ROSE HALL, St James — As the Ministry of Education and Youth (MOEY) rolls out the new Transformational Ambassador Programme, portfolio minister Fayval Williams is urging members of the Diaspora to throw their support behind the initiative.

“We are formally launching our Transformation Ambassadors Programme to include all sectors of education and the larger society, including the Diaspora. We call on you to be ambassadors for our education sector. We know you do a lot already in our schools, and we thank you so much for all that you’ve been doing over the years,” said the minister.

Williams was addressing a post-Cabinet media briefing held on Wednesday as part of the recently concluded 10th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference 2024.

She urged conference attendees to become active and vested participants in transforming the education system for national development.

“This is going to span eight years; we’ve already completed one year. It is not designed solely for those in the education sector, [and] we want all stakeholders to come on board. We want you to help us spread the good news in our sector and, more importantly, to join in what we do,” urged Williams.

“After all, it’s the collective effort of each of us that will move the education sector forward. Again, I say that our commitment remains to our students, our teachers, our families, board members, auxiliary staff, and everyone who works at transforming our education sector for the good of our country,” she added.

During the briefing she also revealed that a record number of parents have participated in the parent mentors programme which provides assistance and support to families at risk or in need.

“We are pleased to announce that as we complete the school year we have some 85,890 parents who have accessed our parenting programme — the largest number of parents ever to do so,” stated Williams.

The initiative falls under the National Parenting Support Commission (NPSC), an agency within MOEY.

The minister highlighted the range of seminars offered to parents through NPSC.

“These included topics such as being a supportive parent, building self-esteem in children, being a present parent, emotional and mental health. Those are just a few of the seminars that were offered,” said the minister, who said she was delighted at the number of parents who participated.

“Our goal for the next school year, which begins in September, is to have another 85,000 parents participate,” said Williams.

“Those who have already done so, they can always come back again and take other seminars. And you can see we have a wide variety of topics up there,” she added.

She also noted that a new component of the parenting programme, called Men Who Mentor, was added last week, and that 150 men participated.

“As you know, here in Jamaica our boys are at greater risk of being left behind for a number of reasons. We know that our boys learn differently. We also know that our boys need male role models to guide them and to help them stay on track,” said Williams.

“Men Who Mentor will participate in training modules that are designed to enhance their parenting skills and empower them to mentor the next generation of men, and eventually fathers. Through programmes like these we know we can have a positive impact on families and communities across the island,” she added.