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Data presented in this paper point to the fact that in spite of a widely supported thesis of "male disadvantage or underachievement" in education, nonetheless, beyond school males have the competitive advantage in terms of wider social, economic and political outcomes. Any analysis which seeks to understand the educational realities of males and females is therefore misleading unless it takes into account the socioeconomic value of certification to either sex and the inverse relationship between educational outputs and social outcomes that favours males rather than females. Data related to both quantitative and qualitative dimensions of the educational experience at all levels that are addressed in subsequent sections of this paper point to clear gender differentials in a number of areas related to governance of the system, access, curriculum-related matters and performance; all of which need to be addressed through a precise, evidence-based policy that would promote greater gender parity and equity. (Contains 7 tables, 3 figures and 5 notes.)

This paper presents the results of the use of Kotter’s eight-step change management model (KCMM) to guide the implementation of a new requirement (curriculum mapping) as a supporting component of the Programme Development Policy at the University of Technology, Jamaica. The Programme Development Policy was revised and approved by the Academic Board in 2022, and it guides the development of undergraduate and graduate courses of study at the University. A supporting element of the policy is the newly introduced curriculum map, which encourages the mapping of the courses to the programme goals, programme objectives, and graduate attributes. Kotter’s eight-step change process guided the implementation of the map along with qualitative interviews with the chairs of the curriculum committees in each Academic Unit and the Associate Vice President for Quality Assurance at the University. The results showed that the curriculum map was a valuable addition to the programme development policy. However, greater sensitization and training are needed to ensure buy-in from the relevant stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Delayed child skill development is a common phenomenon in low- and middle-income countries. Effective and low-cost strategies suitable for application to less-developed countries are needed. We summarize empirical findings from recent papers that study a replication of the Jamaica Reach Up and Learn home visiting program in China, China REACH, and compare child skill growth profiles in the China Reach Up and Jamaica interventions., Methods: Different interventions often use different measures for assessing early childhood skill development. To estimate the growth of underlying skills across programs, we address the challenge that different programs use different assessments. We use a modified version of the Rasch model to anchor scores on common items to estimate skill development., Results: Language skill growth curves are comparable for both interventions. This pattern is consistent for the treatment and control groups across the interventions. Skill growth curves are not statistically significantly different between China REACH and Jamaican interventions. We find evidence of the importance of early investment., Conclusions: The China REACH intervention significantly improves the development of multiple skills. At the same ages, treatment effect sizes and skill growth curves are comparable across the Jamaica and China REACH interventions, despite differences in scale and cultural settings. The scale of the program is much greater in China than in Jamaica, showing that the Jamaican curriculum can be effectively expanded to larger populations. Annual costs per child are roughly $500 (2015 US dollars)., (Copyright © 2023 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)

The University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech, Jamaica) and other regional higher education institutions (HEIs) have key roles to play in providing technology-based solutions to national and regional challenges, through human capital development. Therefore, given the centrality of the curriculum in the teaching-learning process, it is important that these HEIs design and implement curricula that will ensure 'fitnessfor-purpose' (FFP) of their graduates, which is a critical aspect of quality assurance. This paper reports the results of a knowledge gap survey conducted among final year students at UTech, Jamaica, to determine their knowledge of innovation, entrepreneurship, and related thematic areas that were included in the institution's Graduate Attributes policy. The results showed that knowledge gaps (akin to the holes in 'Swiss Cheese') existed among students. These results were used as evidence to inform curricula interventions to address the identified knowledge gaps, to ensure that graduates of the University are innovation-literate. The approach taken in this study has applicability for regional and other HEIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advocates for the introduction of teaching about religions in schools in Trinidad and Tobago and presents a preliminary strategy to this end. The background to the paper is a National Commission for UNESCO project, for which one of the major goals was to determine the status and feasibility of Teaching About World Religions (TAWR) in schools. The initiative involved: (a) a survey conducted in a sample of schools in 2008; (b) a symposium (January 2010); (c) a workshop (October 2010); and (d) a presentation at the Ministry of Education consultation on the primary school curriculum in 2011. Some of the consultation feedback revealed societal fears arising from a misunderstanding of the purpose of educating young people about religions other than their own. The paper argues that greater knowledge and understanding of the tenets of our various religions are critical for promoting harmony in diversity. Historically, interfaith relations have been marked by disrespect and persecution of some faiths. While there has been decided improvement at official levels in the 52 years of independence, there exists a legacy of mutual intolerance, prejudice and mistrust, based largely on lack of information. The formal education system does not adequately address this legacy. The authors considered the nomenclature for such a programme and propose a preliminary framework and implementation strategy for teacher training and curriculum materials development for interreligious studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since Jamaica gained its independence, successive governments of the country have implemented various curriculum policy initiatives at both the primary and secondary levels of the education system, aimed at providing increased access and improved quality education for citizens. While many of these initiatives have led to increased access to education in the island, the issue of improved quality education continues to be a challenge. Considering the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal Four, where inclusive quality education is an imperative, curriculum policy is a necessary tool to achieving this objective. However, the success of a curriculum policy resides in the interplay between policy and practice and the merits of the policy in yielding the expected results once implemented. This paper presents an analysis of teachers' and school leaders' experiences regarding what happens when curriculum policy initiatives meet the diverse contexts of schools. From this analysis, strategies for implementing curriculum policy as an approach to improving quality education in Jamaica are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is drawn from a study on music education in Jamaican post-primary institutions before the implementation of the new national curriculum for secondary music. The curriculum is central to a Reform of Secondary Education (ROSE) that began in the early 1990s. Drawing on questionnaire, observation and interview data, the paper examines curriculum content and practice in 14 schools in the capital city, Kingston. It also discusses teachers' views on the status of the subject and on impediments to their own practice. The paper concludes that music in these post-primary schools does not differ substantially to music in primary schools, and that curricula being delivered in these schools differ considerably from that of the upcoming national curriculum. Overall, the paper highlights the many challenges to be met in implementing the national curriculum for music. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the perceptions of three beginning teachers about their experiences as they implement the Revised Primary Curriculum at grades one to three in Jamaican classrooms. The study documents the beginning teachers' views on their ability to interpret and enact the curriculum using knowledge from their teacher training programmes. By presenting data gleaned mainly through individual interviews, the findings from this small-scale generic qualitative study revealed that the beginning teachers were excited about teaching when they entered the profession, had unmet expectations regarding workplace learning, and had negative experiences with implementing the curriculum in use. The findings also showed that beginning teachers felt they needed strong support from mentors to be successful at implementing the Revised Primary Curriculum. Based on these findings, the paper offers a pedagogy of practice as an important framework for supporting teacher learning and development - from student teacher development to becoming classroom teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The curriculum in community health is best described as eclectic and dynamic. Its relevance is maintained by its response to the macro-environment; this response, whether innovative or otherwise, may be incremental on the one hand or feature wholesale change consequent on radical rethinking on the other. This paper reviews the content of the emerging curriculum in community health at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, and attempts to discern the process of change and the factors which have informed these developments.

This paper reviews some of the developmental procedures regarding changes in Medical Education within the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies. Discussed are some of the constraints experienced in attempting curriculum changes in the established Medical School at Mona, Jamaica, as compared with the implementation of a Problem-based Learning Strategy curriculum at the Eric Williams Medical Complex, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. At Mona, integration of disciplines, Community-health and other programmes were attempted. However, it was at the Eric Williams Complex, a new school, that the Faculty of Medical Sciences was able to implement a problem-based programme.

The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted education provision and access across the globe. One key aspect affected is academic advisement, vital to a student's university experience for enhancing success and engagement. While recognizing disparities between academic advisement and student progression at the University of Technology, Jamaica, the study explored the robustness and effectiveness of institutional academic advisement processes since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic toward successful student engagement and subsequent course completion. A mixed method approach, utilizing surveys, enabled the description of the advisor/advisee experience so that understanding of the role, function, and benefit of academic advisement and its practices could be reviewed. The research was informed through data collected from 108 students and 15 lecturers attached to a Bachelors of Education qualification. The findings revealed that 80% of students sought their advisors on matters related to their course of study. Whilst students valued the advisor's experience and approach, they also recognized weaknesses in administrative functions attached to the process, specifically in student support system capabilities and follow-up. Recommendations include the strategic institutionalization of a mandatory advisement function, enhanced through a dedicated unit with the purpose of successfully enriching the advisee/advisor experience for both student and institutional success in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Pharmacovigilance is an important aspect of clinical practice; however, there is limited evidence that it exists as a theme in medical education curricula. OBJECTIVE: We developed and used a Basic Research Skill Special Study Module to introduce pharmacovigilance to medical students in the early years of their programme. METHODS: Students completing year one or two of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery programme at The University of the West Indies, Jamaica participated in the four week experience from May 16th to June 12th 2019 to complete structured content sessions and self-directed activity. Sessions focused on the importance of pharmacovigilance and guided steps to complete a secondary data research project on an adverse reaction reported for a drug of personal interest. The final output was a poster mini-symposium at which each student held a five minute oral presentation. Posters were assessed for compliance with content guidelines, quality and presentation. RESULTS: Ten students participated in this experience and nine students produced posters of greater than 80% compliance with the content guidelines that were provided. The points awarded also reflected high scores for the required elements, relevant graphics, attractiveness/neatness and oral presentation. Students expressed overall satisfaction with the learning experience of the module. CONCLUSION: Moving forward, the authors will continue using this innovative active learning methodology to increase student exposure to pharmacovigilance, conducting and sharing research. Quantitative outcome assessment tools will be developed and long term goals will focus on its utility in curriculum improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The teacher is at the heart of the curriculum and plays an integral role in shaping individuals. As such, the knowledge teachers possess and the strategies they utilize are important considerations in the delivery of the curriculum. This qualitative study reports on the knowledge and usage of context responsive pedagogy (CRP) based on five rural primary school teachers in Jamaica. CRP entails teaching and learning that is contextualized, given the peculiarities of the classroom. Data collection was carried out through interviews and observations. The main findings revealed that the teachers found CRP beneficial to students, had limited knowledge of CRP, and that their use of CRP was driven by their humanistic beliefs. The findings therefore have implications for teacher professional development. The author recommends that given the benefits of CRP and the strategies required by the National Standards Curriculum (NSC), CRP should be taught to teachers in their pre-service training programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is critical for Caribbean countries such as Jamaica as the country grapples with various sustainability issues. The integration of ESD into formal and non-formal education therefore becomes a necessary undertaking. At the formal level, reorienting curricula at all levels is important and advocated for in various international documents such as Agenda 21 and by agencies such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. With this in mind, this study utilised a qualitative content analysis approach to undertake a preliminary exploration of ESD content in TVET curricula at the lower secondary level (grades 7ñ9) in Jamaica. Analysis of three of the subjects as taught in the TVET area of Resource and Technology revealed that though ESD issues, perspectives and skills are integrated into various components of the curriculum, many of the ESD issues, perspectives and skills the research sought to identify were not evident in the curricula. Additionally, based on the analysis, it was felt that the curriculum lacks alignment among the components (objectives, content, learning experience, assessment, teaching strategies) that reflected ESD content, and that there is need for integration of more such content in the curricula to ensure that TVET and ESD yield the relevant benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the studies conducted by the authors related to early childhood development intervention in Jamaica including disadvantaged children, malnutrition children and stunted children.

In cases where environmental education is institutionalised within schools, the curriculum can affect what and how students learn about 'nature' and the 'environment'. In Jamaica, schools are considered important settings for environmental education; the curriculum therefore includes environmental issues. Using content analysis, representations of 'nature' and the 'environment' in the nation's primary level Curriculum Guides were examined. Findings indicate that although many units emphasise an anthropocentric view of nature, this is tempered by depictions of nature's fragility and, in some instances, nature's 'divine' dimensions. Several curricular units also facilitate student's creative engagement with nature, allowing for multiple views of the natural world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 20 years educational policies across the globe have become more closely aligned with industry interests. Jamaica is no exception. But what does this mean when the country’s leading ‘industry’ is tourism? It is no coincidence that in this decade the Ministry for Education became the Ministry for Education and Culture. When one of the main threats to the industry is seen to be the country’s reputation for violence as substantiated by rising murder rates and increasingly vicious crime scenarios, what is the Ministry’s response? One has been the introduction of the PALS (Peace and Love in Schools) curriculum, underwritten by the Tourist Board. The article examines the texts within this curriculum and how they position the identity of children and adults, and distinguish between Jamaicans and foreigners. The author then examines material collected during ethnographic fieldwork in the summer of 2000 with Jamaican youth in which issues of violence, tourism and the marketing of cultural products come to the fore. The youth convey an understanding of the facade/reality dichotomy that tourism necessitates across a wide spectrum of activities that make up daily life, and a pragmatism in which innocence is an unaffordable luxury, as are some forms of resistance to the inequalities that tourism brings so prominently into focus in the shape of all‐inclusive hotels and cruise ships. The children’s experiences resonate tellingly with some of the Caribbean’s leading critical thinkers’ misgivings about the tourism project and the schism in identities that it perpetuates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the gender equality in the education system of Jamaica, based on a case study commissioned by the International Bureau of Education and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization Education for All Monitoring Team in 2000. Overview of the system; Curriculum-related policies; Enrollment at all levels of the system; Curriculum participation and performance.

Presents a nurse practitioner program in Jamaica. Description of the entry requirements; Inclusion of two special tracks within the nurse practitioner program; Components of the curriculum.