Purposeful in pursuit of
LAST YEAR, the Early Childhood Commission (ECC) embarked on a thrust to implement creative, cost-effective solutions.
The measures were geared at maximising efficiency, productivity, and forging stronger partnerships.
Implementation of these initiatives has had an impact on the organisation by reducing operational costs, creating more resource-rich environments within which our children can better learn, ensuring a cadre of more qualified and informed practitioners, as well as attracting increased funding and partnerships.
Based on these objectives, the activities of the ECC have intensified over the last year. With the formulation of a new board of commissioners, the ECC began a rebranding strategy and intensified the focus on issuance of certificates of registration and the creation of infant schools and departments. Just over 210 infant schools/departments have been created, with 26 created for the 2017-2018 academic year.
REGISTRATION AND CERTIFICATION
There are 2,703 early childhood Playtime for students of the Glendevon Primary School, which is among those accredited by the Early Childhood Commission. institutions (ECIs) operating, in Jamaica, with 12 per cent, or 335, ECIs owned by the Jamaican Government. The remaining 88 per cent, or 2,368 ECIs, are community basic schools or privately owned.
The community basic schools, while not owned by the Government, benefit from assistance through practitioner salary subsidy and nutrition and material grants. To date, only 2,420 have applied for a certificate of registration with the commission.
Of that amount, 1,873 have received a permit to operate, while 100 have met the performance criteria under the 12 operating standards and received a certificate of registration. The current focus of the ECC is to increase the number of ECIs that are meeting the standards to a minimum of 300 by 2019.
MONITORING STRATEGIES
With the increased thrust towards assisting ECIs to attain certification status, the ECC closely monitors the number of ECIs implementing their school development-improvement plans. This is done through the use of the classroom observation tool (COT).
COT is an automated system designed to record best practices and child outcomes in an early childhood classroom setting for children ages three to five. Each