Education Ministry to review teacher shortage solution

By Nakinskie Robinson    

 

Education Minister Fayval Williams says a review of the Teacher Availability Solution will be done at the end of this academic year to decide whether the programme will be expanded.

 

Teacher Availability Solution is a part of the One Academy online learning platform, developed to address the teacher shortage across Jamaica.

 

It started last September with a target of some 100 high schools and was designed to connect students and teachers in an immersive learning environment.

 

Minister Williams gave the update when she was quizzed about the progress of the programme by Shadow Finance Minister Julian Robinson.

 

Meanwhile, when asked about the deshifting for secondary schools, the minister said some 31 schools remain on the shift system. She also addressed concerns about Edith Dalton High School. 

 

"We've done, over the life of this administration, eight going on nine schools we've taken off the shift system. The kind of constraint with Edith Dalton is the land space. So I'm told by the permanent secretary that at the last check, the school was deshifted or has been deshifted, but they still need support in terms of additional space," she explained. 

 

Minister Williams was addressing Thursday's session of the Standing Finance Committee.