right), shake hands following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for implementation of the Nurturing Early Scientific Thinking (NEST) Programme, at Jamaica House today (September 9). Looking on (from left, background) are State Minister in the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Hon. Rhoda Moy Crawford; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Dr. Kasan Troupe; Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Senator Dr. the Hon. Dana Morris Dixon; Minister without Portfolio with responsibility for Science, Technology and Special Projects, Dr. the Hon. Andrew Wheatley; and Executive Director of the Scientific Research Council, Dr. Charah Watson.
Photo: Danielle Myers
Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Senator Dr. the Hon. Dana Morris Dixon (fourth right) and Executive Director of the Scientific Research Council, Dr. Charah Watson (second right), view the Curious Minds, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Book, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to implement the Nurturing Early Scientific Thinking (NEST) Programme, at Jamaica House on September 9. Looking on (from left) are Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Dr. Kasan Troupe; Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Senator Marlon Morgan; Executive Director of the Early Childhood Commission (ECC), Karlene DeGrasse Deslandes; State Minister in the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Hon. Rhoda Moy Crawford; Minister without Portfolio with responsibility for Science, Technology and Special Projects, Dr. the Hon. Andrew Wheatley, and Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Ambassador Rocky Meade.
Photo: Danielle Myers
Minister without Portfolio with responsibility for Science, Technology and Special Projects, Dr. the Hon. Andrew Wheatley, displays the Curious Minds, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Activity Kit and Book, during a post-Cabinet press briefing held at Jamaica House on September 9.The Full Story
Some 500 educators are expected to receive training under the Nurturing Early Scientific Thinking (NEST) Programme, during the academic school year.
Minister without Portfolio with responsibility for Science, Technology and Special Projects, Dr. the Hon. Andrew Wheatley, made the disclosure during a post-Cabinet press briefing held on Wednesday (September 9) at Jamaica House.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the Early Childhood Commission (ECC) and the Scientific Research Council (SRC), to implement the initiative islandwide.
The MOU was signed by Executive Director of the ECC, Karlene DeGrasse Deslandes and Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Ambassador Rocky Meade.
“We will begin with a cohort of some 50 Early Childhood Commission master trainers, experienced practitioners from the Commission’s own network, trained not simply to teach science but to teach the teaching of science. Those 50 will reach 500 educators in this financial year alone. Each one of the 500 trained will stand every morning in front of a classroom,” Dr. Wheatley said.
“The maths is simple, which is also science. Fifty becomes 500, and 500 becomes something in the order of 10,000 Jamaican children in a single school year. The first 50 are not finished when the first 500 teachers are trained. They remain within the Commission, in the parishes, ready to train the next 500, and the 500 after that,” he added.
The Minister informed that the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund is providing $50 million for the acquisition of advanced Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) kits.
Dr. Wheatley also expressed appreciation to the SRC for applying its expertise to the procurement of the kits and to the next activity books.
“The memorandum we signed today gives this work a clear framework, defined roles, strong training, quality assurance, and continuity,” he said.
The NEST Programme is aimed at introducing science at the early childhood level.
