Education Ministry Hails Best Care Special Education School for Innovation

The Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information has hailed the Best Care Special Education School for its innovation and commitment to student development.

Speaking at the official handover of 34 tablets at the institution’s Trevennion Road location in Kingston on Monday (June 9), Assistant Chief Education Officer for the Special Needs Unit in the Ministry, Dionne Gayle, commended the initiatives put in place to enhance student outcome, including the artificial intelligence (AI)-based learning programme, IXL.

“We are pleased with the programme that they offer here,” she said, noting that Chairman of the Best Care Foundation, Orville Johnson, “is always thinking of new ways, of innovative ways he can do things, what he can add to the programme, and we really appreciate that.”

Noting the importance of preparing students with special needs for life, Ms. Gayle said the Ministry has a school-to-work transition programme that will be shared with the institution.

“Best Care is going to shape you into a beautiful, growing person, but when you leave Best Care, what happens after that is also important. The Ministry has a school-to-work transition programme that we recently established, and so we’ll be sharing with Best Care [how] to help more students to transition,” she said.

“If they can function in society, having morals, being able to do a job, to be employable… then the effort will would have been worth it,” she contended.

The 34 tablets were acquired from the proceeds of a comedy show and with the support of title sponsor Supreme Ventures Foundation.

The devices will be equipped with IXL technology, which allows teachers and parents to assess the students’ learning experience and progress.

IXL is an educational technology platform that offers personalised learning experiences, particularly in mathematics, English, and science, for students across various grades. It offers real-time insights and recommendations for teachers, enabling them to tailor instruction and support individual student needs.

Principal of Best Care Special Education School, Dr. Marcia Peak, shared encouraging statistics on the school’s performance since integrating the IXL programme into learning.

“Out of those devices we had at first, about 29, we have seen remarkable improvement in our student performances – a 57 per cent increase in mathematics and 48 per cent for literacy,” she highlighted.

She explained that the technology allows for students to complete a diagnostic test to pinpoint their learning gaps, and based on the results, a personalised learning programme is created for each child, which then informs the development of an Individual Intervention Programme (IIP).

Teachers use real-time data from the system to adjust their lesson plans and deliver targeted, customised instruction.

Dr. Peak noted that the programme has strengthened collaboration between school and home. “It increased the dialogue between teachers and parents and they’re able to call to say, ‘I observed this and how can I be more supportive?’ So, overall, it has been a plus for us,” she pointed out.

Chairman of the Best Care Foundation, Orville Johnson, reflected on the school’s evolution and the importance of strong partnerships in sustaining its mission.

“We are a private school, but we are a private school in a non-profit space… and we have stayed alive because of Supreme Ventures, which has come to our aid from time to time,” he informed.

He also spoke about the value of accessible, innovative tools in education. “Technology is a tool that we use for good… and with the tablets we have been able to purchase, coming out of fundraising… we are truly appreciative of all of that,” he said.

The Chairman also called for more partners to come on board, highlighting the need for broader collaboration to expand the school’s reach and impact on the special needs community.

Assistant Vice President of Public Relations & Corporate Affairs at Supreme Ventures, Chloleen Daley-Muschett, in her remarks, expressed excitement about the potential impact of the additional tablets.

“To hear that you now have 34 new devices, and to hear the amount of work you are able to do with the devices that you already have, I can only imagine the even greater work that you’ll be able to do with these new devices,” she remarked.

Best Care Foundation, which began more than 40 years ago as a home for children with special needs, has transformed into a leading institution in Jamaica’s special education landscape. With support from the Supreme Ventures Foundation and a team of dedicated educators, the school continues to thrive and innovate.