Education Ministry Committed to Supporting Curriculum Adjustments

The Ministry of Education and Youth is committed to supporting educators as they implement curriculum changes, says State Minister, Hon. Marsha Smith.

“There are many strategies that will be shared with you from the technocrats within the Ministry, and though it is very challenging at times to want to change, I say to you, allow the soil to be tilled so that fresh ideas can be planted,” Ms. Smith indicated.

She was addressing the Ministry’s Region Six 2024 Back to School Conference at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on Monday (July 15), under the theme ‘Shaping the Future: STEM/STEAM and the Transformation Agenda’.

Ms. Smith posited that agriculture teaches the importance of crop rotation in sustaining soil fertility.

“Doing the same crop – monoculture – is one of the biggest hazards in agriculture because it depletes, over time, the viability of the land and makes the flora and the fauna susceptible to disease,” she pointed out.

The Ministry continues to work on implementing the 365 recommendations of the Jamaica Education Transformation Commission (JETC) report, which was produced by the Professor Orlando Patterson-chaired group.

According to the report, there are seven pillars of transformation within the education sector.

These are governance, legislation, leadership and administration; early-childhood education; curriculum teaching and teacher training; the tertiary sector; technical and vocational education and training (TVET); infrastructure and technology; and financing.

“The transformation that we are currently engaged in is about building resilience in all of us to respond to the fast-paced changes that we are currently experiencing in our country and in the world,” Ms. Smith said.