AT THE end of its three-day conference last Thursday, the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) tabled a 30-point recommendation which it said could improve pre-primary education if included in Government policy.
The adopted recommendations, according to JTA president Wentworth Gabbidon, would be forwarded to the recently-established 14-member Education Force. This body was mandated by Prime Minister P.J. Patterson to assess the performance of the nation's education system and recommend changes.
Below are some of the recommendations.
The number of children should not exceed 20 at the pre-primary level and 30 at grades one and two and teachers' aides should be assigned to classes that include children with special needs.
Improvement in the physical plant of early childhood institutions should be accelerated.
By 2007 minimum standards should be implemented in all early childhood institutions.
The agreement between two political parties for increased budgetary allocation for early childhood education should be implemented.
All caregivers in early childhood institutions/centres be provided with training in human growth and development.
Health screening for every child should be mandatory upon entry to school
Strategies to promote parents' participation in their children's education should be identified and promoted.
Allocation from the Culture, Health, Arts and Sports and Early Childhood Education (CHASE) Fund should be made available to supplement the budgetary allocation to early childhood education.
There should be gender sensitive curriculum materials to ensure that the education systems caters to the needs of boys and girls.
All parents should be educated on the value and importance of play as a critical part of the child's development and that it may be used to identify children with special needs.
The Broadcasting Commission's Children's Code for Programming should be stringently monitored to ensure compliance by media houses and advertising agencies.
Parents should be vigilant in supervising the programmes their children watch and send strong messages to providers of cable service on offensive programmes transmitted.
First-aid training should be mandatory for care-givers at day care centres.
