The Minister of Education, The Honourable Reverend Ronald Thwaites, in a speech yesterday, indicated that Jamaica has been grossly under spending on early childhood education.
He indicated that for this financial year, the Ministry of Education has allocated 14.6% or just over $11 billion of the education’s Ministry recurrent budget to early childhood and special education. The Minister says that, “It is an investment we cannot put off due to the importance of the early years to the child’s educational development”. He says “It will mean other areas will have to ensure that the majority of that dollar is spent on delivering an effective education product”, Minister Thwaites stressed.
Reverend Thwaites indicated that the move will require sacrifices, “admittedly difficult, from parents and teachers”. It will mean that the cost of tertiary education will be more and more borne by the recipients of it rather than by the State.”
Source: MoneyMasters Ltd press release
