PJ Patterson calls for STEAM integration in national curriculum
KINGSTON, Jamaica — In an address that underscored the importance of education and national identity, former Prime Minister PJ Patterson advocated for the integration of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) education into the country’s curriculum.
He was speaking recently at the launch of Professor Dianne Austin-Broos’ biography of Wills O. Isaacs, held at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus.
Patterson, now Statesman-in-Residence at UWI’s PJ Patterson Institute for Africa Caribbean Advocacy, emphasised the critical role of a comprehensive educational approach.
“As a people, we need to know how we got to where we are and, with that knowledge, determine where we want to go,” he said.
Patterson’s advocacy for STEAM education—an interdisciplinary approach encompassing Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics—comes at a pivotal moment for Jamaica. With an eye toward nurturing future innovators, he stressed the importance of cultivating creativity and practical skills from an early age.
Drawing on the recommendations of the Jamaica Education Transformation Commission’s 2021 report, Patterson argued for the arts to stand on equal footing with STEM subjects.
“The Arts must be as important and functional to our being and continued progress as a nation, as the sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics,” he insisted, painting a vision of a holistic educational landscape.
He further connected education to national identity, stating that a comprehensive understanding of disciplines across the spectrum is key to grasping “the real meaning of Emancipation Day and the intrinsic value of Independence Day” on a collective level.
The book launch became a platform for Patterson to speak on history, education, and national development, and how they interweave.
He also praised Austin-Broos’ work, Politics in an Island State: Wills O Isaacs, Jamaica’s Struggle for Development, as “a well-researched, lucid, and fascinating story of Jamaica’s struggle for development over decades, revealed through the biography of Wills Ogilvy Isaacs, a towering pioneer in the annals of our evolution as a sovereign democratic nation-state.”
Patterson commended the book as “a literary testament to one who dedicated himself completely to improving the welfare of the Jamaican people.”
While reflecting on Isaacs’ legacy, the former prime minister called on Jamaicans to “work unstintingly, no matter what the cost, in building Jamaica—the verdant, resilient, pleasant, and blessed land we love.”