Joined-up ZOSO social intervention to produce results, says Chang

NATIONAL SECURITY Minister Dr Horace Chang has sought to give the assurance that the social intervention programmes being carried out under the zones of special operations (ZOSO) initiative are measurable and designed to produce results.

Chang, who was facing Parliament’s Standing Finance Committee on Tuesday, said that various ministries are directly or tangentially involved in ZOSOs as the Government seeks to cut off the supply of male school dropouts to gangs.

“The way they are being done at this point in time, the ZOSO costs several ministries. In addition to the Ministry of National Security, Health, Housing, Social [Security] and Health.

“The schools that are within the zones will be improved to get them off the shift system; to improve the physical quality of the school; and the Ministry of Education will be asked to examine the programmes that they have. The Ministry of National Security will be seeking to introduce special programmes in those schools to see to what extent we can work with our young males who are dropping out of school at a rapid rate,” the minister said as he sought to explain the joined-up approach of the ministries.

Opposition Spokesman Fitz Jackson questioned whether the Ministry of National Security had gone beyond

“looking at” the situation in communities to designing programmes with targets.

MEASURABLE OUTCOME

“[I asked] because quite often when you go into the middle of the fiscal year, the ministry comes before the PAAC, there is nothing you can account for and you would have heard an annoucment made that this is going to be ‘looked at’,” said Jackson.

But Chang insisted that the outcome of the Government’s intervention could be measured.

“You can look at the results at the end of the year where you would expect to move a school from failing to success; where you can look at the Grade Four Literacy exam; where many of these schools are below 30 per cent,” said Chang.

“If you work assiduously with the new programme – which we are doing – we will be able to get them up to 80 and 90 per cent,” Chang said.

Jackson, who was questioning Chang, noted that he was under the impression that some 20 ZOSOs would be declared this year. However, Chang clarified to say that there were, in fact, 21 possible areas, but only two new ones would be declared shortly.

“All 20 could not be done this year. We don’t have the human capacity to manage 20 zones,” Chang admitted.