3. Policy goals and strategies
of leaving school prematurely. Secondary-level programming will also be modified and expanded to cater to more and diverse students, especially in Form 5. And last, but most critically, regulatory action will be taken to ensure that there is no longer a sanctioned‘ school leaving group’ in Form 4.
Intermediate Outcome 3: Universal access to TVET competencies in compulsory education is provided and gender disparities in participation in TVET courses are reduced at secondary level and beyond
TARGETS
❚ 100 % of primary and lower secondary school students build TVET competencies through core subject areas
❚ Increased proportion of males to females in traditionally femaledominated TVET subjects and vice versa
Strategies: Building from the 2013 TVET Policy, which situates TVET as a vehicle for human and sustainable development and lifelong learning, the MoE will take steps to ensure that all students in primary and secondary school have access to TVET competencies such as problem solving, critical thinking, and other‘ employability skills’. 34 To do this, such competencies will be embedded in the revised national curriculum to be developed over the next five years. With regard to generating demand for and redressing disparities in participation in TVET at the secondary level and beyond, the MoE, with financial support from the Caribbean Development Bank( CDB), is implementing the 2016 – 2020 TVET Enhancement Project to develop a highquality, relevant, and gender-responsive TVET system in SKN. The scope of the project will include, but not be limited to, expanding and rationalizing the TVET offer in line with labour market needs and occupational standards as well as the development of a gender-responsive TVET strategic plan that will provide a road map for expanding access to quality and relevant TVET moving forward. Marketing campaigns to promote‘ TVET for All’ will also be critical.
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Intermediate Outcome 4: Student transition and promotion policies are informed by an evaluation of current practices regarding student motivation and equity
Strategy: Without the requisite remediation and other support services in place, equitable access to high-quality teaching and learning may be constrained by the existing policy of automatic promotion. Additionally, wholesale academic streaming at the secondary level, and in some instances the primary level, limits curriculum exposure and may contribute to demotivation and disillusionment in students, which are arguably factors contributing to high dropout rates at the secondary level. As such, over the plan period, research will be conducted to assess the influence of streaming and automatic promotion on students’ motivation to learn and equity in access to quality teaching and learning, with a view to informing policy decisions and actions.
Intermediate Outcome 5: Students from ECD to post-secondary with special educational needs are able to access quality care and instruction in the least restrictive school environment for the identified need
Strategies: Wherever feasible, the MoE seeks to provide inclusive learning environments for students with special education needs and disabilities. This will necessitate strengthening the regulatory framework that guides access and the participation of students with special education needs. Critically, this will include developing a special education policy that defines and operationalizes terms including, but not limited to,‘ least restrictive environment’ and‘ inclusion’. Based on this policy, the institutional infrastructure will be retrofitted and learning spaces will be equipped to serve a diversity of students with special education needs. Additionally, teachers and auxiliary staff in mainstream and special education schools will be trained to provide quality care and instruction to learners with special education needs.
Intermediate Outcome 6: Increased enrolment and completion in higher and continuing education
Strategies: Through the TVET Enhancement Project, the MoE will expand access to higher education and lifelong learning opportunities by offering a rationalized TVET system, which includes both formal and non-formal programmes. Programmes will be informed by labour market information to ensure relevance, and the sector will implement Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition( PLAR) to facilitate access to skills training for persons with industry experience but without sufficient formal qualifications. Additionally,
TARGETS
❚ 100 % of public schools implement evidence-based policies on streaming and automatic promotion
TARGETS
❚ At least four mainstream public schools( two primary and two secondary) provide appropriate accommodation for special needs students, per Special Education Policy to be developed
TARGETS
❚ Post-secondary GER( ages 17 – 20) of 35 % for males and 43 % for females
❚ 50 % reduction in dropout rates from local post-secondary and tertiary level programmes
34. Such employability skills include the ability to: collect and analyse information, communicate ideas and information, plan and organize activities, work with others in a team, use mathematical ideas and techniques, and use technology( OAS Assessor Training Course, OAS Hemispheric Project( 2007) cited in GoSKN( 2013b)).