Education Ministry procures textbooks for students – Williams
KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Ministry of Education and Youth has procured printed textbooks and e-books to enable more students to have access to these resources.
Portfolio Minister, Fayval Williams, made the announcement during her back-to-school broadcast for the 2022/23 academic year, on Sunday, September 4.
She also informed that the first tranche of the appropriate grants has already been dispatched to schools with the second due this month.
“We have procured devices for our students and our teachers. Entering this school year, 8,469 teachers, representing 95 per cent of teachers in our primary schools, have laptops. Our focus now is on providing similar laptops for teachers in our high schools, as we seek to encourage the use of technology as an important contributor to the teaching and learning experience,” Williams said.
She further informed that the Ministry’s efforts to have all schools equipped with adequate Internet connectivity are under way, and already many institutions have been connected.
Regarding teacher vacancies, Williams said the Ministry has responded with several initiatives to help school Boards and principals in their teacher-recruitment efforts.
“Yes, there have been resignations of some teachers at the start of this new school year. However, many of our schools have reported that they have filled the vacancies or are wrapping up on interviews. We will continue to work with our school Boards and principals,” the Minister said.
Williams noted that the Ministry has communicated a number of strategies for use by schools, including engaging retired teachers, especially for hard-to-fill areas such as geography, history, physics, among other subject areas.
“As you know, 1,877 teachers are off on vacation leave, retirement or study leave as of September 1, 2022. Our principals have approval to hire back these teachers [who will be compensated] into the positions. We are also encouraging teachers who are in schools with excess teachers, to apply for voluntary relocation to a school in need of teachers,” the Minster said.
She advised that the Ministry’s Regional Directors can provide details of that programme.