THE MINISTRY of Education, Youth and Culture has collaborated with HEART/NTA, to implement a technical vocation rationalisation project, through which Centres of Excellence are established at high schools. The cost of the project is $70 million.
This project is designed to ensure that technical education is delivered at a high standard through partnership among high schools that are strong in specific subject areas.
According to Chief Education Officer at the Ministry, Wesley Barrett, Centres of Excellence have been established in 17 high schools in Westmoreland and St. Elizabeth so far under this pilot programme.
To strengthen the schools' capability to deliver as Centres of Excellence, the project ensures that they are equipped with top facilities for particular subjects.
Mr. Barrett said that instead of offering every technical subject at all high schools, it would be in the best interest of students if Centres of Excellence are developed in certain subjects at each school and the facilities are shared with the surrounding schools.
The high schools in Westmoreland as well as the subjects taught at their Centres of Excellence are: Little London, Electric and Electronic Studies; Godfrey Stewart, Automechanics; Mannings and Grange Hill, Agriculture; Frome Technical, Information Technology; Petersfield, Mechanical Engineering/Machine Shop and Welding; and Maud McLeod, Clothing and Textiles.
Participating high schools in St. Elizabeth include Lewisville and Munro College, Building Technology; and Maggotty and Hampton, Information Technology. Black River's strength lies in Mechanical Engineering/Machine Shop and Welding, and B.B. Coke offers Business Education.
Agriculture and Visual arts are offered by Newell and Lacovia, respectively, while students travel to Balaclava High for Plumbing and Pipe Fitting. St. Elizabeth Technical is strong in Cosmetology.
Project Director, Carole Powell, says four new centres would be coming on stream this year. They are Automechanics to be taught at B.B. Coke and Maud McLeod; Visual Arts to be taught at Munro College and Cosmet-ology to be delivered at Newell High.
Mrs. Powell also noted that two of the Centres of Excellence were being expanded. "The Business Education laboratory at B.B. Coke High will be expanded to include a model office and the Visual Arts programme at Balaclava High will be broadened to include ceramics," she explained.
She added that the pilot programme has now embarked on a new thrust to re-utilise space which has become available, since schools which are participating in this programme no longer carry the subjects which are taught at the Centres of Excellence.
"The laboratories that have been freed up will be refurbished and furnished as classrooms. We will be doing one for each school," Mrs. Powell said.
Under the programme, students are prepared for the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) exams as well as the National Vocational Qualification of Jamaica (NVQJ). "Both of them satisfy entry requirements for tertiary education," Mrs. Powell noted.
Westmoreland and St. Elizabeth were chosen for the pilot project as these parishes have a good combination of newly upgraded high, technical high and traditional high schools.
Now in its second year, the project has reported successes, one of which is the 90 per cent success rate in Information Technology examinations that Balaclava High has enjoyed since participating in the project. The students from Balaclava High attend Information Technology classes at St. Elizabeth Technical High.
Students are transported to and from the various facilities by buses, which the Ministry of Education has dedicated to the project.
The selected schools also facilitate the development of the transport system. One example of how the system works is demonstrated in the relationship between Lacovia and Hampton High Schools in St. Elizabeth, he said. Lacovia High has an enviable Visual Arts Centre, while Hampton High has state-of-the-art facilities for Information Technology. Students from Lacovia are transported to Hampton and Hampton pupils are in turn taken to Lacovia High.
Mr. Barrett said that the administration was looking at expanding the rationalisation project into other parishes, including Kingston and St. Andrew.
