By Petrina Francis, Education Reporter
Maxine Henry-Wilson, minister of education, youth and culture, converses with Professor Zenon J. Pudlowski, director of UNESCO's International Centre for Engineering Education (UCIEE) at the UICEE eighth annual conference, held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston yesterday. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
SCORES OF engineers across the world gathered yesterday at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel to discuss issues relating to engineering education.
The occasion was the eighth annual UNESCO International Centre for Engineering Education conference, held under the theme, 'Bringing Engineering Educators Together'.
Delivering the opening address,Maxine Henry-Wilson, minister of education, youth and culture, said that "engineering programmes demonstrate that graduates need to have an ability to apply mathematics and
science, an ability to design a system, a component or problem to meet desired needs".
PREPARING THE CHILDREN
"One of the critical challenges that we face in preparing our children for engineering is that we have had consistently low passes in CXC mathematics and there is a prevailing poor attitude at the secondary level towards the subject", she told the engineers.
"Clearly this does not all go well for the future of engineering education in Jamaica and is demonstrated by what is occurring at our universities."
Mrs. Henry-Wilson said that the HEART Trust National Training Agency, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, has moved to make engineering education more learner-centred.
She noted that the approach has been to start at the secondary school level and infuse in the wider curriculum of vocational subjects.
"The notion that only dunce students should take vocational subject is, thank God, becoming a thing of the past in Jamaica today, as we see some of our highest performing students achieving excellence in a mix of traditional and vocational subjects," she said.
MORE CONNECTION
The Education Minister said that engineering education must create more connection and stronger partnership with the global society. She noted that the relevance of the curriculary at the secondary level needs to be examined "if we are to meet some of our objectives and our target in engineering education".
