Education Minister to Outline ‘New Vision’ for Technology and Infrastructure Development in Schools

With technology and infrastructure being among the main thematic areas of the Education Transformation Commission’s report, Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams, says she will be outlining a “new vision” for the sector.

Mrs. Williams, who was speaking today (May 16) on Nationwide 90’s ‘Ask the Minister’ programme, said that she will provide details in her 2023/24 Sectoral Debate presentation in the House of Representatives on Wednesday (May 17).

“There are many schools in Jamaica that were built many decades ago and the Ministry, over the years, has not necessarily kept up with the upgrading of the infrastructure. Those schools need significant help, in terms of just the rebuilding of their infrastructure,” the Minister said.

Mrs. Williams informed that in her sectoral presentation, she will “lay out, in terms of saying what it is that we’re going to do over the next five years, for school infrastructure”.

“But in the meantime, I know we still have to keep up with the day-to-day maintenance… that roof that is leaking, that window that’s broken, the door that’s not there. And we have been running faster than normal to help schools on that front, in terms of just the day-to-day maintenance,” the Minister stated.

Mrs. Williams added that she has been pushing the relevant Ministry officers to be “more responsive” to the schools and the issues that they face.

The Professor Orlando Patterson-chaired Jamaica Education Transformation Commission (JETC) report, ‘Reform of Education in Jamaica’, is a blueprint for establishing a comprehensive strategy to improve student performance and educational productivity across the sector.