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STEM and STEAM Schools Crucial Part of Government’s Education Transformation Plan and Legacy


STEM and STEAM Schools Crucial Part of Government’s Education Transformation Plan and Legacy

When we talk about legacy, we want our moment in history to be marked by people; it is people who we will carry the legacy, and investing in education is a very good way of ensuring that your legacy is marked.

Prime Minister Holness

Prime Minister Andrew Holness says the Government is eager to move ahead with plans to construct six (6) STEM Schools and one (1) STEAM School as part of the overall plan to transform Jamaica’s education system.

The Prime Minister said the environment in which children learn, is critical to the achievement of high educational outcomes. He said, “Our teachers are the most important variable in education, but we cannot underestimate the value of the infrastructure that is necessary to support a transformed education system. “

The Prime Minister said significant improvement in educational outcome can be achieved by changing the child’s learning environment, noting that the very way in which a classroom is built and organized can yield improvements in educational outcomes.

In this regard, the Prime Minister said building the new schools is an important undertaking. He said the schools will not be administered under the old scheme of education, but rather an entirely new scheme, to be developed. These schools the Prime Minister emphasized will be innovative in their outlook and will be instrumental components of the Government’s larger education transformation plan.

The Prime Minister noted that the last transformation in Jamaica’s education system started in 2004, and it is now time for another transformation which is truly far-reaching, meaningful, and liberating.

“We are focusing on all areas of education, we are focusing on the pedagogy of teachers, infrastructure, and community and parental involvement, the objective of which is to create liberated minds that can reach the heights we aspire to as Jamaicans.”

The Prime Minister said the Government’s education transformation plan, to include transformation of the physical educational infrastructure, which is a lasting legacy, will survive, serve, and transform the lives of many generations of Jamaicans making it an imperative for the Government.

Prime Minister Holness was speaking on Saturday (January 14, 2023) at the 25th Anniversary Fundraising Dinner of the East Central St James Education Fund in Montego Bay.