Consultation on Text Book Policy December 19

A public consultation with education stakeholders in Manchester and St. Elizabeth, will be held on December 19, at the Ballards Valley Primary School, St. Elizabeth, to get comments on the proposed Text Book Policy.
The forum has been organised by the Ministry of Education, and will commence at 10:30 a.m.
The decision to hold consultations on the policy was made at a two-day retreat in October, with representatives of the Ministry of Education, the National Parent Teachers Association (NPTA), and the book industry in attendance.
So far, consultations have been held in Regions Two, Three and Four of the Ministry, with consultations planned for Regions One and Six in January, 2009.
Assistant Chief Education Officer, in the Ministry of Education, Claudette Carter, told JIS News that the consultations are critical, as the stakeholders in education need to have input in the Text Book Policy for the nation’s schools.
“We are in the process of developing a policy guideline on how we proceed on this project, supplying text books to schools. The public, teachers, school Board members and parents have strong views on text books for schools, and so this forum is for everyone, who is concerned about this issue. Their input is very important, as we finalise this policy,” Mrs. Carter emphasised.