British Council to organise Boys In Education week

The British Council will organise the second annual Boys In Education Week from April 30 to May 3, under the theme: Supporting a Nation of Champions.

After getting positive reviews for the inaugural staging, this year's event will focus on boys, teachers, parents, and other stakeholders who play a role in their holistic development.

"Last year, we presented an opportunity for our male students (grades five to nine) to highlight the challenges and opportunities in their school life. Simultaneously, we brought parents, teachers and policy-influencing stakeholders to the table to engage each other in a meaningful way, to discuss challenges, opportunities and possible solutions to address boys' learning, motivation and engagement," said Olayinka Jacobs-Bonnick, British Council's director for Jamaica.

"We also aim to address the wider issue of gender equity, with a view to demonstrating how engaging boys, contributes to a more egalitarian education system, for the advancement of both, boys and girls," Jacobs-Bonnick added.

Boys In Education Week was developed to coincide with Child Month and is grounded in the Trilateral Champions Project commissioned by the British Council in partnership with the Jamaica Teaching Council.

The week of activities seeks to give students more confidence in their ability to contribute responsibly to society while creating a safe space for dialogue and sharing new ideas for teachers and education leaders from Jamaica and the UK.

Through the 'Creating Equity in Teaching and Learning' module, the JTC highlights that: "the concerns for the underperformance of boys have been expressed island-wide. The results of various formal examinations provide the evidence that the education of boys is in a crisis ... The question of why boys are underperforming within our school system has been linked to a number of factors including teaching methodology; socio-economic background; lack of communal support from parents and schools and structure of the education system insufficiently caters to the needs of young men."

The week of activities will build on the work done in 2017.

On April 30, there will be an Empowering Educators Seminar. On May 1, an Empowering Parents Seminar will be organised, which will be supported by the Boys Can Mentoring Day on May 2 and the Careers Speed-Mentoring Day for boys and girls on May 3.

All events will take place at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston.

For further information, contact Kiwayne Jacobs at 1-876-470-7897 or email kiwayne.jacobs