The Government is to expand its partnership with the Mico University College, to fill gaps in the area of special education, so that more students with learning challenges can receive timely intervention.
State Minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green, says despite gains made in tackling the issue of learning by some students, “significant gaps still remain among the nation’s teachers to detect children with special needs, and appropriately address them.”
“This is a priority for the Ministry, and we invite the Mico University College to seize the opportunity to provide in-service training for teachers in special education,” the State Minister said, while delivering the keynote address at the media launch of Mico’s 180th anniversary celebrations, held yesterday (March 31), at its main campus on Marescaux Road, in St. Andrew.
The State Minister, in lauding the university for establishing the Mico Care Centre, which diagnoses children with special learning needs, said through services offered by the institution, the future of many learners is brighter.
Meanwhile, Mr. Green said he is of the firm conviction that “we can excel in Maths and Science,” noting that with Mico and other teacher-training institutions partnering with the Government to implement a four-year scholarship programme to equip some 600 educators in the two subjects, starting in September, the country will have much to reap.
The State Minister said the 180-year existence of Mico is a testament of effective stewardship of successive administrators, faculty and the student body.
“This noble institution has weathered the times and remains an institution of repute in the Twenty First Century,” he said.
Mico was among four teacher-training institutions that were established in the British colonies in the West Indies by the Lady Mico Trust in 1835, which was set up the previous year by an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom.
In July, the university will stage a homecoming celebration, and an awards banquet; in September and October, a series of conversations will be organized looking at various issues of national importance, and a sculpture park will be launched.
Source: Jamaica Information Service