KINGSTON, Jamaica –  Approximately 40,000 students were re-engaged through the Ministry of Education and Youth Yard to Yard, Find the Child initiative. 

This was disclosed by Minister of Education and Youth Fayval Williams, as she answered questions during the meeting of the Standing Finance Committee in the House of Representatives, on March 3. The members were deliberating the 2022/23 Estimates of Expenditure.

The initiative has been allocated $103 million, which has an overall target to reach an estimated 120,000 students. 

Minister Williams said the 40,000 who are re-engaged will receive an individual learning plan provided by their teachers, to help them recover from being disengaged with the education sector, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

She further pointed out that they are required to participate in a diagnostic test, of which the data will be collected and analysed by the ministry to determine the severity of their learning gap. 

“More than 70 per cent [have done the] test and what we’re seeing in those assessments is what we would have expected, given that some of our children were not connected to the school system for such a long period of time,” she noted. 

She said of the students re-engaged, an estimated 10,000 are going to require “real and intensive hands-on support”. 

Meanwhile, Williams said $250 million has been allocated for the current budget cycle to provide resources to those remedial programmes, while regular lessons continue with students who remained engaged through virtual classes. 

“And this includes face-to-face and online learning opportunities, and extra lessons. We have Maths and Literacy coaches who are going to be working with underperforming schools, guided by the diagnostic test and other assessments,” she advised. 

Additionally, she said the students will be provided with extra lessons and homework support to help them get back on track. 

“You will note that we are using all three of the online providers to help our students. The facilities are free to our students who can get on to [it], but in addition, that’s complementing what is done in class and the face-to-face interaction that happens,” she said.  

Williams also noted that student coaches and “pull-out sessions for students who are not grasping the work,” will also be provided. 

“We’re having capacity-building training for teachers for the national standards curriculum, which will focus on strengthening how they implement that curriculum at the school level,” she said.  

The Minister also disclosed that there is an “increased focus on parent engagement in education”.  

“We have a target of 97,000 parents that we have to reach by the end of June to assess and map them to programmes that will help them in their interaction with their children and how to help [them] in their education,” she said.