Early Childhood Development in Jamaica

Recognizing that the first five years of a child’s life offer significant potential for building strong foundations in conceptual learning and developing valuable life skills, habits and attitudes, Jamaica’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture established the Early Childhood Commission. Its mission is to oversee an integrated and coordinated approach to early childhood development programs for children up to the age of eight, and to ensure equal access to these programs.

  1. Coalition

    • While the Early Childhood Commission has overall responsibility for early childhood development in Jamaica, it uses an “integrated approach to bring all policies, standards and regulations relating to early childhood care, education and development, under one umbrella.” A coalition of agencies, service providers and non-profit organizations work together to ensure that early childhood development legislation is upheld.

    Access

    • Provisions for equitable access include: expansion of home visiting programs and child care services for unemployed parents of children under age three; the increase, upgrade and expansion of early childhood centers; and provision of appropriately modified services and programs for children with "exceptionalities."

    Delivery

    • According to a UNESCO study in 2007, programs are delivered in Jamaica through a network of more than 3,000 institutions, including day care centers, community-run basic schools, government infant schools and infant departments in primary and all-age schools, and kindergarten departments of privately-owned preparatory schools.

    Training

    • Jamaica is making significant efforts to ensure that all basic schools have at least one early childhood development specialist on the teaching staff. The National Council on Technical and Vocational Education and Training launched the Early Focus Project to develop national competency standards for certifying early childhood workers at three levels, from entry point to readiness for formal teacher training or other tertiary training.

    Plans

    • To continue its proactive efforts to improve early childhood development in Jamaica, the Commission established plans for the period to 2020. These include: formulation of a National Parenting policy; establishment of a formal licensing system for early childhood programs with the appropriate inspectorate; establishment of an accreditation system for programs, based on facilities standards; 100 percent of children aged four to six to be enrolled in suitable programs; and the lowering of child-tutor ratios.

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