JACK’S Hill Primary School in rural St Andrew is to benefit from additional support from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information.

“We want to ensure that the perimeter of the school is enclosed. We want to approve $10 million, starting the next financial year, to do that plus pave the roadway coming down [and] to improve the environment of the school,” Education Minister Senator Ruel Reid said during a visit to the school in rural St Andrew on Monday.

He said, too, that additional teaching support will be provided for the institution which consists of grades two and three as a merged class, and grades four, five and six as another class.

“I have also approved for them to get a teacher assistant because this is a multi-grade school, which means there are several grades of students in one class to be taught by one teacher. That is very challenging, but, nonetheless, this is a good environment to learn to teach and practise your craft,” Reid said.

The education minister said he would like to see greater use of technology in the classroom.

“That would help in the case of differentiating instructions. As a teacher, we could have students in the different grades doing different activities at a different time on their devices. That is something that we would like to work with the principal on,” he stated.

The education minister hailed the institution, which has an infant department, on achieving the Early Childhood Commission standards. He commended the well-kept classrooms as well as the availability of adequate educational tools for the students.

Minister of Justice and Member of Parliament for St Andrew North Eastern Delroy Chuck, who was also on the tour, thanked the minister for the support.

He said the improvements to be undertaken will transform the school and motivate more parents to send their children to the institution.

“This is a very small school, and it can be expanded. A lot of the students who could come here are actually going down further into Barbican. We are hoping that the population will increase when we improve the facilities here, and, with that, I’m sure the school can continue to serve the Jack’s Hill community even better. It is a good school and they’ve had quite a few successes, but we are hoping that it will continue to improve,” Chuck said.

Principal of Jack’s Hill Primary School, Duane Forbes, added his words of gratitude.

“I am really and truly blessed. I’m just anticipating blessings… I’m truly grateful for the visit. I know that the community of Jack’s Hill will benefit in the long run, and we do this not for the likes but for the love,” Forbes told JIS News.