7 th Meeting and 2 nd Interamerican CSR & Early Childhood Meeting October Marie Archer Hitchins Barita Education Foundation (BEF) Kingston, Jamaica 1

Demographic Overview  Jamaica is a small island in the Caribbean  Population approximately 3M  Official Language – English  Spoken Language - Jamaican Creole 2

Economic Overview  Moved from what was mainly agrarian economy to a service oriented economy  GDP Per Capita – US$5, (WB)  Unemployment – 14.3% (STATIN)  Debt to GDP Ratio – 128.3% (PIOJ)  Global Competitive Index ranked Jamaica at 107 out of 142 countries 3

Global Competitiveness  Why are we here & How do we increase our competitiveness?  Have we invested enough in human & social capital?  Is our economic underperformance tied educational underperformance?  What can we do about it? 4

Educational Challenges  Children underperforming at primary and secondary levels.  Thirty Percent of primary school graduates can illiterate  Fifty Five Percent innumerate National Council on Education (NCE)2009 5

Implications for Development A service economy requires a labour force that is:  Literate  Numerate  Able to think critically  Able to communicate effectively in English 6

Hence the Need for a highly developed ECE programme in Jamaica 7

Overview Early Childhood Sector  2,000 pre-schools & day-care centers  Ninety Percent Enrollment in pre-schools  Churches heavily invested in pre-schools & primary schools This indicates that parents have bought into the importance of education at the early childhood level. 8

Community Schools  99% of the pre-schools and day-care centers are community based and privately operated  Schools must have a Board of Management  The Operators are Members of the community  Operators & teachers inadequately trained 9

The Model  Community-based  Privately owned & operated  Low-cost  Delivered by untrained personnel  High coverage nationally  99% enrollment  Community & Parent support  Policy Support 10

Is The Model Working & what are the Policy Implications? 11

Government’s Commitment 2004 established Early Childhood Commission (ECC). An inter-sectoral body comprising health, education and social welfare services Responsible for: 1.Developing Policy & Regulations 2.Regulating Programmes & Services 3.Establishing Standards 4.School Inspections 12

The Early Childhood Commission Establishment of a comprehensive legal, regulatory and policy framework :  Early Childhood Act and Regulations, 2005  National Plan of Action for ECD  National Strategic Plan for ECD  National Parenting Policy  National Parenting Support Commission 13

ECE as a Social Contract The Early Childhood Programme in Jamaica is a tripartite arrangement between the:  Community  Government  Private sector. 14

Barita Education Foundation  Managed by a private sector company  Engaged in ECE  Critical Player  A model for CSR in Early Childhood Education 15

BEF Board & Students with Former Minister of Education/Prime Minister 16

Barita Education Foundation: Vision  Students acquire strong foundational skills in Literacy and Numeracy  Students transition successfully to Primary School  Teachers equipped with skills in Numeracy and Literacy instruction for effective teaching  Parents equipped to support their children  Optimum educational outcomes for Partner Schools 17

The Friends & Barita Investments Five-year community based literacy project managed by three businesswomen Barita Investments Ltd., the oldest stock brokerage firm in Jamaica, principal sponsor Programme assumed by Barita Investments Ltd. Foundation established in 2004 Focus on training, skills transfer & instruction 18

Barita Education Foundation: Board of Directors 19

The Programme The BEF Programme is a Two-year intervention which focuses on:  Literacy  Numeracy  Parenting support Using an integrated Agenda that incorporates Teachers & Parents 20

Barita Education Foundation Enhancement Programme 21

Literacy Enhance the knowledge and instructional skills of Pre- School teachers in:  Letter knowledge  Word Recognition  Phonics  Comprehension  Penmanship and Writing 22

Building Fluent Readers 23

Numeracy The B.E.F. Teachers lead the guided learning sessions with demonstrations that connect knowledge and application.  Classification  Seriation  Number sense  Measurement 24

Life-long Problem Solving Skills 25

Parenting Support Social workers arrange discussions and activities to:  Promote parenting awareness  Improve parenting skills  Encourage participation in school’s activities 26

The BEF Team 27

School Selection  Need-based  Process of Evaluation  Weakest schools selected  Most vulnerable schools selected 28

Evidence-based Implementation Every child is assessed. A programme of instruction is developed in order to: Improve the level of learning for each child. Train the classroom teacher in the most current approaches & strategies in planning, instruction & class management with special emphasis on reading and arithmetic. Each school is allocated one trained teacher who acts as a Mentor Teacher. The Mentor Teachers are supervised by the Programme Coordinator. 29

Outcomes Students engaged in the learning process Students learning at the pace and at the level required for their age group Teachers empowered with new knowledge & technologies Parents encouraged by the process Community benefits 30

Results 31

Best Practices Assessment Training Active Engagement and Supervision by the Board of BEF Signed contracts of agreement between the school and BEF. Consultation with Parents Parents advised of the programme’s implementations 32

Challenges Inability of the host teacher to carry on the programme and transfer knowledge after BEF exit. Modified the programme to address these needs. Included a monitoring mechanism. 33

Corporate Social Responsibility 1.National Engagement 2.Private Sector awareness 3.Private Sector commitment  Financial Support  Technical Expertise  Management Support 34

Corporate Social Responsibility In Jamaica we have now come to the point in our development where companies are beginning to understand that CSR is not charity, but rather an investment in their communities which over the long term will redound to them. 35

CSR in Early Childhood Development the Cornerstone of economic development. Let’s Make A Difference !!!!!!!!! 36