Education ministry seeks $1.5b for more CCTVs in schools

THE MINISTRY of Education and Youth says it will be seeking $1.5 billion from the finance ministry towards the procurement and installation of closed-circuit security television (CCTV) surveillance systems in schools across the island.

Richard Troupe, director for safety and security in schools at the education ministry, told The Gleaner that the National Education Trust has been tasked with the responsibility of preparing a project proposal for this programme aiming to improve security in schools.

There are 1,010 public, primary, and high schools in Jamaica.

Currently, Troupe said $15 million is allocated from the ministry’s budget to retrofit selected schools with CCTV cameras.

To date, six schools have been outfitted with these systems, and an additional eight are to be furnished for the upcoming academic year.

“The selection of the schools would have been informed by incidents of school-based violence, by incidents of student infraction,” he said.

Troupe noted that Norman Manley High, Yallahs High School, May Day High School, Steer Town Academy, Spot Valley High, Spanish Town High, Bustamante High, and Braeton Primary and Junior High have been chosen for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Stating that Braeton Primary and Junior High School had already procured eight CCTVs, Troupe shared that the ministry’s procurement process for the other schools would be completed by June.

Following the murder of eight-year-old Danielle Rowe, who was abducted from Braeton Primary and Junior High School in Portmore, St Catherine, and dumped in Vineyard Town in June last year, Education Minister Fayval Williams pledged to install more CCTV cameras in schools.

Subsequent to this, Troupe said an audit of the schools was conducted which found that 154 had approximately 1,409 operational cameras.

“We do recognise that many schools would have taken the initiative on a phased basis to invest in the procurement of this security asset, and we want to commend the schools for that,” he said.

Meanwhile, speaking at the Education Transformation Oversight Committee (ETOC) ‘Transforming Education for National Development’ press conference yesterday, Williams shared that the cameras would be monitored on site.

“As we modernise the system, as we bring more schools on, we would like for that to be more centrally managed so that there can be appropriate response whether at the local level, the national level, to issues. And we have data collected from all the schools to help us make better security decisions about the schools,” she said.

The ETOC is charged with monitoring the implementation of recommendations contained in the report of the Professor Orlando Patterson-chaired Jamaica Education Transformation Commission.

ETOC Chairman Dr Adrian Stokes noted that there are 365 recommendations from the report that are being implemented in three phases: the short term, the medium term, and the long term. He said the committee has begun executing 101 of the recommendations and 97 are on track while four are lagging.

The initiatives that are delayed include making reports on school financials and the National Education Inspectorate school assessment, implementation of the education management information system, improving staffing and training in early childhood institutions, and consultation on funding models for early childhood and primary education.

“What this demonstrates is a very strong implementation to date,” he said.

In the meantime, Williams, in expressing satisfaction with the progress of implementation of the Patterson Report, is encouraging Jamaicans to embrace the transformation of the education sector.

“We are just completing year one of the eight years that we estimate that this will take us based on the reporting which is an independent reporting by ETOC. I believe that all Jamaicans can take comfort that the work has been embraced by the ministry ... the central ministry, and all of its regions,” she said.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com