THE proposed integration of basic schools into primary level institutions was one of the issues emerging out of last week's Early Childhood Development Conference in Kingston.
"The ministry is working fervently to provide high quality student places equivalent to 1,600 basic schools that are now too small to be economically viable within the next four years. The ministry hopes to do so by merging them into primary schools and create infant departments," he said.
There are about 2,000 early childhood educational institutions, most of which are privately operated, he outlined.
Earl Jarrett, a trustee of the Dudley Grant Memorial Trust (DGMT) which mounted the conference said that an important challenge facing the early childhood education movement was determining how basic schools should be run.
"There has been a fair amount of discordance and misunderstanding about how to integrate basic schools with day care," Jarrett told the conference launch at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston last week.
Jarrett noted that this was a critical issue as the environment provided for children from conception to age six affected their performance for the rest of their lives. However, he added that "while troubling, these are not catastrophic issues to deal with".
Day care provision had fallen behind that of basic and other pre-schools, so there had been a lag in the facilities offered to children in their first three years, he said.
The proposed merger of day care and basic schools was also intended to overcome this lag.
Early childhood education is delivered through community-operated basic schools, government infant schools, infant departments in primary and all-age schools, as well as kindergartens operated by preparatory schools. Most pre-schoolers attend community-operated basic schools.
The Early Childhood Development Conference was aimed at examining the lessons learned and to devise the way forward.
"Hopefully, we will be brave enough to receive new ideas," Jarrett said.
Also speaking at the conference, Chairman of the DGMT Professor Elsa Leo-Rhynie warned that: "Serious and intense challenges faced by society have spread to encompass our youngest. Without our intervention, many of them will not have an opportunity to fulfil their promise."
The two-day conference covered issues such as the early childhood development model, its relevance, the needs of modern children, and lessons for the future.
The theme of the conference "Early childhood development for nation building in Jamaica: Retrospective and Prospective", is appropriate, Reid said in his message. "It points to the way forward, but it recognises that this must be influenced by what existed before."
Keynote speaker at the launch, Professor Susan Walker, director of the Tropical Medicine Research Institute at the University of the West Indies, Mona, underscored that "early childhood experiences underpin inequality in society".
"Biological and psycho-social risks, which are often associated with poverty...lead to deficits in social and cognitive development," Walker declared. "Interventions can have lasting benefits and can be more cost effective in early childhood."
Reid praised DRB Grant, the man regarded by the local education sector as a visionary and father of early childhood education in Jamaica, saying: "He understood the importance of this level of education to the vast majority of children between ages three to six. He knew too well that the formative years are critical to the development
of children."
Speaking on behalf of the minister of education at the opening of the conference, senior advisor Radley Reid announced the intention of the ministry to absorb basic schools, where possible, into infant departments of primary schools.
Earl Jarrett, a trustee of the Dudley Grant Memorial Trust is greeted by Jacqueline Smith, Level 1 student at Bread of Life Christian Academy. They were participating in the launch of the Early Childhood Development Conference at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston, on March 25.
   Earl Jarrett, a trustee of the Dudley Grant Memorial Trust is greeted by Jacqueline Smith, Level 1 student at Bread of Life Christian Academy. They were participating in the launch of the Early Childhood Development Conference at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston, on March 25. #slideshowtoggler, #slideshowtoggler a, #slideshowtoggler img {filter:none !important;zoom:normal !important}  1/1  |
There are about 2,000 early childhood educational institutions, most of which are privately operated, he outlined.
Earl Jarrett, a trustee of the Dudley Grant Memorial Trust (DGMT) which mounted the conference said that an important challenge facing the early childhood education movement was determining how basic schools should be run.
"There has been a fair amount of discordance and misunderstanding about how to integrate basic schools with day care," Jarrett told the conference launch at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston last week.
Jarrett noted that this was a critical issue as the environment provided for children from conception to age six affected their performance for the rest of their lives. However, he added that "while troubling, these are not catastrophic issues to deal with".
Day care provision had fallen behind that of basic and other pre-schools, so there had been a lag in the facilities offered to children in their first three years, he said.
The proposed merger of day care and basic schools was also intended to overcome this lag.
Early childhood education is delivered through community-operated basic schools, government infant schools, infant departments in primary and all-age schools, as well as kindergartens operated by preparatory schools. Most pre-schoolers attend community-operated basic schools.
The Early Childhood Development Conference was aimed at examining the lessons learned and to devise the way forward.
"Hopefully, we will be brave enough to receive new ideas," Jarrett said.
Also speaking at the conference, Chairman of the DGMT Professor Elsa Leo-Rhynie warned that: "Serious and intense challenges faced by society have spread to encompass our youngest. Without our intervention, many of them will not have an opportunity to fulfil their promise."
The two-day conference covered issues such as the early childhood development model, its relevance, the needs of modern children, and lessons for the future.
The theme of the conference "Early childhood development for nation building in Jamaica: Retrospective and Prospective", is appropriate, Reid said in his message. "It points to the way forward, but it recognises that this must be influenced by what existed before."
Keynote speaker at the launch, Professor Susan Walker, director of the Tropical Medicine Research Institute at the University of the West Indies, Mona, underscored that "early childhood experiences underpin inequality in society".
"Biological and psycho-social risks, which are often associated with poverty...lead to deficits in social and cognitive development," Walker declared. "Interventions can have lasting benefits and can be more cost effective in early childhood."
Reid praised DRB Grant, the man regarded by the local education sector as a visionary and father of early childhood education in Jamaica, saying: "He understood the importance of this level of education to the vast majority of children between ages three to six. He knew too well that the formative years are critical to the development
of children."