The Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation for Service to Education
Keynote Address
By
Dr the Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP
Prime Minister of Jamaica
At the
Prime Minister’s Medal Award Ceremony, Jamaica House Lawn
On
May 28, 2025
_______________________________________________________________
This evening is about acknowledging and honouring the educators who have given their lives in service to others. Our educators have been partnering with us in building our nation one lesson at a time, one child at a time, one generation at a time. We honour those who have stood on the front lines of transformation.
The Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation for Service to Education is the highest honour that can be bestowed by the government of Jamaica to an educator for contribution to education. It is not given lightly and it is never only symbolic. This award is a statement, a clear national declaration that says you matter, your service matters, your commitment counts, your legacy is very much real.
What makes a person devote 30, 40, or even 50 years to education? What keeps them going? It is obviously purpose and passion. It must be love for children and it must be a deep and abiding concern for future generations. By the way, these are answers that were actually given in an interview I conducted with one of my former teachers. She spent more than 40 years in the classroom, and I had to ask her why, and these were her answers, so I really do appreciate your contribution.
It does not matter really how many classrooms we build or how many tablets we distribute because without the educator education stalls. The educator is the activator of potential. The educator is the conscience of the classroom and the educator is the one who takes policy and breathes life into it. Every major milestone in a country’s development begins in the classroom, whether it is economic competitiveness, crime prevention- I’m sure the commissioner of police will tell you about a teacher or a lecturer who inspired him, whether it is health, civic responsibility, or being a successful prime minister, it starts with an educator who cared.
And there is no greater pleasure, I must tell you, of being able to sit with a teacher whether it is from your primary school or your high school or university, and look in their eyes and see the fulfillment and satisfaction they have when they see their student do well. I wish I could call the teacher’s name, but then that might create problems for me because there are so many teachers that have influenced me, but there’s one in particular, my English teacher Mrs. Roper that I had the honour of calling her to my office and sitting with her.
By then she had given over 40 years to education, she had already retired and up in age, as they say, but still quick in the mind and I could just see the great pleasure she had to know that she had something to do with my occupying this office and being able to serve the nation. And there were some lessons that I learned that were not on the curriculum. They were not in any textbooks. They were life lessons. I can’t go through all of them tonight, but who knows, maybe you’ll read it in a book but tonight I wish to also acknowledge her. She was acknowledged actually with a national honour a few years ago.
In recent years, Jamaica has embarked on one of the most ambitious education reform processes in our modern history. And I want to just put that in context, seeing that I know that the opposition spokesperson on education is going to seek to correct me outside of this forum. We must acknowledge that there were several attempts at education transformation in Jamaica’s modern history starting in the 1950s where they were trying to ensure that there was free scholarship for all students getting into high school at the beginning of the common entrance system.
There were other reforms starting with the Rhodes Programme. Some of you may recall that but in the last 30 years we had the education transformation task force, which was started by then Prime Minister the Most Honourable PJ Patterson, and supported by the Most Honourable Edward Seaga. It was a bipartisan effort to transform education. Several of the institutions that we have now including the teaching bill, the teaching council started then and so I was very encouraged to see the very accommodating tone of the president of the JTA Dr Smith.
I just wanted to put that into context that this matter of the JTC and the professionalization of teaching was as a result of a bipartisan attempt to reform the education system, and it came out of the consultation. I happened to have had the privilege of leading the education transformation in the second half of that iteration and indeed established in most, if not all of the institutions during my tenure as minister of education coming out of that process. But early in my administration, I recognized that our education system must not only serve the present, meaning that the transformation exercise that was undertaken 20 years ago would’ve reached its limit relative to what is to come in the future. And so we impanel the Education Transformation Commission chaired by Professor Orlando Patterson to undertake a review of Jamaica’s education system and provide recommendations to enhance the quality of education for all Jamaica.
The commission carried out a wide ranging and in-depth assessment of our education system. At the end, they produced a comprehensive report and clear actionable recommendations. My government then took that report, reviewed it, and began implementation. We did not allow the report to languish on a shelf, so the report is now being actioned. We have prioritized the foundations literacy and numeracy because we understand that without these fundamental building blocks, our children are denied access to lifelong learning.
I came across a video recently. It was recorded at the Gregory Park Primary School, I believe, in which the students were proudly chanting “readers are leaders, readers are leaders”, and I thought that they got the message and they’re also delivering the message. Our mission is to spread that mindset and enable our children across the country to realize their true potential.
We have launched a national response to underperforming schools with targeted interventions in mathematics and reading. Importantly, these students will also receive breakfast and lunch at their school because as the minister said, nutrition is an important part of education. We have taken bold steps to reform teacher education, protect the teaching profession, and increase alignment between the classroom and the demands of the real world. I want to say here that education is valuable in and of itself.
You should pursue education even if there is no economic benefit to it for you. That might sound incongruous but education is valuable in and of itself, but a country, particularly a developing country, we must ensure that our education system is aligned with our industry, our commerce, and our economy. In other words, for a developing country, the need for a utilitarian education system is very important.
If we do not have an aligned education system, what we will end up having are people trained who cannot fill the jobs that are available. I’m observing the faces. It’s hard to read what they’re saying because some agree and some don’t. Or some see the point that I am making, and others don’t. But if you look at Jamaica’s current challenge, it always puzzles me when you speak with people and they use the vernacular, nothing nah gwaan, nothing has changed. And clearly that’s an education issue, it’s an information gap because 10 years ago the greatest challenge that we faced was to create jobs. We had an unemployment rate between 13 and 15%, and unemployment amongst young people was as high as 30%. Today we have an unemployment rate of 3.5%.
It’s your achievement, be proud of it. But the bigger problem is we do not have enough trained persons to fill the jobs that are available. We have a structural problem in our society, and that creates a kind of perception that the statistics aren’t real because today you could go into communities in Jamaica and somebody will confront you and say, I have eight CXCs, I have 10 CXCs, I have this qualification and I can’t get a job. In fact, that happened to me several times as I move around the country. I’m sure it has happened to the minister, and I’m sure it has happened to the opposition spokesperson.
Now, the minister’s response might very well be as mine would be, maybe you just don’t have the qualifications that match the job that is available and maybe Damien may say, “You see a tell you, the statistics not true”. The reality is that for a long time, our education system was not aligned and the misalignment started when we deemphasized or were not able to teach as is required numeracy and mathematics; that’s the key element of the misalignment.
The other element of the misalignment, of course, is literacy and the ability to reason and compose responses because those two foundational elements of the education system feeds right through the system where people shy away from the varied jobs and professions that are at the forefront of economic growth and we have to correct that. But industry also complains of another misalignment and they complain bitterly that the people who they’re employing, they have to spend far more not just on training them in the content and curricula that matches the profession and the job, but in work readiness, knowledge, and attitude, not information but how you take the information that you have and use it to solve problems, and attitude to authority, attitude to service- we’re confusing service with servitude, attitude to innovation.
There’s very little curiosity to say why is it that we’re doing it this way, let’s see if we could do it another way and get it done better. So, the challenge that employers have is that the attitude is not just antisocial sometimes it is also anti-growth and we have to reflect on this. We have to think on this as educators so the transformation that we are seeking is to get the greatest utility out of the significant education budget that we spend so that we can produce Jamaicans who are aligned to our economic interests, who are pro-social and pro-growth in their outlook, in their mentality, and in their attitudes.
We want to prepare our Jamaican students not just to pass the exams, not just to show how much information they know, but we want to prepare them to be able to participate confidently in the 21st century. We want our students to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Singaporean students, with the South Korean students, with the Chinese students, with the Trinidadian students, with the American students. We have a lot of work to do, but I know we are up to the task because we have the educators as exemplified here who are committed, competent, and capable.
As I had mentioned that nutrition is a part of education, so too is a proper transportation system a part of education. I don’t know how many teachers are here from Spanish Town Primary or Ensom City or St Catherine Primary, St Catherine High, St Jago High, Jonathan Grant, Spanish Town High. When I was going to school, I walked to school from Hampton Green to Spanish Town Primary, which was on just off Burke Road and then when I was going to high school, I used to walk from Ensom City to St Catherine High and I did that until about third form and then I had to take taxi to get to school. We had to take about two taxis to get to school. Sometimes you couldn’t get them. Sometimes you would “hear no schoolers” and sometimes you would go into a taxi and back then the enforcement wasn’t as strong as it is now so it would be eight of us in the taxi.
I can share the taxi stories with you. Some of you as teachers would’ve experienced it yourself, but it was never a wholesome experience and there’s no way that we can be seeking to create the 21st century student that is subjected to the kind of transportation that we have. We’re not being serious about ensuring that our students get to school ready to receive learning and get home from school with what they have learned, both in terms of education and in terms of principles intact because almost at every turn in the public space, what you learn in school is challenged.
In fact, could even be erased, and the value of it undermined so we have to ensure that our public transportation system reinforces what we are teaching our students in schools. You can’t have children in school where you’re telling them violence is wrong and then you get into a bus which is playing a song that endorses violence or is having someone right in front of you endorsing violence. It just automatically erases the value of what we taught in the classroom so we are rolling out the national school bus system. Minister Vaz and Minister Dixon have been leading the charge on this transformation initiative.
Phase I is already underway in Clarendon, Morant Bay and Linstead with expanded service in Montego Bay. Phase II of the programme will involve the deployment of 100 fully refurbished school buses across Jamaica. 60 buses are set to be introduced in September 2025 to align with the start of the new academic year, followed by an additional 40 buses in January 2026. These buses will operate during both morning and afternoon periods, transporting students between designated community pickup points and their schools. The service will be guided by stringent safety and behavioural standards to ensure a secure and orderly environment for all students. From the convenience of their devices, parents will be able to see when and where their children board and depart a school bus. This feature is for maximum safety of our children and peace of mind for our parents. Let me touch briefly on technology.
We are integrating technology into every element of the education system. One hundred and ninety-nine thousand tablets, laptops, interactive panels, projectors, and other specialized equipment have been distributed. Simultaneously, we are offering more teacher training to help educators deliver STEM or STEAM instruction and the use of technology in the classroom. They are also AI tools which are being piloted to mark scripts and tutor students, and many have been asking the big AI question. In the age of artificial intelligence where machines can solve equations and generate essays, this speech was not AI written.
Do we still need educators? The answer is emphatically yes because while AI can process data, only an educator will see a child not getting medical attention that they need and take their time to get the school bus to take them to get their checkup or share their lunch, go in their pocket and ensure that the child is cared for. AI don’t reach there as yet. Only the educator can develop character.
While technology can stimulate answers, only an educator can spark imagination and passion so educators will continue to remain the center of the classroom. Your roles may change, you may not remain the ultimate unimpeachable source of information because that’s what AI is good at. AI is good at the amalgamation and the collection of information. You may not remain the only source of the structure of knowledge. AI is very good at putting knowledge in a logical structure, but you will be and continue ever so to be the only source of context because in today’s world you’re going to get a lot of knowledge, but that information, which you will use as knowledge, may not be wisdom. And that wisdom only comes with, as a biblical man, the fear of God but it also comes with strong value systems, so you will know what information makes sense or doesn’t make sense because it is the teachers that will protect the value system which defines the society.
It is the teachers, therefore, that will turn the chalkboards into mirrors so the children can discover themselves, discover who they are, see themselves in the bigger picture of information, knowledge, and indeed get wisdom. So, I want to say a few words specifically to our young people. Look at the men and women being honoured here. This is what service looks like. This is what patriotism feels like. It is not loud or flashy. It is consistent. It is disciplined. It is dignified and my, do you look dignified this evening. Honour your educators. Learn their wisdom. Be curious, be respectful, and above all, be grateful.
And those who feel the call as young people, please step forward. Jamaica needs you as educators. We need your ideas, your energy, your brilliance. And by the way, there are some scholarships still available at the Ministry of Education, and sometimes even at the Ministry of Finance that you can seek out to assist in your tuition.
As your Prime Minister, I make this pledge, we will not rest until every child in Jamaica has access to high quality education. We will continue to invest in teacher development, support school leaders, and modernize education infrastructure. My administration will continue to expand pathways from school to work, from trading to industry, and from classroom to leadership. Our nation’s greatest resource is not in the ground, our beaches or in the sky. Our greatest resource is our people. The P in my administration’s ASPIRE growth strategy is people, you. Our educators are the ones who shape our people every single day.
Let me end by saying this. If we want a better Jamaica, a more productive, more prosperous, more peaceful Jamaica, we must build it in the classroom. That’s where it starts, and that work begins with our educators. Educators, as you come forward to receive your award, I hand you the gratitude of our nation and the thanks of generations.
May God bless our educators and may God bless our students. May God bless Jamaica land we love. And continue to choose Jamaica.