Every Child will be Given Appropriate Attention – Education Minister

Education, Youth and Information Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says the Government will ensure that every child who enters the education system is given the kind of attention to maximise their potential.

Addressing the ninth Annual Conference of the National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica (NPAJ), at St. Hilda’s High School in St. Ann on November 26, the Minister said changes are coming regarding the promotion of students each year and the manner in which their educational needs are addressed.

“You want to meet every single learner. No child should be left behind. Our children have different learning styles and so we are not going to hold kids back again under the Alternative Secondary Transition Education Programme (ASTEP). We are going to promote them, but with support. So, we are going to customise our lessons to meet the needs of every one of our children,” the Minister said.

Senator Reid also told the NPAJ representatives that the move to include more technology in the teaching-learning process will be intensified.

“More and more you are going to see the school system relying on ICT (information and communications technology). There is a concept coming soon called ‘flipping the classroom’, (where ) teachers can literally deliver their lessons, long before students arrive in the classes, as instructions, information and content in education are already in cyberspace,” the Minister noted.

He said there will be a role in the ICT component for parents to monitor and assist their children, especially with their homework.

“As part of homework and parenting responsibility, to strengthen and make sure your students are well prepared, you are going to be seeing, soon, a culture where you as parents will have to supervise your children as they navigate and access these instructions online,” the Minister said.

Senator Reid emphasised that every school in the island should have a functioning parent-teacher association (PTA), which will play a vital role in upholding values and standards as well as to ensure that the lines of communication are always open to benefit the education system.