New Education Minister aims to improve student numeracy and literacy

By Halshane Burke    

 

New Minister of Education Dr. Dana Morris Dixon has listed her first course of action as improving numeracy and literacy performance among students.

 

Dr. Morris Dixon stressed the need for a greater level of return on investment in the education sector. 

 

"The highest budget allocation goes to the Ministry of Education, and we don't get the return. And the return you can measure from how our students do in terms of numeracy, literacy and their exam results. And so that's critical for me, at a minimum. Before we can layer on anything in terms of STEM and all of the other things, you need them to be numerate and literate, so that, for me, is a priority," she explained. 

 

The Education Minister said she will also be seeking to speed up implementation of recommendations in the Orlando Patterson Report for the transformation of the sector. 

 

"I do agree that the pace has been a bit slow. And I expect that you will see some changes in terms of personnel in the coming weeks and months. And you will see that we are definitely focused on it," she said, adding that Dr. Adrian Stokes, Chairman of the Education Transformation Oversight Committee (ETOC) is also committed to seeing the recommendations implemented.