More Funding for Early-Childhood Institutions Next Year

Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says more funding and support will be provided to the early-childhood sector next year.

He said that an announcement regarding “a comprehensive programme of transformation for the sector” will be made at the start of the 2017/18 fiscal year, next April.

“We have to do some re-engineering and reallocation within the Ministry so that we can focus our resources on the areas that are most critical, because we have to have a solid foundation,” he said.

The Minister was speaking at the Executive Principals’ League induction ceremony at The Marriott Hotel Courtyard in New Kingston on October 27.

Senator Reid said the increased focus on early childhood is to ensure that students are provided with the fundamentals they will need to take them to the higher levels of the education system.

“My vision is that 80 per cent of all our children by age 30 should have a degree, if not a master’s degree… we take you right through a lifelong learning paradigm, we are not just going to end with the minimum, we need to raise standards because that is what is going to position the country into the knowledge era,” he said.

Meanwhile, Senator Reid said representatives from the Community Colleges of Jamaica have expressed a willingness to assist with the administration of the Career Advancement Programme (CAP).

“Frankly (they) want to take over the CAP because the capacity exists (there). The community colleges have a lot of space and they want… to be able to take many more students and move them from where they are, right up to the degree level,” he said.

He said the ultimate aim of the Ministry is to ensure that students reach their full potential before they exit the system.

Senator Reid said the Government will continue to provide technical support and additional funding in order to ensure that the educational system provides opportunities for all students.

“If we work together… we can make a difference, we can begin to reap the harvest of success, we can begin to see through education, a transformation of this nation,” he said.

During the ceremony, six principals, who head secondary, primary and pre-primary institutions across Jamaica, were inducted into the National College for Educational Leadership’s (NCEL) Executive Principals’ League (EPL).

They are Principal of Allman Town Primary, Kandi-Lee Alexandria Crooks-Smith; Principal of Manchester High, Jasford Gabriel; Principal of Ardenne High, Nadine Molloy; Principal of Petersfield Primary and Infant, Susan Rattray-Hammond; Principal of York Castle High, Raymon Treasure; and Principal of Belmont Academy, Rayon Simpson.

The six principals were presented with an Executive Principals’ League emblazoned blazer as well as a lapel pin.

The league was developed by the National College for Educational Leadership as a means of promoting excellence and quality leadership.

It also seeks to highlight principals, who have demonstrated exemplary leadership qualities, as well as sustained acceptable levels of academic performance within their respective schools, and have been models of excellence for their colleagues.