KINGSTON, Jamaica—There has been implementation of 43 per cent of the 365 recommendations contained in the Jamaica Education Transformation Commission (JETC) report.

Education Transformation Oversight Committee (ETOC) Chairman Dr Adrian Stokes, gave the update on July 23 at a press conference for year four, quarter one, held at the University of the West Indies Regional Headquarters in St Andrew.

“This is an increase from the 37 per cent progress reported at our last quarterly briefing. This represents a 600 basis points increase for the reporting period. Now, that’s good progress,” Dr Stokes said.

“The positive moment for the period was driven mainly by three pillars: governance, teaching and learning and the TVET pillars. Importantly, all initiatives are on track for the period under review. Overall, 207 initiatives are under way in the project,” he said.

Dr Stokes noted that the milestone established for the end of the current fiscal year, March 2027, is 53 per cent and 65 per cent by the end of the following fiscal year, 2027/28. Full implementation is scheduled to be achieved by fiscal year end 2031.

“The goal is to see the project through to completion. That is very, very important. We shouldn’t allow naysayers or negativity to sap the implementation energy we’re seeing,” Dr Stokes said.

“There is no bright future for our country, certainly no bright future for our country without a proper functioning education system, and when I speak of a proper functioning education system we’re talking about an education system that works for all, not just pockets of excellence as we have today but a system that is globally competitive, a system that can give Jamaicans a fighting chance on a global level. This is the reason our resolve at ETOC to implement the recommendations remains unshaken,” he said.

Dr Stokes told members of the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information gathered that while they implement the recommendations, they have to do so in an agile manner. He said a goal is to prevent implementation fatigue from creeping into the work being done.

He reiterated that one of the risks cited by the Patterson Report is a failure to follow through on previous reports, but the committee has made a commitment that this time around, things will be different. He said they will continue to work with the ministry to achieve full implementation of the recommendations.

“Implementation of the recommendations is a necessary condition to improve the structural foundation of our education system but it is not the only objective here. At the end of the day, results must improve, which is one of the reasons clear KPIs were established at the start of the project to ensure we can successfully drive the train while we are laying the tracks, and importantly, we can measure as we go along,” Dr Stokes argued.

The press conference forms part of the ministry’s commitment to transparency, accountability and keeping information open and accessible to all stakeholders.

-JIS