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The impact of Covid‑19 on education equity: A view from Barbados and Jamaica
(UNESCO IBE, 2021-08-23) Blackman, Stacey N. J.
The outbreak of Covid-19 worldwide has presented an unprecedented challenge for the equity-in-education agenda, especially in developing countries of the Global South (e.g., the English-speaking Caribbean). This article examines the impact school closures have had in Jamaica and Barbados, and highlights the emerging disparities the global pandemic has had on education. The central organizing questions are as follows: Who was affected by school closures in Barbados and Jamaica? How did the Ministries of Education (MOEs) support curriculum and instruction during the pandemic? What challenges does Covid-19 present for MOEs? What are the implications for education after Covid-19? School closure data suggest a gender disparity, with more males than females out of school due to Covid-19 from preprimary to secondary school in Barbados and Jamaica. MOEs in the region responded to school closures primarily by increasing access to technology to facilitate remote learning. Some of the challenges with continuing education for students during Covid-19 were due to a lack of infrastructure and amenities to support remote learning. Implications for education post-Covid-19 are considered.
Education Professionals' Perceptions of Factors that Contribute to Effective Mathematics Teaching and Achievement in Jamaica
(Sryahwa Publications, 2017) Crossfield, Devon; Bourne, Paul Andrew
This quantitative survey was designed to identify deficiencies in teacher quality that impede student achievement in CSEC Mathematics in Jamaica. It intended to identify and suggest programs, policies and strategies that should prove effective in diminishing deficiencies identified. It was also planned to identify strategies to improve teacher quality and enhance student achievement as well as to provide a body of literature to guide policy makers. The sample consisted of 120 CSEC Mathematics teachers from both upgraded and traditional high schools of whom 103 completed and returned the questionnaire designed by the researcher. Each questionnaire consisted of 30 items; 29 forced-choices and one free choice. The reliability statistic yielded was 0.744 when subjected to Cronbach Alpha. The response categories were: High (5); Moderate (3), and Low (1). Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to obtain percentages and frequency values of specific responses. The findings revealed that low socioeconomic status of teachers and students, lack of parental involvement, leadership conditions, scale and replicability, lack of teaching learning resources, poor working conditions, lack of preparation on the part of students, the impact of teacher certification and licensing status, lack of specialization in relation to preparation programs and degrees, coursework, teachers own test scores and limited participation in professional development were major deficiencies that impact teacher quality and student achievement in CSEC Mathematics. It was also found that efforts of the National Transformation Program to promote and emphasize teaching as a viable profession were ineffective. It was recommended that a holistic approach be embarked upon to establish a relevant, high-quality, mathematics education model, to respond to the mathematical needs of students in the Jamaican context, and that teachers be empowered through purposeful professional development to monitor student success, and create a stimulating environment that encourages intellectual engagement of students.
Jamaica’s Education Act - A (Potential) Tool for Realisation of Children’s Rights to Adequate Food and Health
(The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, 2024-06) Mills, Shereika
This paper examines the Jamaican school food environment in light of children’s rights to adequate food and health drawing on both international human rights treaties as well as domestic law. It highlights the State’s obligations to safeguard children’s rights relating to health and food within the school setting and in so doing, underlines some of the challenges posed by private sector involvement in Jamaican schools, particularly in relation to the marketing of unhealthy food and beverages within the school environment. The author ultimately argues for legislative reform through the Education Act as one way of allowing for fuller realisation of children’s rights to adequate food and health within Jamaican schools.
Localizing international education agendas: Boys (still) underachieving in Jamaica’s secondary education
(Comparative and International Education, 2019-10-27) Ellis, Everton G.; Thomas, Edward H.
The literature on basic education emphasizes the need to improve enrollment and access to girls’ education in poorer countries. In Jamaica, the problem is not merely access to basic education but rather the quality of education outcomes, particularly for boys. Setting our research findings within the context of globalization and basic education, this paper explores the underachievement of boys within the contexts of international education policies at the domestic/national scale in Jamaica. Using a combination of participants’ responses drawn from semi-structured interviews conducted with teachers across two rural high schools in Jamaica, an analysis of secondary sources, and (to a lesser extent) participant observations, we put forward a few claims regarding the process of “localizing” international education. It appears that global discourses in education (education for all) place demands on the local context—privilege girls, the problem of lack of access to education, and the overall quality of experience. And therefore, the Jamaican state can “evade” or palliatively address the ongoing problem of boys’ underachievement. The paper also highlights the effects of neoliberal restructuring in education as well as the inconsistencies between domestic/national and international education policies.
A Toolkit Intervention for School–Aged Jamaican Students: Strategy for Collaborative Involvement during the Pandemic
(School of Education, The University of the West Indies, Mona, 2024-10-01) Devonish, Debbie; Bennett, Sadpha
The Ministry of Education and Youth, Jamaica, designed Home Learning Kits (HLKs) for students in Grades 1–6 to address learner disengagement due to the change in classroom settings because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This intervention required a collaborative approach by diverse educational stakeholders for the production, distribution, collection, implementation, and bi–directional return of the kits. This novel approach to learner engagement prompted a need to understand the implementation of the HLKs and their use by students. Using a convergent explanatory mixed method approach, the sample included 167 of 400 schools and approximately 36,000 students islandwide. The quantitative data was analysed descriptively and thematically for the qualitative data. Overall, the results revealed the need for better collaborative efforts to execute the HLK intervention. The findings are significant to assist the Ministry of Education to implement policies and further initiatives for transformed educational outcomes.
The Changing Landscape of Adult Learning and Education in Jamaica: Fifty Years and Beyond
(Convergence, 2022) Barrett, Shermaine
Jamaica has been making continuous efforts to improve literacy and adult basic education, workforce education, and human and resource development through national policy and educational initiatives. This paper captures some of these initiatives and examines the changes in the Jamaican context that have informed these actions over the last 50 years.
Education Is the Key to Prosperity: The Barbadian Education System and 20th-Century Black Barbadian Migrants in Canada
(Sage Publications, Inc., 2014-07) Taylor, Christopher Stuart
The following article will discuss the history of formal education in Barbados and will situate how this emphasis on the equal access to education between the sexes facilitated the emigration of Black Barbadian educators, most notably Black women, in the mid-20th century. This article argues that the emphasis on education was a deliberate and calculated initiative by the Barbadian Government to assist in the socio-economic advancement of its Black population up to the mid-20th century. The author has chosen this period to reflect the mass emigration of Black Barbadians to Canada prior to liberalization of the latter's immigration policies in the late 1960s and beyond. The article highlights that female and male Black Barbadian migrants capitalized on their educational background to circumvent and challenge racist international migration barriers. Moreover, the following will situate Black Barbadian educators in Canada in the 1950s and 1960s.
Challenges in Barbadian Design Education – When Graphic Design & Product Development Collide
(2018-06) Mayers, Shelly
The Barbados Community College’s BFA Programme in Graphic Design has been in existence for over 20 years. The year 2009 marked a shift in design application, with pockets of students using graphic design as a catalyst to develop products that are potentially marketable. The current economic climate has made it harder for students to be employed in agencies and studios. One would anticipate that they would follow through in creating new spaces for themselves as designers, i.e. developing products as viable sources of income in a struggling economy, but sadly most do not. Through an exploration of case studies ranging from plush anthropomorphic toy letters, and interactive Caribbean storytelling, there must be some revelation on how best to harness this talent. How should the bridge be built for further training so that the product enters the commercial market? Are there socio-economic and psychological factors, which create this gap in idea to enterprise? The aim of the paper is to investigate why graduates are not pursuing self-initiated projects as profitable business ventures, and to offer viable solutions for how this can be achieved.
Assessing Education and Productivity
(2021-03) Thomas, David
As one of the driving forces in the economy, education allows for a country to increase its productivity through human capital development and innovation, as well as creating productivity improvement and fostering productivity centered behaviours. In a Belgian report Kampelmann et al. (2018), examine how education impacts productivity. The results showed that high and middle educated workers were significantly more productive than workers with lower educational levels. This study highlights the positive correlation between educational levels and productivity.
Promoting Education through Satellite Connectivity: A Jamaica Case Study
(2022-01-27) Viasat
Viasat partnered with ReadyNet per the Ministry of Education’s goal to connect schools across Jamaica: • Collaboration with Jamaican Ministries of Education, Science, Energy and Technology and Spectrum Management Authority • VSAT license streamlining, and fee reduction led to: • 100 sites installed in 48 days • Plans to connect several hundred more sites • Use of Ka band and High-Throughput Satellite technology gives each school 25/5 Mbits/s which allows for simultaneous use of: • High-definition video conferencing • Multiple video streaming services • Connection for on-line education platforms
Does education prevent job loss during downturns? Evidence from exogenous school assignments and COVID-19 in Barbados
(National Bureau of Economic Research, 2022-02) Beuermann, Diether W.; Bottan, Nicolas L.; Hoffmann, Bridget; Jackson, C. Kirabo; Cossio, Diego A. Vera
Canonical human capital theories posit that education, by enhancing worker skills, reduces the likelihood that a worker will be laid-off during times of economic change. Yet, this has not been demonstrated causally. We link administrative education records from 1987 through 2002 to nationally representative surveys conducted before and after COVID-19 onset in Barbados to explore the causal impact of improved education on job loss during this period. Using a regression discontinuity (RD) design, we show that females (but not males) who score just above the admission threshold for more selective secondary schools attain more years of education than those that scored just below (essentially holding initial ability fixed). We then find that these same females are much less likely to have lost a job after the onset of COVID-19. We show that these effects are not driven by labor supply decisions, fertility or access to child care, or selection into more resilient sectors and occupations. Because employers observe incumbent worker productivity, these patterns are inconsistent with pure education signaling, and suggest that education enhances worker skill.
Open Innovative Schooling: Presentation to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information – Jamaica
(2018-04) Commonwealth of Learning (COL)
This document serves to discuss the possibility of a partnership between the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information and COL to support the Ministry with the challenges related to drop out and throughput rates in schools and out-of-school youth.
USAID – MoEYI Partnership for Improved Safety and Security in Schools – Final report
(2019-11) ,Jamaica. Ministry of Education, Youth, and Information
One of the concerns of the Ministry of Education Youth and Information (MoEYI) is the continued exposure of children to violence, especially when this violence occurs in the school environment and in other spaces where they should have been protected. The Ministry is cognizant of the need to create an environment that will reduce the vulnerability to violence that children experience and create safer learning environments that will facilitate the cognitive and emotional development of children and youth. The partnership with the USAID, the USAID/MoEYI Partnership for Improved Safety and Security in Schools project is a response to initiate and implement effective strategies to curtail the exposure of children and youths to violence. The strategies employed under the project will initiate the process of behaviours modification that will result in the reduction of anti-social and violent behaviours among youths and provide opportunities for parents to develop positive parenting practices. The Partnership for Safety and Security in Schools project was segmented into six (6) interrelated components:  The reduction of violence and critical incidence among youths in schools and communities islandwide.  The reduction of anti-social behaviours among youths and students through the implementation of behaviour modification programmes.  The engagement and education of parents, communities, and the wider society in the behaviour modification process through the establishment of parent places.  The provision of co-curricular through uniformed groups, sporting activities, and behaviour modification camps to allow youths and students to be fully engaged, build social and life skills, reduce dysfunctional behaviours, and improve school performance.  Conduct on-going monitoring, evaluation, and data collection on existing and new safety and security programmes. Analyze data and provide reports to inform project decisions on safety and security sustainability activities in schools.  Capacity building in the MoEYI and its agencies, FBOs and CBOs to facilitate sustainability of the initiatives.
Curriculum Focus & Guidelines for Modification and Adaptation
(Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Jamaica, 2020) Jamaica. Ministry of Education, Youth and Information
This document will be used by various stakeholders including school leaders, teachers and parents to streamline and simplify their workload while ensuring that all students have access to quality education that is informed by the national curriculum, regardless of the Education in Emergencies (EiE) Model that is adopted. It provides information regarding the required focus of the curriculum for selected subject areas and suggests modifications and adaptations at the school level for reaching all students. The alignment between curriculum and instruction will be helpful to teachers so that they can make better use of those practices that will help students to be meaningfully engaged, while enjoying the changes made to the teaching approach, scope of content and the environmental conditions for learning. To support efforts to plan for teaching and learning in the current context, the document presents guidelines for ascertaining the curriculum focus for various subject areas and recommendations for effective use of the formal curriculum to support teaching and learning. Specific information may be obtained about the following elements of the curriculum: The essential objectives to guide instruction (cognitive and other domains) The related content (skills, themes, strands etc.) for the objectives indicated Suggestions for ensuring alignment and appropriate modification of elements such as learning activities, assessment practices and learning resources are also included. It is expected that at the school level, modifications and adaptation strategies will be used to ensure that the EiE Model that is adopted is adequately catering for all students. Based on the diverse and dynamic nature of school contexts, modification of elements of the curriculum must be relevant to the current realities and in particular the profile (background, ability and affective characteristics) of the learners.
Trending: Charting the Course for Jamaica’s Educational Transformation
(2024-05-08) Jamaica. Ministry of Education & Youth
The “Transforming Education for National Development (TREND)” public education campaign is designed to build public awareness regarding the 365 recommendations as outlined in the Jamaica Education Transformation Commission: The Reform of Education in Jamaica, 2021 Report.
National Grooming Policy
(2023) Barbados. Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training
The Grooming Policy aims to promote cleanliness, neatness, decency, respect, modesty and a sense of identity among students while still providing them with opportunities for self-expression and the attainment of general comfort at school.
Interim guidelines for beverages in schools
(2018-11) Jamaica. Ministry of Health / Ministry of Education Youth & Information
The Government of Jamaica (GOJ), through the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information (MOEYI), is currently finalizing the National School Nutrition Policy (NSNP). The overall goal of this Policy is ‘to create a school environment that promotes and facilitates healthy eating habits and a physically active lifestyle among students in Jamaica’ (Draft National School Nutrition Policy, October 2018). The National School Nutrition Standards (NSNS) being developed by the Ministry of Health (MOH) will support the implementation of nutrition related aspects of the NSNP. It will outline the recommended nutrient standards for meals, non-meal items (e.g. snack foods) and beverages. The NSNS will eventually be incorporated into the existing National School Feeding Programme (NSFP). The Interim Guidelines for Beverages in Schools precedes the completion of the NSNP and the NSNS. It will apply to all schools up to and including the secondary level, which are under the remit of the MOEYI. The standards and interim guidelines are based on current evidence and will be updated as new and relevant information becomes available.
Education in Emergencies: Models of Curriculum Implementation for the Reopening of Schools: 2nd Edition
(Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Jamaica, 2021-08) Jamaica. Ministry of Education, Youth and Information
This document presents as a guide, models of curriculum implementation considered critical to the reorganization of learning amidst the physical distancing requirements. The alignment of each area with national curriculum focus was informed by its espoused values and principles and the general learner centred practice required for a quality education programme even in the context of Education in Emergencies (EiE). The Blended/Distance Education Model adopted should allow for all students to benefit from meaningful and appropriate learning experiences bearing in mind the need to cater to the development of the whole person, especially as the crisis situation continues to bring to the fore the interdependent nature of each domain of human development. Additionally, education in the current context requires serious attention to practices that are inclusive and encourage a lifelong learning focus, as conveyed by national policies, strategic frameworks and plans. This is because the crisis has been revealing the need to adopt an approach to distance learning that will help learners to become more selfdirected learners who are able to work collaboratively with others as critical thinkers and creative problem solvers.
Education in emergencies: A manual for the re-opening of educational institutes: Version 1
(Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Jamaica, 2020-05-26) Jamaica. Ministry of Education, Youth and Information
This Manual has been developed to establish standards and provide guidelines which will guide the actions of the MoEYI and Administrators of all education institutions as they prepare for and manage the operations of their institutions for the partial reopening of schools scheduled for June 2020 or full reopening as scheduled for September 2020.
National Youth Policy 2017-2018 Jamaica: Popular Version
(2019) National Youth Policy Working Group
The vision, goals and strategies of the National Youth Policy (20172030) are based on the personal experiences and expectations of Jamaica’s youth, and an analysis of issues affecting our young people. The National Youth Policy contains the following key points: 1. The importance of youth and youth development 2. A true understanding of the challenges our youth face on a daily basis 3. Guiding Principles 4. National Commitments 5. Policy Priorities 6. The Goals and Strategic objectives of the policy: What does the policy aim to do? 7. Monitoring and Evaluation mechanism to track the success of the policy.

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