KINGSTON, Jamaica — The People’s National Party deputy spokesman on education, Michael Stewart is once more calling on the Government to appoint a full time minister of education as the start of the new school year approaches.

Calls for an appointed minister were renewed following the “lack of proper guidance coming from the Ministry of Education in recent times”.

The party said it strongly believes that if the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information had a dedicated minister, all this confusion would not have taken place.

“The ‘to and fro’ and incisiveness as it relates to this year’s sitting of the CSEC (Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate) and CAPE (Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination) examinations, will only serve to engender fear, uncertainty and confusion in the minds of the over fifty thousand students who will be sitting the examination this year,” Stewart said.

“Having heard of an examination date set for the 27th of July, and now hearing a new date for July 13, does not augur well for mental stability of our students, especially as the online teaching wreaked havoc on the preparation of many of these students,” he added.

Stewart said Jamaica, being the island with the largest student population, must provide the educational leadership that the region has always looked forward to.