JTA president welcomes new education minister’s early childhood focus
Published:Monday | November 4, 2024 | 12:08 AMCarl Gilchrist/Gleaner Writer
Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President Dr Mark Smith has welcomed a declaration from the nation’s new education minister, Dr Dana Morris Dixon, who has indicated that she will be placing significant focus on literacy and numeracy at the early childhood level.
In one of her first public pronouncements since being appointed successor to Fayval Williams in the Ministry of Education and Youth, Morris Dixon said last week that she would be focused on unlocking the potential of every child impacted by the ministry’s institutions.
“This ministry is about our children, and there are so many beautiful, bright, young children out there who can do big things for Jamaica and for the world. They just need us to move some things out of the way,” Morris Dixon stated.
Speaking during last Thursday’s annual Aubrey Phillips Lecture at the Moneague College in St Ann, Smith said the issue was not access to education, but rather, the quality of education now available.
“Children not only have the right to be in school, but also to learn while they are there and to emerge with the skills they need to have well-paying and secure jobs. Too many of our children are getting to high school being illiterate and innumerate,” Smith told the audience.
He said the problem had to be rectified by addressing the issues at the early childhood and primary levels.
In December 2023, it was noted that there were more than 2,300 public and private early childhood institutions in Jamaica, with enrolment of 107,000 children.
The sector is faced with several challenges, including the issue of socioeconomic background, which affects the quality of education a child receives; access to remote education, the learning gap; teacher capacity; school safety; and inclusivity, with the Early Childhood Act and Regulations of 2005 being enacted to promote inclusive education for children with disabilities.
By comparison, there were 1,010 public, primary, and secondary schools operating in Jamaica, with more than 400,000 children enrolled, and 38 registered special education schools.
In the meantime, Howard Isaacs, principal of Moneague College, in remarks read in his absence by Kenine Senior, principal of academic affairs, said that while the lecture was to honour Phillips, the college’s first principal, it was also meant to raise important issues that needed to be discussed and dealt with.
Held this year under the theme Transforming Education For National Development (TREND), the Aubrey Phillips Lecture is held annually in recognition of former educator Dr Aubrey Phillips, who founded Moneague College in 1956. The first lecture was held in 1986.