Education Ministry Launches US$3.7M Joint Digital Transformation Programme

The Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information has partnered with several United Nations organisations to launch a US$3.7-million programme that aims to transform Jamaica’s education sector.

The launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Joint Programme on Digital Transformation for Education was held on Tuesday (March 25) at Cumberland High School in Portmore, St Catherine.

The initiative is supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); World Food Programme (WFP), and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). It is financed by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Fund.

Portfolio Minister, Senator Dr. the Hon. Dana Morris Dixon, who delivered the keynote address, emphasised the importance of collaboration in attaining Jamaica’s educational goals.

“This joint programme on digital transformation for education will go a long way in supporting our wider thrust to ensure that the education sector is resilient, agile and providing the support our students and teachers need to succeed, especially as we continue to see a shift globally in how technology is becoming integrated into education sectors,” Minister Morris Dixon stated.

A key component of the Programme is the implementation of the Education Management Information System (EMIS), which will enable real-time monitoring of educational indicators.

“We don’t have to wait for a report from the school. We can pull that information. With this system, the Central Ministry will be able to work with school leaderships [to] more effectively bridge gaps, track student progress and provide targeted interventions to those most in need,” Senator Morris Dixon said.

The programme also involves the expansion of Learning Passport Jamaica, which is a mobile educational platform developed by UNICEF and the Government for self-paced literacy and numeracy skills.

“If our students are not able to read and they’re not numerate, then there’s no need for us to be building on more skills… that’s the foundation. We have to have our children, at a minimum, be numerate and literate, and that’s the commitment of our Administration and the Ministry of Education,” Senator Morris Dixon said.

She highlighted data from the pilot phase of Learning Passport Jamaica which shows that there are more than 600 users of the platform, including students, teachers and parents. The platform will be expanded to students in grades four to six by 2027.

The SDG Joint Programme will also address food security by working with the WFP to digitise aspects of the national school-feeding programme, which currently assists 270,000 students, thereby allowing for better tracking of meal-distribution and identification of nutritional gaps.

“We recognise that proper nutrition is a key element of student success. Learning while hungry is extremely difficult, and many of our students… struggle with nutrition. We also know that concentration and even behaviour are affected by nutrition and, in turn, if students do not have adequate nutrition, it can lead to subpar learning outcomes,” the Minister said.

Senator Morris Dixon pointed out that the initiative is aligned with the Government’s ASPIRE Jamaica Programme, as well as the country’s SDG targets for zero hunger and quality education.

ASPIRE Jamaica is a transformative framework aimed at driving inclusive economic growth and development.

The acronym ASPIRE stands for:

• Access to Economic Opportunity for All (Inclusive Growth)

• Safety and Security

• People and Human Capital Development

• Infrastructure Development

• Reform of Bureaucracy (Ease, Speed and Cost of Doing Business)

• Economic Diversification and Development of New Industries