Primary education assistance project

The project will be implemented primarily by the Office of Projects, Construction, and Maintenance (PCMD) of the Ministry of Education (MOE). Over 150 rural and urban primary schools (enrolling 67,000 pupils) have been targeted for renovation to alleviate structural, sanitary, and overcrowding problems. In addition to basic structural repairs, the project will refurbish the schools with classroom partitions, student desks and benches, and blackboards. To assist the PCMD plan and implement the building renovation, A.I.D. will provide a long-term advisor, who will act as an overall coordinator; a quantity surveyor; and an engineer to act as the Project Management Advisor, as well as four-wheel drive vehicles and microcomputers. To increase the quality of instruction and meet the great demand for educational materials, the project will continue and expand a multidonor textbook project begun in 1984 using inexpensive, heavy-duty newspaper print and cardboard covers. Over 10 million free primary textbooks and teachers" manuals - in language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies - will be printed and distributed. All 8,000 teachers in the primary school system will also be given supplementary teaching materials. An educational economist, planner, and a financial expert will provide the TA needed to institutionalize and evaluate the textbook production program. The project will help develop local initiatives. To support the above renovations and generate local pride and employment, the PCMD will hire local laborers to make repairs and install security measures to thwart the vandalism responsible for much of the present damage. Short-term TA will help the MOE and local school staff and community leaders to conduct needs assessments and plan, implement, and evaluate activities in community-school relations. Regional workshops on organizing activities will be given for community and school personnel, and inservice training will be given to school staff and administrators. In addition, some 100 school personnel and community leaders will visit the U.S. to study successful community/school cooperative activities and problemsolving techniques which could be adapted to the Jamaican primary school system.