Charles Jr: Technical working groups to be formed to examine PATH issues

WESTERN BUREAU:

Labour and Social Security Minister Pearnel Charles Jr says that, as part of ongoing efforts to improve service delivery for the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), two technical working groups will be formed to address different issues within the programme’s operational process.

Charles made the declaration on Thursday while addressing a PATH town hall meeting at the Montego Bay Cultural Centre in Montego Bay’s Sam Sharpe Square, St James. The meeting, which was held under the theme ‘On a PATH to Transformation’, is the fourth in a series of consultations allowing citizens the opportunity to share their experiences and suggestions for the PATH programme.

“We are saying to you, what is your opinion of our performance? How do you feel when you come to our office? When you apply for PATH, is there something we can do better? When you are waiting to be verified, are you satisfied with the time that it takes for us to respond? These are questions we have yet to confront, and we are here to listen to you, to learn from you, and to improve for you,” Charles told the meeting.

“So we’re going to have two technical working groups coming out of this. And, after we have gathered the information, that information will be funnelled to those two technical working groups. And those groups will be treating with different issues. The first one is going to focus their attention on the review, and it will ensure that it scrutinises the specific issues regarding the design of PATH; and the other one is going to look on the more procedural structure of PATH, the rules, etc, to ensure that, at the end of the day, whatever the outcome is, we will be improving,” Charles added.

MORE SUSTAINABLE, EFFECTIVE

The minister also noted that a committee will be formed to act on the information as reviewed by the two technical working groups.

“We also will have a steering committee that will take and receive that information from the two technical working groups, and that steering committee will then advise me, as the minister, and advise the ministry, on what the next steps for the new programme will be. We have been around the country for some time now, and we expect that, by the end of this calendar year, we will have completed all of our discussions,” Charles explained.

“We have identified so far that there are a number of challenges, and the process of selection is a big challenge. The monitoring and evaluation is another challenge, and the technology and the data analytics are challenges. Our intention is to make sure that the transformed system is more sustainable and effective,” he added.

The PATH programme was initiated in 2000 as part of efforts by the Government of Jamaica to focus on the advancement of social development. The objectives of the programme include increasing educational attainment and improvement of health outcomes for the poor; reduction of child labour by requiring children to have minimum attendance in school; and preventing families from falling further into poverty, in the event of adverse shocks.

As at August 2023, some 285,000 individual beneficiaries and 128,000 families are stated to benefit from the programme.

However, issues which have been identified include identifying whether the right people are benefitting from PATH, whether the correct persons are being retained on, or removed from, the PATH beneficiary list, and adequate customer service for disabled persons or individuals from specified communities.