THE Alternative Secondary Education Programme (ASTEP) is, within another month or so, to receive the promised budgetary support necessary to properly resource the more than 250 centres where students are taught.

Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites made the revelation in a recent interview with Career & Education, following stakeholder criticism that ASTEP — which has a price tag of some $200 million — was under-resourced and therefore failing to function at its optimal level.

Among the critics were president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) Paul Adams, who said the failure to provide the programme the needed equipment constituted a grave disservice to participating students.

President of the National Parent-Teachers’ Association of Jamaica Marcia McCausland-Wilson herself expressed concern over the lack of resources for the programme, but has been quick to point out that there was no disputing ASTEP’s value.

Both Adams and McCausland-Wilson are happy with the news of the ministry’s expressed intent to provide the funds needed to buy not only furniture and learning aids, but also to pay additional staff.

“Adequate budgetary allocations are necessary and we welcome it and we hope that the allocations will be made in order to facilitate the required needs,” the JTA boss noted.

Approximately 6,000 students, who completed primary school without achieving mastery in the Grade Four Literacy Test after four opportunities, were selected for the programme, which is intended to reduce the number of illiterate youths leaving the education system.

ASTEP co-ordinator Novelette Denton Prince has reported that the programme — which got underway last September — is well on its way to meeting the objectives of significantly reducing the literacy level of students. At the same time, she has revealed that of the 6,000 who were targeted, 4,500 are enrolled in ASTEP while another 1,000 were found to be young enough to remain at the primary level. The status of the other 500 or so is unknown.

Meanwhile, Thwaites has indicated that ASTEP, though critical at this time, is not to form a permanent feature of the education system.

“And certainly not in the dimensions that we have had to start it with,” he said of the programme which was initiated by former prime minister and minister of education Andrew Holness.

According to the new minister, emphasis will have to be placed on the early childhood level of the education system in order to allow for the eventual scaling down of ASTEP.

“If we do that segment [early childhood] right, we will diagnose and we will enable students to better engage at that level. Therefore, we should, over time, plan for a reduction of the ASTEP emphasis,” he said.

McCausland Wilson has agreed with Thwaites.

“Coming up, we would have been placing more emphasis on getting the children ready and we would also be looking at them not going on to the next stage unless they are fully mastering the level that they are at,” she told Career & Education.

“As long as it is necessary to be there, then it should stay there. But I agree with him, it should not be permanent because if it is permanent, it stands to reason that something is really wrong with the system,” McCausland-Wilson added.