MONTEGO BAY, St James — Minister of Education Dr Dana Morris Dixon has highlighted the importance of the church-led schools in the performance of Jamaican students.

“From seeing the results from our schools, we see that the best-performing schools are Catholic schools and others run by our churches,” Morris Dixon told the congregation at the Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Montego Bay on Sunday.

The education minister was delivering greetings to the participants in the centennial anniversary of three Montego Bay-based schools, Chetwood Primary, Mount Alvernia Preparatory, and Mount Alvernia High Schools.

She insisted that the church has been playing a major role in educational development in Jamaica and pointed to her experiences.

Morris Dixon pointed out that she went to a Catholic high school (Campion College) during her secondary education.

“When I look at my own personal experience…it is clear that there is a role for the Church in saving our children and our country,” declared Morris Dixon

“I learned from early that it’s important to be academically excellent but it is also really really important to be a good child of God and to do every single thing that you can to further God’s mission on earth. That was instilled in me in the schools that I went to,” added Morris Dixon.

She pointed to a recently launched Church-led initiative at Holy Trinity High School in Kingston that is designed to improve the ability of students who recently entered grade seven.

“I saw the Church coming together, lots of persons in the Church coming together, working with the private sector, working with the Ministry of Education, to rescue that school.

“To say to those children that, ‘in spite of where you come from, in spite of all the challenges that you have, you matter and we are going to work together to make sure that your future is brighter’,” added Morris Dixon.

The education minister noted that the initiative at Holy Trinity High School has a focus on literacy and numeracy to help boost the capacity of the students as they navigate their education and welcomed the move as she argued that it is a travesty having students leaving the classroom unable to read and write.

“It is not something we can be proud of and it is something that we have to address. So I was so happy last week Thursday to see the Church saying, ‘we are not going to let this happen, we are going to intervene with these students with a focus on three things’. One was numeracy, one was literacy, and the other one was character development and it speaks volumes to what we believe as Christians,” said Morris Dixon.

But even as she celebrated the impact of the Church in schools Morris Dixon emphasised that the community also has to play a key role in the development of students.

“We all have a part to play, and when I say all, I mean all of us in here, the entire community. We all have a role to play in giving every student the environment and the opportunity for success.

“I urge the entire St James community to double and triple your efforts for all the schools in your vicinity. It is only with your support that the sons and daughters of Jamaica can truly receive the amazing school experience and the education that every single child deserves,” said Morris Dixon.