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Salutations.
SPEAKING NOTES FOR
PRIME MINISTER
RT. HON. P.J. PATTERSON, Q.C., M.P.
AT
LAUNCH OF
LABOUR DAY 2001
ON
THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2001
Labour Day 2001 presents Jamaicans with yet another opportunity
to contribute to an essential area of national life, that of early
childhood education.
Since its inception in 1972, Labour Day has become the high point
of voluntarism in Jamaica and in this International Year of the
Volunteer, its observance assumes g~ ter significance.
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I have, in my Budget presentation in 1999 referred to the
significant contribution being made by the voluntary sector. Within
this sector, our churches have continued to exercise a very
powerful, practical witness in the fields of education and training,
child-care and a range of other social development areas.
There are also the Non-Government and Community Based
Organisations (NGO's and CBOs), that have been working
successfully with micro business entrepreneurs, adolescents in need,
the mentally and physically challenged.
The service clubs and other fraternities and groups have been
involved in supporting institutions and individuals in need.
The most recent responses from the NGO/CBO community have
indicated that they are anxious to build a model, which will avoid
duplication and support a more focused and strategic approach to
development work.
All of these efforts have contributed to the building of social capital
and to increase productive capacity within the country.
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But there is more that needs to be done.
Individuals from all walks of life have been offering themselves for
voluntary service in several areas of national life.
They say that there are specific tasks, which they are willing to
perform and they want an opportunity to serve.
I salute and welcome them all. However, despite the many projects
being undertaken, many of these individuals have not been able to
find their specific niche.
I previously announced that the Most Hon. Sir Howard Cooke, the
Governor General, had consented to be the national patron of All
Jamaica Volunteers, and that within each parish the office of the
Custos will perform the clearing-house function, which will put
volunteers in touch with existing voluntary programmes or new
ones.
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LABOUR DAY 2001
No where is this spirit of voluntarism more needed than in the care
and development of our children.
The importance of pre-primary education is reinforced by the fact
that social development is largely determined by what takes place
before the child goes to primary school. By then, motor
development, emotional control, intelligence, personality, social
behaviour skills and vocabulary are largely established and
personalities substantially formed.
Consistent with the importance of Early Childhood development,
Labour Day 2001 will be used to launch a three-year programme of
upgrading the physical infrastructure of basic schools with a view to
providing a first rate basic school in every community.
This will give practical support to the commitment of this
Administration to achieve full literacy and 100 percent enrollment
at the early childhood level by the year 2004.
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This national priority is endorsed by the Ministry of Education and
Culture's White Paper, which expresses the following:
"The State support for Early Childhood Education of children
between the ages of four and six years by providing curriculum
direction and recurrent financial support to facilitate
appropriate learning"
This year's Labour Day initiative continues the groundwork, which
has been laid over the past six or so years, in the field of early
childhood education.
■ We undertook a major project in the construction and
refurbishing of basic schools in different parts of the
country.
■ We started the degree programme in Early Childhood
Education as a joint venture between Shortwood Teachers
College and the University of the West Indies.
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■ We have consolidated the administration of Day Care
Supervision and Early Childhood Education Management
within the Ministry of Education and Culture.
■ Through the Jamaica Social Investment Fund, we have
continued to facilitate the community partnership and to
improve on existing basic schools or to build new ones.
■ We have created more spaces in basic schools during the last
five years than at any previous time in our history
■ We have increased access to early childhood education over
the years, to the point where there is now 82 percent
coverage of the age group 4-6 years old.
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As I have already indicated, we have set ourselves a five-year target
to increase this by 1 00 per cent.
During the same time-frame, we plan to provide one trained teacher
for each recognised basic school, or at least for each cluster which
has a minimum population of 100 students.
The number of recognised basic schools now stands at 1,700, so
the challenge is a formidable one.
But this is an investment, which we must make. And we are going
to require an even greater commitment from our communities to
ensure that our children can play and learn together in comfort and
safety.
Education and training must be the linchpin for everything we will
seek to achieve in the future.
It all begins the moment the child is born, because we now know
that the first five years of a child's life are the most important in the
learning process.
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It is for that reason that the Education Policy Document, which I
presented in Parliament, last week, commits the Government to
achieve full enrollment of the early childhood cohort by the year
2003.
To support this objective, we will implement a public education
programme by August 2001, in support of Early Childhood Care
and Early stimulation of children between birth and age 4.
It is universally acknowledged that the first five years of a child's life
offer the greatest potential for building the foundations of
conceptual learning, and of developing valuable life skills, habits and
attitudes. Early Childhood Education therefore, provides early
stimulation in building interests in and positive dispositions towards
learning.
Early Childhood Education is delivered through community
operated Basic Schools, Government Infant Departments in Primary
and All-Age schools and Kindergarten Departments of privately
owned Preparatory schools. Readiness of children entering the
Primary school continues to be our main concern. The following
are indicative of the present status.
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The enrollment rate of the 4-5 year old age group is 91 percent
and is one of the highest in the region.
Over 80 percent of the students enrolled, attend community
operated Basic and just under 20% are in Public Infant departments
and private centres, which benefit from government subsidies for
teachers salaries, class materials and school meals.
This year's Labour Day focus on the physical upgrading of our basic
schools will go a far way in improving the quality of the schooling
being provided to our precious young ones.
I urge the citizenry to play its part, with the certain knowledge that
there can be no more worthy contribution that we all can make
than to early childhood education.
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