Public Forum To Discuss The Church’s Involvement In Public Education
Kingston, Jamaica – Wednesday, May 02, 2018 – Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator, Honourable Ruel Reid will join Right Reverend Howard Gregory, Anglican Lord Bishop for Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, at a public forum on the topic:
The Church and State in Education; Affirming the Partnership. The forum will be held on May 3, 2018 at the St. Michael’s Theological College located at 7 Golding Road, Kingston 6 at 6:00 PM.
“Church leadership in education is grounded in centuries of work. It has been the mission of the religious community to nurture the intellectual development of Jamaicans long before it became a government responsibility. The future of education depends on a partnership between the state and the church and this public forum is part of advancing that purpose,” said Mr. Anton Thompson, Chairman, Campion College.
Churches have taken a role in education since prior to Emancipation when education was only available to a few. In the immediate post-Emancipation period, the Negro Education Grant provided by the colonial government, allowed some of the churches to begin schooling a wider cross-section of the society until in the nineteenth-century when the government became involved.
This was largely through provisions of grants to pay teachers and state-administered examinations. Today, the church and trust-run schools are by any measure the best-performing high schools in the country, and therefore, the ones that are most desired by students and parents.
The agreement between the Government and the Churches is encapsulated in the Education Act and the Code of Regulations (1980) which set out how both parties should relate. Issues that arise from the partnership that are likely to be covered in the presentations are: funding and finances; staffing and appointments; curriculum; and the direction that the schools should take.
Download The Jamaican Blogs™ App for your Android device: HERE
Remember to share this article on Facebook and other Social Media Platforms. To submit your own articles or to advertise with us please send us an EMAIL at: [email protected]