PM Holness Endorses New Educational Channel

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has endorsed plans by the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica (PBCJ) to establish a dedicated free-to-air education channel. This will be the second such locally, targeting content for early childhood, primary and secondary students.

The Corporation has received $20 million from the Universal Service Fund (USF) to procure cutting edge equipment that will facilitate high-definition 24-hour daily transmissions, when the channel becomes operational.

A cheque in the sum was presented by USF Chairman Justin Morin, to PBCJ Board Member Ed Barnes, who represented Chair Rose Bennett-Cooper, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Keith Campbell, during a handover ceremony at the Corporation on South Odeon Avenue in Kingston, on Friday (December 17).

Mr. Holness, who was the main speaker, noted that consequent to the losses suffered by the education sector to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, “we are not going to be able to regain lost ground, merely by putting our children back in school.”

He said consideration must be given to supporting interventions by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information to supplement the resumption of face-to-face instructional delivery.

These, the Prime Minister pointed out, include extended hours and special programmes for some children, and deeper integration of digital platforms, “it may mean that on weekends we still would have to continue with some of our programmes… using this very channel that we are funding.”

Against this background, he urged parents to sit with their children when the channel becomes operational, “[and] encourage them to follow classes online and on television and catch up with the curriculum, the information and learning that they would have lost during [their] almost two years out of school.”

Mr. Holness maintained that the society “will obviously see the impact of this in results to come from the various exit exams.”

Additionally, he said it will also positively impact productivity and skills acquisition in the future.

“So, I fully, wholeheartedly, and totally endorse and support the development of the second [education] channel,” Mr. Holness said.

In her remarks, Education Minister Hon. Fayval Williams who has portfolio responsibility for the PBCJ, described the entity’s partnership with the USF as an “important collaborative effort” to provide high quality educational television programming for Jamaica’s children.

She noted that throughout much of the 2020/21 academic year, the government through the Ministry, has had to provide additional resources to enable the nation’s children to continue their education remotely.

The Minister pointed out that radio and television broadcasts have been major features of these efforts, adding that the partnership between PBCJ and USF “[will] complement the work which our hardworking teachers are doing in the classrooms across the nation.

“This arrangement [also] goes beyond the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. It will enable our creative producers of content to develop material that is culturally relevant to our Jamaican students at the early childhood, primary and secondary and, I daresay, tertiary level as well,” Mrs. Williams added.

Meanwhile Science, Energy and Technology Minister Hon. Daryl Vaz, who has portfolio responsibility for the USF, said the support extended to PBCJ forms part of a broader initiative that will enable the Corporation to transmit multiple channels of educational content that facilitates access to students without internet connectivity.

Noting that COVID-19 has resulted in significant disruptions in the education sector, Mr. Vaz said, as Technology Minister, “I am delighted that we are realising our commitment to the people of this nation, to enhance the technological infrastructure to further the educational pursuits of our children in this trying time.”

USF Chairman, Justin Morin, said financing of the project is “timely”, as Jamaica continues to find innovative ways of reaching students whose learning has been disrupted.

PBCJ CEO, Keith Campbell said, “[we] will do our best to partner with our educators in using this channel to engage, encourage and inspire students of all ages.”