Education transformation on track
Published:Friday | July 8, 2022 | 12:06 AMTanesha Mundle/Gleaner Writer
An implementation plan to execute the recommendations of the Professor Orlando Patterson-led Jamaica Education Transformation Commission report, aimed at transforming the nation’s education, is expected to be developed and finalised within the next three months.
The report, which was launched in January, covers a wide range of issues, including the restructuring of the education bureaucracy; rebalancing the funding of tertiary education; the financing of early childhood education; changes to the management and curriculum of teachers’ colleges; and what focus should be given to vocational and technical education.
However, the Education Transformation Oversight Committee (ETOC), which is tasked with overseeing the education ministry’s implementation of the recommendations and devising an action plan, is now seeking a consultant to complete that plan.
“We have collaborated with the Ministry of Education to finalise the terms of reference for a consultant to help ETOC develop the implementation plan and we are now in the market recruiting that talent,” ETOC chair, Dr Adrian Stokes, disclosed at a press conference on Wednesday.
In expounding on the implementation plan, Stokes said, “The Patterson report is a strategic document with a set of objectives that we would like to achieve, so the plan tells you how we are going to do it; that’s the how bit. What we need to do is to get to the how bit – the timeline, the resources and budget – and all of that need to be built out.
“But importantly, we will be reaching out to different stakeholders before we finalise the plan. We will be reaching out to obtain feedback and once the implementation plan has been finalised, a comprehensive multi-year budget will be sent to Cabinet for approval to ensure that Jamaica’s education transformation thrust is properly funded,” he added.
An October 31 deadline has been set for the finalisation of the transformation budget.
Besides the consultant, the ETOC chair said a chief transformation officer (CTO), as well as a project manager, will also be recruited to drive the transformation efforts. Both the engagement of the CTO and the consultant have a September 30 deadline.
The CTO will essentially be a senior leader at the executive level of the education ministry who will be focused solely on driving the transformation and whose efforts will be closely supported by the project manager.
“The chief transformation officer will be tied into all the necessary departments and agencies of the ministry to ensure the full weight of the ministry is behind the execution efforts,” Stokes said, while adding that the job description for all three posts has been finalised.
Additionally, he said the ministry will also activate a special unit to provide additional support to the CTO.
Other initiatives which have been undertaken by the committee include a communication plan which will guide how the commission interacts with diverse stakeholder groups and senior leadership at the education ministry.
Stokes said: “We have begun to develop a sense of the capacity constraints of the ministry and, importantly, we are putting together a subcommittee from ETOC that will work with the Ministry of Education to develop a comprehensive list of initiatives to ensure the ministry is fit for purpose.”
According to Stokes, ETOC, since its establishment, has been focused on building the necessary infrastructure to support its works.
However, he noted a key feature in executing the transformation will be consultation and a fairly agile and flexible approach.
“We also have to be very practical in our approach because the educational system is fairly complex in its reach and it is fairly independent.
“We pretty much have to lay the track and drive the train at the same time with the reform programme, which means reform will proceed along the legacy structure to minimise disruptions,” he said.
In the meantime, Stoke said he is confident that the country will be better prepared to face the challenges in the education sector if at least some, if not all, of the recommendations are implemented.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Fayval Williams, while expressing optimism that the recommended reforms will result in more of the island’s students becoming literate and numerate, said the ministry has started work in all of the six broad areas that the recommendation covers, such as governance administration, leadership and legislation; early childhood education; teaching, curriculum and teacher training; tertiary sector; out-of-school factors and infrastructure and technology.
“Already we’ve had various senior policymaking group meetings at which we have interrogated our literary and numeracy programmes as well as our higher education and special education policies.
“We have had working groups at the ministry deep-dived into thematic areas, primarily to examine data and the adequacies of existing policies, identify a legislative and enabling framework that would need to be put in place, including a philosophy of education to focus on our children’s holistic development, ensuring equity in education, promoting a love for learning, developing self and life skills in our students, and having an overall impact on society with education,” she said.
In seeking to identify gaps and immediate actions, she said the ministry has already revisited the School Improvement Framework, revised the School Supervision and Monitoring Checklist, as well as the School Supervisory Framework, and will next be taking a strategic review of the central ministry and regional offices.
“Of the 199 recommendations, 54 have been prioritised as the ones that will have the biggest impact in the shortest possible time,” Williams said. “The Jamaica Teaching Council Bill which is being debated in Parliament is a very visible example of work under way.”