Garvey’s Teachings in School Curriculum Says PM: Room for improvement acknowledged

Prime Minister, The Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller said that she was satisfied with the efforts that were being made to include teachings about the life and work of Marcus Mosiah Garvey in the country’s education system. Mrs. Simpson Miller said students were being taught about Garvey under the Reform of Secondary Education (ROSE) Programme which includes modules that bring out the life and work of Jamaica’s first national hero, while the Grade Nine module under the topic ‘Nation Building’ speaks specifically to the work of Garvey.
Mrs. Simpson Miller was speaking on Sunday (Oct. 15) at the official opening of the Marcus Mosiah Garvey Multi-media Museum at Liberty Hall in downtown Kingston.
Agreeing that there was room for improvement, Mrs. Simpson Miller said every effort was being made by the education sector to ensure that no child leaves the education system without knowledge of the life, work and contribution of all our national heroes to nation building.
In this regard, the Prime Minister welcomed the opening of the multi-media museum stating that it would provide more opportunities for Jamaicans to learn about Garvey and his work. She said the fact that the museum uses modern touch-screen computer technology to give visitors an interactive view of Garvey’s life, work and teachings was a fitting tribute to someone who placed a high value on the use of the technology available to him to communicate with his audiences.
In the meantime, Prime Minister Simpson Miller has restated her commitment to having Marcus Garvey exonerated of mail fraud charges imposed on him in the United States. She said he had paid a high price for his liberation messages which were still relevant to some of what we do today. She said she would be giving full support to the Attorney General’s Chambers and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in this regard and commended United States Congressman Charles Rangel for the support he was providing to this cause.
The Prime Minister commended the efforts of all those who made the museum a reality including the Friends of Liberty Hall, the Ministry of Education, Institute of Jamaica and the many person who donated pictures, tapes, manuscripts and newspaper clippings among other items, to the museum.
The Marcus Garvey Multi-media Museum interprets the life and works of Garvey through the use of touch-screen computer technology. The interactive experience includes highlights of the history and philosophy of Garvey and the United Negro Improvement Association. The museum is located at Liberty Hall situated at 76 King Street in Kingston. Liberty Hall also houses a reference library, education outreach centre as well as a multimedia computer centre.