Teachers will no longer have to take extended leave to obtain university qualification, as effective September, the University of the West Indies (UWI) Affiliated Programmes will be extended to all teachers’ colleges. “From September, all of our teachers’ college degrees are going to have the quality…and they are going to be articulated…connected and a teachers’ college degree …will become a...

With the 2014/15 academic year less than two weeks away, the Ministry of Education is implementing a number of new initiatives geared at improving the learning experience for vulnerable students. The initiatives, which were announced by Portfolio Minister, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, during his contribution to the 2014/15 Sectoral Debate in Parliament earlier this year, include the introduction of auxiliary...

Minister of Education, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites has congratulated teachers, principals, and other players for the “tremendous efforts” being made to ensure the development and transformation of the education sector. Addressing a large group of educators from across the island during the official opening ceremony of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association’s 50th Anniversary Conference at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort and...

Hundreds of young people from across the island today (August 21) participated in a historic summit, organised by the Child Development Agency (CDA), to allow them to discuss and make recommendations on improving the lives of children in Jamaica. These will be presented to Minister of Youth and Culture, Hon. Lisa Hanna, who also participated in the forum, held at...

Education Minister, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, is assuring that textbooks will be available for distribution prior to the start of the new school term on September 1. “I am instructed that all of the secondary schools texts, barring those being provided by one distributor, are in Jamaica,” he stated yesterday (August 19), while addressing an education symposium at the Sts....

The Ministry of Education is spending $973.5 million under the National Textbook Loan Scheme and the Primary Textbook Programme, providing textbooks for students at the primary and secondary levels for the 2014/2015 academic year. Speaking at a JIS ‘Think Tank’ on August 20, Chief Education Officer, Dr. Grace McLean, said the Ministry is pleased with the success that has been...

Education Minister, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, today launched a national mathematics campaign, aimed at improving the performance of students in the subject at the primary and secondary levels. Dubbed ‘Math Counts’ the programme involves the training of teachers on new ways to teach the subject. These teachers, called mathematics coaches, are drawn from schools across the island and have been...