Promoting Quality Education
The Jamaican education sector faces serious challenges in its efforts to provide quality learning opportunities for children up to age eighteen. Despite high levels of enrollment in primary and secondary schools, at each of the major transition points in the education system, a substantial number of children are insufficiently prepared to access the level ahead of them. Over 98 per cent of children 6-14 years old are enrolled in school (99.9 per cent for boys and 95.7 per cent for girls), but that rate plummets to 89 per cent among children 15-16 years old, and to 47.8 per cent among those 17-18 years old. The percentage of children who reach grade 5 has been declining, from approximately 96.5 per cent in 1999/2000 to 87.6 per cent in 2001/2002, with retention rates higher for girls than for boys (91.4 per cent and 84.3 per cent, respectively). In the 2003/2004 academic year, only 21 per cent of children enrolled in grade 11 of secondary schools passed English, with female students outperforming males by far (30 per cent for females, and approximately 13 per cent for males). Daily attendance at school was estimated at only 62 per cent for the children of the poorest quintile, far from the national average of 92.5 per cent. About 62 per cent of absences were due to lack of money for transportation, textbooks, school fees or uniforms. The vast majority of Jamaica’s school children who are enrolled in public schools are being denied the higher quality education provided in private schools, based on the socio-economic status of their families. Across the island, children contend with inadequate learning material, lack of infrastructure, outdated curricula, didactic teaching methodologies and other challenges that prevent children from learning in a child-friendly environment. The incidence of violence by and against students, insufficient parental involvement in the activities of schools, poor parenting skills and the lack of interest on the part of some parents in the academic lives of their children, further negatively impacts on the performance of students. Quality Education and Early Childhood Development Programme Objectives The overall programme’s objective is to promote healthy families and communities in a child-friendly environment through the provision of quality education and health care, meeting the needs and protecting the best interests of the child. The programme seeks to improve both children’s readiness for primary education and learning outcomes in selected curricular areas in primary education, such as child rights and life skills-based education. Special attention will be paid to the development of gender-sensitive, interactive and child-centred teaching and learning methodologies. The programme also aims to improve the quality of and accessibility to health services for young children and their mothers. Programme Strategies The programme will target interventions at multiple levels:
The programme will also benefit from and contribute to UNICEF support to the areas of education and early childhood development within the CARICOM framework, as well as other Caribbean initiatives. Projects 1. Enabling Policy and Programming EnvironmentThis project will focus mainly on matters relating to legal, regulatory and policy framework in the areas of education and child and maternal health. It will also support the review of the Education Act; the development of the National Education Policy; the finalization and implementation of the Early Childhood curriculum; the establishment and implementation of standards for early childhood institutions; the finalisation and implementation of the National Policy on ECD, a National Parenting Policy, a National Plan of Action for ECD; national adoption of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes; and the finalisation and implementation of a National Strategic Plan for Safe Motherhood. 2. Improving Access to and Quality of Services This project, in conjunction with the two other projects, will result in:
3. Monitoring and Evaluation This project will ensure provision of technical assistance and will focus on improving data collection and analysis, national databases. The project will also provide baseline data to carry out impact evaluations and cost benefit analysis and where necessary appropriate exit strategies.
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