ETOC Reports More Progress in Implementation of Recommendations

The Education Transformation Oversight Committee (ETOC) has reported that there has been an increase in Jamaica’s overall implementation rate to 47 per cent.

This is up from the 43 per cent at the previous quarterly briefing and an increase of 400 basis points.

This represents 47 per cent of the 365 recommendations contained in the Jamaica Education Transformation Commission report.

The announcement was made by Chairman, ETOC, Dr. Adrian Stokes, at Thursday’s (October 22) quarterly ETOC press conference, held at the University of the West Indies, Mona.

The Chairman said that the four per cent increase from 43 per cent shows good progress.

Dr. Stokes attributed the progress to gains in several areas, including governance, finance, infrastructure and early childhood.

He said nine percentage points gains in early childhood, 11 percentage points in infrastructure and nine percentage points in finance contributed to the increase.

“These are the pillars that led to the overall increase in progress for the reporting period,” he said.

He also said an additional 18 initiatives had been fully implemented, bringing the total number of fully implemented recommendations to 166.

Meanwhile, State Minister in Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Hon. Rhoda Moy Crawford, said they are making sure that they are going for sustainable and practical steps and strategies, rather than going for quick wins.

“You have seen the steady progress. Just last July we were at 43 per cent. We’re at 47 and I know the next time we meet, we will perhaps hit 50 or little over 50,” Ms. Crawford said.

“I have that level of confidence in Dr. Stokes and the team,” the State Minister said.

She commended Dr. Stokes for the work he has been doing with ETOC.

“For any committee that we put in place, the person who leads the committee plays a very critical role, and Dr. Stokes is very serious and very critical about his timelines,” she said.