Tue | May 21, 2024

National Education Trust partners with British Council to bolster STEAM education

Published:Monday | May 22, 2023 | 1:21 AM
From left (seated): Maureen Dyer (left), acting permanent secretary at the Ministry of Youth and Education; Damion Campbell, British Council country director, Jamaica and the Caribbean islands; and Latoya Harris-Ghartey sign a memorandum of understanding b
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From left (seated): Maureen Dyer (left), acting permanent secretary at the Ministry of Youth and Education; Damion Campbell, British Council country director, Jamaica and the Caribbean islands; and Latoya Harris-Ghartey sign a memorandum of understanding between the three organisations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade’s office on Port Royal Street on Friday. Looking on are Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, and James Cleverly, UK foreign secretary.

The Ministry of Education and Youth and the National Education Trust (NET) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the British Council to bolster the quality of, and access to, science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) education in Jamaica.

The MOU comes at a critical juncture in the execution of the STEAM Project, which is expected to benefit Jamaicans at the secondary level. It will enable collaboration on developing the skills of participants and facilitate ongoing training to improve learning outcomes. It will also drive the growth of the sectors which will increase completion rates in schools, establish and promote a national STEAM culture, and diversify the areas where students improve national GDP through related activities.

In welcoming the expanded partnership with the British Council, Latoya Harris-Ghartey, executive director for NET, described the agreement as a significant step in revolutionising how Jamaica is positioned globally as a country of choice for job-ready candidates in a technologically driven world.

“We are very pleased to partner with the British Council as we seek to create a STEAM ecosystem to drive the transformation of education. The partnership seeks to strengthen the quality of education in Jamaica through capacity-building,” said Harris-Ghartey.

Responding on behalf of the British Council, Jamaica Country Director Damion Campbell said: “We are very pleased that the British Council is becoming a key partner for the Ministry of Education, who will help to leverage partnerships with local and international development allies to expand STEAM education programmes in Jamaica in the coming years. This agreement formalises the work cooperation on STEAM education between the UK and Jamaica that has been developing since 2020,” he explained.

He noted that the British Council supports peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. In addition, he said that, over the next five years, the organisation aims to have more than 15,000 teachers in the public school system at the secondary level having access to STEAM education training that will be cascaded to young people in their classrooms through the MOU.

The British Council will lead in designing and implementing the activities in collaboration with stakeholders that will form key outputs of the MOU.

“This programme will build and develop the people-to-people links between young people and teachers in the UK and Jamaica, enhancing the UK’s reputation in Jamaica and the Caribbean as the expert in STEAM education,” Campbell added.