One Year In Government - Prime Minister Andrew Holness

16 / 44

FILE
This youngster was seen doing
homework on the roadside while waiting
at a bus stop in Freetown in Clarendon
on Wednesday, January 11, 2017.
• • gleanerjamaica • jamaicagleaner • FEATURE THE GLEANER, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017 F4
Syranno Baines
Gleaner Writer
SENATOR RUEL Reid, minister of education,
youth and information, is fixed in his position
that his ministry has achieved great successes
during his one-year tenure at the helm, highlighting
several successfully implemented educational and
youth initiatives as the basis for his claim.
“First, it’s fair to say that we’ve merged the three
ministries and it has worked quite well, and we’ve
sought and achieved all the targets under the
education system transformation programme. A
significant amount of institutional upgrade took
place over the period, and we also rolled out the
National Standard Curriculum (NSC), and that has
been successful, with some 13,000 teachers being
trained over the period,” Reid told The Gleaner.
He added: “The NSC is much better. It constitutes a
lot of project-based learning, a lot of student activities
will be done to develop their capacity for expression,
critical thinking, problem-solving skills, all of which
are going to be critical foundational skills as they
transition to the higher end of the education system.”
Reid also credited the launch of the occupational
degree, geared towards aligning trained persons to
the demand of the labour market as notable merit
over the period.
HEAVY INVESTMENT
The heavy investment in science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) was also
brought to the fore with more than $100 million
being spent across nine previously selected
institutions.
He said: “We’ve also ensured that we continue to
roll out our technical vocational education and
training programme, with more than $153 million
being spent over the period to equip close to 17
high schools. Safety and security was also a very
strong area. We trained more than 1,000 persons in
safety and security, we’ve worked with the
Caribbean Maritime Institute to implement
their cadet programme in 10 schools in
September, and an additional 110 police
youth clubs were started in schools.”
On the topical issue of safe student
transportation, Reid expressed that free
transportation services to select areas between
Papine and Half-Way Tree were being offered.
He also expressed that security personnel were
instituted to manage the other high-traffic routes
traversed by students.
In the youth arm of the ministry, the restarting of
the National Youth Parliament and the
establishment of the National Youth Advisory
Council, geared towards
youth involvement in
policy-making,
were deemed
outstanding.
“Overall, as
a ministry, we
had a very
packed agenda
for the year but
we have
prevailed over
the one-year
period,”
said
Reid.
Reid outlines major
aims for FY 2017-18
A FULLY comprehensive, inclusive education system is the
tool best suited to combat the crime epidemic and lift
Jamaica’s social profile to new heights, according to
Minister of Education, Youth and Information,
Senator Ruel Reid.
In recounting the successes of his ministry
over the previous year, Reid said that two
of his major goals for the upcoming
year is to establish a national
apprenticeship programme as well
as to complete the transition to
a seamless education system.
He told The Gleaner:
“The national apprenticeship
programme will ensure that
opportunities are in place
for all youths so there isn’t a
need to resort to antisocial
activities, hence there will be
a significant reduction in the
social pressures that have led
to crime and violence.”
UP-SKILLING PROGRAMME
He added: “I’m also very
concerned with the high percentage
(67 per cent) of the Jamaican
workforce that consider themselves
not trained and certified. I want to move
quickly with the up-skilling programme to reach out to
those persons, whether it is using the high school
equivalency programme or the occupational degrees,
so they may become certified for the labour market.
This will ensure that we don’t have any unattached
youths as we have to meet our target of training enough
persons for emerging industries such as the BPO.”
Reid also emphasised that the ministry would be
reaching out to those unattached, unemployed youths
who do not possess the requisite training and skills to
ensure that they have an opportunity to improve
themselves and become productive members of society.
He said: “As an education ministry, it is crucial that our
impact is felt in every corner of the country. We have to
prevent our youths from falling through the cracks. It is a
long-term partnership for prosperity and we’re committed, as
a government, to working with the people, moving the
country forward and improving the life of every citizen.”
– S.B.
Three ministries,
one mission
EDUCATION, YOUTH, INFORMATION
FUSION ENHANCES EFFICIENCY
REID