Over 450,000 Students to Benefit from SDG Joint Programme on Digital Education Transformation

More than 450,000 students are expected to benefit from implementation of the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Joint Programme on Digital Transformation for Education over the next three years.

This is according to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative, Olga Isaza, who provided an overview during the programme’s launch at Cumberland High School in Portmore, St Catherine, on Tuesday (March 25).

The initiative was launched by the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF.

Ms. Isaza explained that the programme will address some of the critical challenges facing Jamaica’s educational system.

She highlighted that while the country has made significant progress in achieving a preschool enrolment rate of 94 per cent and 90 per cent in primary schools, the percentage falls significantly in secondary schools, especially among boys.

Ms. Isaza added that educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy also remain a major challenge.

“Despite completing 11.7 years of schooling, the students’ learning is equivalent to only 7.2 years when it is benchmarked against the top-performing countries, which revealed a 4.5-year learning gap, especially impacting poorer students due to socio-economic disparities in access to better schools,” she said.

The UNICEF Representative pointed out that teachers’ performance, teaching methods, educational materials and the conditions surrounding children are among the crucial factors for learning and were revealed as the root causes of the challenges in the education system.

Ms. Isaza said, however, that the SDG Joint Programme is designed to help address these challenges.

“The initiative is aligned with the Ministry’s needs and strategic plans to help close the gap in education quality, student performance, teacher management, nutrition, and overall data management… real struggles faced by children, teachers, and policymakers every day,” she stated.

“The objective of this joint programme is to drive the digital transformation of the education system in Jamaica by prioritising the digitalisation of key processes in the education sector and promoting education digital solutions that will ultimately contribute to achieving better results,” Ms. Isaza said.

Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Jamaica, Her Excellency, Ambassador Dr. Erja Askola, who further highlighted the programme’s importance, pointed out that “the benefits of digitalisation are not automatically inclusive”, adding that access to important technology should be made available to the society’s most vulnerable.

She indicated that the digital competency of teachers should also be enhanced, emphasising that “this is important because… they can then effectively integrate technology and teach digital skills in the classroom”.

To achieve this, Ambassador Askola said the European Union and Government are partnering to enhance broadband internet access in 1,000 schools and children’s homes in different parishes.

“I think this is significant, and I hope the results that we will be harvesting in years to come will indeed trickle down into growth prospects and competitiveness and the opportunities for the kids that will be growing to be adults,” she said.

The SDG Joint Programme on Digital Transformation for Education is valued at US$3.7 million and is being funded by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Fund, which is supported by the European Union.