Education minister lauds Bishop Gibson High
MANDEVILLE, Manchester – The Minister of Education, Youth and Culture, Andrew Holness, has hailed the all-girls Bishop Gibson High School as one of the 10 best schools in Jamaica.
“I am very pleased with the performance of your high school; it has a very good teaching and learning environment and parental input, too, which are all things needed to make a good school,” Holness said during a brief address to the school population at a recent prize-giving ceremony.
The minister suggested that “underperforming” boys throughout the Jamaican school system could emulate their “female counterparts” were they “as orderly and focused”.
More than 300 students were awarded at the prize-giving ceremony for their academic prowess, outstanding performance in CXC examinations, excellence in attendance, punctuality andsporting achievements.
Holness’ visit to Bishop Gibson was the last in a day-long tour of schools in Manchester during which he visited Cross Keys High School, Bethabara All-Age and Junior High School and Bethabara Infant School.
In the process, the minister participated in the opening of new multi-million-dollar facilities at Bishop Gibson and at Cross Keys. At Bishop Gibson, $21.276 million has been spent on a new three-storey building that will provide space for 250 students and also includes a chemistry/biology laboratory. Some 861 students are enrolled at Bishop Gibson, though its official capacity is 675 students.
At Cross Keys, where 839 students are enrolled despite an official capacity of 450, a new two-storey building costing $19.5 million will provide space for an additional 250 students and also includes a biology laboratory. Both projects form part of the ministry’s Education Transformation Project, which seeks to alleviate overcrowding in schools.
The programme is being implemented by the Technical Services Division of the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the project managers employed to the Transformation Project. Under Phase 1 of the programme, 11 high schools, including Bishop Gibson and Cross Keys, were chosen for extension.
Following the prize-giving ceremony, Holness told reporters that he was happy with what he saw at the other schools, but that some were desperately in need of infrastructural improvement.
“I saw students at Bethabara Infant School using technology with computers and all teachers there are first-degree holders and have training in early childhood education, which is very good,” a delighted Holness said. “But Bethabara All-Age is really in need of infrastructural help, their roof was badly damaged after (hurricane) Dean …”.
Holness reiterated that he would like to remove the performance gap between schools in Jamaica.
“There has to be instrumental intervention to ensure the performance gap between schools is taken out and so GSAT will cease to be a placement mechanism,” Holness told reporters.
“I want parents to feel like that whatever school their child attends, it’s not just a holding place, but a place where you take in a product called a Jamaican and at the end of five years you turn out a product called a better Jamaican,” the minister added.