KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Jamaica government says approximately 87,446 students have been re-engaged through the Ministry of Education and Youth Yard-to-Yard, Find the Child initiative after more than 100,000 were not showing up on line or using any of the other modalities provided for their education during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Education and Youth Minister, Fayval Williams, speaking in Parliament on Tuesday (JIS Photo)Education and Youth Minister, Fayval Williams, speaking during the 2022/23 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, said that during the pandemic, approximately 120,000 primary and high-school students were not participating in activities regarding their education.
She said prior to returning students to full face-to-face classes, the Ministry launched the Yard-to-Yard, Find the Child Initiative, which engaged 108 social workers and 580 Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) students at a cost of J$103 million (One Jamaica dollar=US$0.008 cents) for a three-month period.
In addition, the ministry praised the efforts of 928 guidance counsellors and 177 Deans of Discipline as well as principals, teachers, administrators and ordinary Jamaicans who joined the effort and reached out to parents and community members to re-engage students in the face-to-face setting.
“Using a weekly average of 32,554 unaccounted-for-students over the period February 14 to April 1, 2022, shows that we have been able to re-engage approximately 87,446 of the 120,000 students we had indicated were not accounted for during the pandemic,” Williams said.
“We commit to finding all our students. Our Deans of Discipline and our Guidance Officers will specifically redouble their efforts. We also call on all Jamaicans.
“You know these children in your communities that are not attending school. Call us at 211. Our internal officers will visit homes to understand the issues why the children are not in school,” she added.
The Education Minister said that together with the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA), as well as other government ministries “we commit to doing all we can to help the situations in the homes and get all our students in schools and learning again”.
Williams said that parents are required to ensure that their children are in school, and failure to do so is tantamount to educational neglect.
“Too many children are absent from school on a daily basis. Jamaica’s absentee rate is above the world’s average. In 2022/23, we will work to reduce absenteeism by at least a half of the current rate,” Williams said.
Meanwhile, the Education and Youth Minister said the authorities are looking to increase the number of institutions participating in the Coding in Schools Program that is designed to develop students’ abilities in logical and critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, teamwork and mathematics, among other skills.
Williams said following the Ministry’s assessment of the program, and stakeholder consultations, “we are now at the point where we can expand it to more schools across the island.
“November of last year marked the beginning of the full rollout of coding in schools, including the training of our teachers. This, from all indications, is going very well,” Williams told legislators.
The Ministry launched the Coding in Schools pilot, in collaboration with the Amber Innovations Group, at Stony Hill HEART/NSTA Trust Academy in May 2021 resulting in 2,000 students in grades four and nine, drawn from 20 schools being targeted.
The program, being facilitated under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Ministry and Amber, will promote the teaching and learning of coding in public educational institutions island-wide.
Under the program, classes in computer coding applications will be incorporated in the regular school curriculum. Concepts will be practiced through activities on Amber’s online platform, with instructor oversight.
Williams said that the number of schools connected to the Government’s Internet broadband network will shortly increase and that 30 institutions have already been linked, with another 381 schools set to be onboarded via third-party contractor.
She said a further 362 schools will get Wi-Fi local area network installed and upgraded.
“Our goal is to have adequate connectivity in all our schools… [because] the utilization of technology in education is paramount,” Williams said.
