The Jamaican government will be opening several schools dedicated to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) with help from the World Bank.
This is according to the island’s Finance Minister Dr. Nigel Clarke. He made the announcement on Sunday while speaking at a constituency conference for North Western St. Ann.
According to Clarke, a focus on fostering STEM skills in the younger population has always been a priority of the Andrew Holness administration.
“To be able to attract high-paying jobs in Jamaica, we’re gonna have to address Math and Science. And that is exactly what we plan to do. The Prime Minister has a vision of having Math and Science schools in the country and upgrading the quality of teaching of those subjects generally across the country” Clarke said.
The finance minister said an agreement will be signed with the World Bank in short order to launch the first of six such schools.
“I’m here to tell you that tomorrow morning, I am signing an agreement with the World Bank to launch the first STEM school in Jamaica. This will be the first of six to come,” Clarke said.
Clarke did not delve into the details of the agreement, but described the opening of the schools as a “revolution in education” in Jamaica.
STEM schools a long time coming
Over the past several years, Prime Minister Andrew Holness has touted the idea of opening schools dedicated to STEM across the island.
Last year, ground was broken for the construction of Jamaica’s first Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) Academy in Dunbeholden, St. Catherine.
Addressing a landmarking ceremony, the Prime Minister said the property, which was once a sugar plantation, would be used to prepare Jamaicans for “the new world.”
“To stand on the grounds of a former sugar plantation and say we are going to build a technology school to produce the people of Jamaica who will not just be consumers of technology but will become producers of technology… that is the true liberation of our people,” Holness said.
He argued that, as technology develops, “it is the nations that own technology that own the future”.
Holness had also promised that six STEM schools would be built by the government at an overall cost of US$133 million. An institution for the Arts will also be constructed.
