Editors' Forum | Takeover for makeover

Amid increasing calls for greater funding of early-childhood institutions, Education Minister Fayval Williams has suggested that the Government first needs to establish a tighter grip on the sector, approximately 85 per cent of which is privately owned and operated.

Of the 2,676 infant-level institutions, only 408 are state-run, fuelling debate about how taxpayers’ money should be spent.

Williams, who was speaking during last Wednesday’s Gleaner Editors’ Forum, said the fix has to be the transitioning of private institutions into the public system or the establishment of more state-operated infant departments in primary schools.

She said that strategy would channel more children into the system, while capturing the most vulnerable.

The minister said currently, a stipend is paid to private institutions to cover some administrative costs.

“I don’t think many Jamaicans realise that. When they think of the early-childhood sector, they think Government, but the Government is not in the entirety of the sector,” she said.

Williams acknowledged that said the sector’s cumulative quality of service and output remain subpar.

“So either we take it on as Government or we continue to get what we have right now,” the education minister said.

Williams said a move to more government-run institutions would ensure that children are exposed to trained practitioners in an environment that encourages early stimulation.

The Orlando Patterson-led Jamaica Education Transformation Commission’s 2021 report said while enrolment rates are high at the early-childhood level, the quality of care and training is unsatisfactory.

It said that among early-childhood institutions, there is, overall, inadequate exposure to developmental and educational activities.

The report showed that only 11 per cent of early-childhood institutions were rated as having adequate numbers of play material for the numbers of students present.

The report also said that early literacy concerns were identified in 18.3 per cent of children at that level, and early numeracy concerns in 20.3 per cent.

Boys, children attending infant schools and departments, and children enrolled in the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education presented the greatest concerns.

Furthermore, the report said only 280 early-childhood institutions are fully certified. Of the remainder, only 37 are operating with a valid one-year permit.

Citing the World Bank’s public expenditure review of the education sector, the report said early-childhood education is underfinanced and experiences significant pressure through high demand and an inadequate number of qualified teachers.

One of eight recommendations was that the Government reallocate funds from other levels of the education system.

But in a Gleaner interview on Sunday, chairman of the Early Childhood Commission (ECC), Trisha Williams-Singh, agreed with the education minister’s stance that the modernisation of the sector by transitioning private institutions into Government-run departments would reduce the funding challenge.

Additionally, she said infant departments run by the State would eliminate the burden on parents of having to pay fees.

“So we have to move towards creating more infant departments in Jamaica,” she said, adding that the ECC was not able to meet its target of having 550 infant departments in the country.

Williams-Singh said with the current set-up of the sector, there is a deficit in caregiver qualifications.

“What you find, not all persons that are taking care of children have a first degree or a diploma in early childhood developments. There are still gaps there.

“What I can guarantee is that within the infant departments, you are a trained teacher with a degree in early childhood development administering to the children,” said Wiliams-Singh.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com