CORAL SPRING, Trelawny — Minister of Education and Youth Fayval Williams, citing a significant jump in the number of Jamaica’s teachers now professionally trained, the country’s higher literacy rates, and access to high school education being the norm, says a lot has been achieved in the field over the last 60 years.

“I believe all of us in this room and beyond were seized of the urgency of even moving the education sector higher. Sixty years ago, only about 40 per cent of the teachers then were trained. Today, we boast 10 teacher training institutions, including those with teacher education faculties. And I would say 100 per cent of our teachers are trained,” she said.

The minister was speaking, Tuesday, on the first day of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association’s (JTA) Education Conference 2024 at the Ocean Coral Spring Hotel in Trelawny.

Williams, who congratulated the JTA on its 60th anniversary, noted that though there is still room for improvement giant leaps have been made over the last six decades.

“Sixty years ago, if I could cast your minds back, almost half a million adults in Jamaica were illiterate. And then today… the literacy rate of Jamaica overall is 88 per cent. Significantly higher. Yes, I’m also going to say [it is] not near that of our colleagues in the Caribbean, so we do have still some way to go, even as we celebrate how far we’ve come,” she underscored.

She also referenced the shift away from British colonial education to “one more suited for our newly independent status”, and the days of a lack of space in high schools.

“Today, every child born in Jamaica is guaranteed a space in a high school. The conversation is now which high school, which one. So, it’s a good place to be. I know we’re not where we want to be. But we can see the work done,” she argued.

She anticipates even more progress in the years ahead.

“We know that in the next 60 years, we will also look back and see significant progress in the education sector. Education, as you know, is a lifelong endeavour. And every day we wake up, we must continue learning and achieving. As partners in education, we all have played significant roles in helping to develop policies. We value your feedback on how to make the education system more responsive and relevant to the changing demands of the global world in which we live,” she told the gathering.

The three-day conference is being held under the theme: “Full STEAM Ahead: Advancing Digital and Future Skills”.