Caribbean principals discuss initiatives to improve secondary education
July 20, 2011The Full Story
MONTEGO BAY — Principals from eight Caribbean countries are in Ocho Rios, St. Ann for five days of discussions focused on initiatives to improve secondary education throughout the region.
They are participating in the 23rd biennial conference of the Caribbean Association of Principals of Secondary Schools (CAPSS), which got underway on July 18, 2011 at the Sunset Jamaica Grande Resort and Spa under the theme: ‘Secondary Education in the Caribbean: A 21st Century Perspective’.
President of CAPSS and Principal for the St. Andrew High School for girls, Sharon Reid, told JIS News that the theme speaks to the need to develop “a new approach, new methods and new understandings of what it means to educate our children for the global community”.
She informed that delegates will be engaged in discussion “to come up with a coherent philosophy of secondary education in the region and that in so doing, such philosophy would seek to inform their practise".
“We expect that we are all here with an open mind, willing to share and exchange ideas so that we can come up with the best recommendations for the policy makers of our region and also, to share best practises with each other so that we can each, in our individual schools make the quality of education better,” Mrs. Reid said.
Meanwhile, Principal of the Bon Air Secondary School in Trinidad and Tobago, Jennifer Cox Williams, told JIS News that she was looking forward to the benefits of the conference.
“I expect to benefit not only from the social aspect of meeting other people but certainly to get some ideas of how we can move forward with our children to educate them to live in society in a better way,” she stated.
Other Caribbean countries represented at the five-day conference are: Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Cayman Islands, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The conference, which is scheduled to conclude on Friday July 22, is being hosted by the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools (JAPSS).
By ALDEEN CAMPBELL, JIS Reporter