Minister of Education, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, has called for caution in the ranking of schools, especially when the institutions are assessed solely on their performance in traditional subject areas. The Minister, who was delivering the keynote address at the Alpart Community Council Back to School ceremony on August 15, in Nain, St. Elizabeth, noted that many students have been...

Chief Education Officer in the Ministry of Education, Mrs. Grace McLean, says the Ministry will be advancing plans for the conversion of basic schools into infant departments. “We have 50 such schools that are in an advanced stage of readiness to become infant departments, which would be a part of primary schools in September,” Mrs. Mclean informed. She was speaking...

Thirty-six students of educational institutions, including high schools, colleges and universities, have been presented with scholarships worth $4.2 million, by the Tryall Scholarship Fund. The presentation ceremony was held at the Tryall Great House in Sandy Bay, Hanover, on August 8. The awardees were chosen based on their ability to achieve and maintain good grades. This year’s recipient of the...

Minister of Education, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, is encouraging trainee teachers to volunteer their services as a first step to securing employment. “I am urging you (student teachers) to consider volunteering where necessary, and where available in your school communities,” he advised, while addressing the opening ceremony for the Ministry’s job fair for unemployed teachers, at its National Heroes Circle...

The Ministry of Education will be implementing an intensified mathematics programme come the start of the 2013/14 academic year in September. This initiative aims, among other things, to boost Jamaica’s performance in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) mathematics examinations. The intervention, to be undertaken over the short to medium term, is intended to ensure that persons teaching mathematics have...

Hundreds of students across western Jamaica are to benefit from over 1,000 children’s books which were presented to representatives of the Ministry of Education and Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) by passengers of the cruise ship, Festival at Sea, which docked in Montego Bay, St. James, last week. The donation was facilitated by the San Francisco, California-based agency, Blue World Travel,...

Education Minister, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, is urging principals and other high school administrators to ensure that literacy or numeracy challenges which new students entering their institutions may have, are addressed as a matter of priority. “When you go in with the grade seven students in September...spend the time to get to know them and if there are weaknesses in...