In Bruce Golding's time, they introduced Centers of Excellence to our school system.
"The programme, funded through a $100-million facility provided by the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) and The Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS) was set up in 2008 to improve outcomes in six rural high schools, where students were found to be reading below grade levels."
Source: jis.gov.jm
https://jis.gov.jm/centres-of-excellence-helping-students-meet-the-grade/
In 2017, they delivered 440 scholarships in STEM at several teacher training institutions.
"This is an ANNUAL student teachers scholarship Program:
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information has awarded 440 scholarships valued $330 million to tertiary student teachers under the Maths, Science and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (MS-TVET) Teacher Initiative for the 2017-18 academic year."
Source: scholarshipjamaica.com
https://scholarshipjamaica.com/2
018-teachers-scholarships/
This year they introduced PEP (Primary Exit Profile) to replace GSAT (Grade Six Assessment Test) in the primary schools, which promotes critical thinking, a key aspect of STEM education.
Next year, they start building the first of 6 dedicated STEM academies.
Now there are some like the Jamaica Teachers Association, who would prefer that we work STEM through the existing school system. However, the Education Act & its regulations don't favour a performance based system. In fact, some say it favours the teachers, their power, tenure & welfare over the education of our children. Changing it first would pit the administration against the JTA in a long & bitter fight, which would doubtless descend into partisan politics. We don't have the time for that.
We don't have time to join the line for development & await our turn. We have to get to the head of the line quickly.
Prime Minister Most Hon. Andrew Holness
