In keeping with an announcement made in Education Minister Fayval Williams’ April 2021 Sectoral Debate presentation, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information has launched a task force on character education, chaired by Dr Michael Abrahams, medical practitioner and human rights advocate.

The task force is designed to facilitate and address objectives in the cognitive, attitudinal and behavioural domains of learning among young Jamaicans, and is the first step in the ministry’s plans to incorporate a holistic character education programme into school curricula. 

To this end, the programme is expected to impart essential values to improve the way students interact with teachers, their peers, and the wider Jamaican society. It will facilitate unity, civility, increased production and economic growth over a sustained period.

Members of the task force will carry out the following functions:

1. Review all character education programmes and initiatives within the education system as well as initiatives/plans that were not implemented;
2. Advance programme and strategy mapping exercises and gap analyses to identify where interventions are required;
3. Determine specific activities to be undertaken in relation to the mandate of drafting and recommending initiatives to support the development of a character education programme;
4. Establish subcommittees to spearhead various aspects of the programme’s development and implementation phases;
5. Contribute to the development of a concept paper and strategic plan that will provide the overall framework for crafting the character education programme;
6. Develop an implementation plan;
7. Create a monitoring and evaluation framework to support the programme’s successful implementation and sustainability. The task force has been meeting to finalise key areas of focus in the Character Education Programme.

The members of the task force include:

External/Non-Governmental Stakeholders

• Dr Michael Abrahams – Chairman
• Dr Margaret Chin – Assistant Secretary General, Jamaica Teachers’ Association
• Jasford Gabriel – Immediate Past President, Jamaica Teachers’ Association
• Dr Herbert Gayle – Social Anthropologist, Senior Lecturer, University of West Indies Mona
• Juleus Ghunta – Children’s Book Author and Advocate for ACEs Awareness
• Dr Avis Glaze – Chief Executive Officer, Edu-Quest International Incorporated
• Professor Sir Kenneth Hall – Chancellor, University of the Commonwealth Caribbean
• Dr Abigail Harrison – Paediatrician, Adolescent Medicine Specialist
• Renee James – Educational Psychologist
• Dr Rosemarie Johnson – Lecturer, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of West Indies Mona
• Dr Saphire Longmore Consultant, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of West Indies
• Rev. Father Sean Major-Campbell, Anglican Priest and Human Rights Advocate
• Danielle Mullings –  President, Guild of Students, UWI, Mona
• Dr Renee Rattray – Education Consultant
• Ree-Anna Robinson – Public Relations Officer, National Student Council
• Shawn Steadman Wilkinson – Lawyer, Human Rights Advocate
• Rev. Dr Stevenson Samuels – Pastor, New Testament Church of God
• Dr Ganesh Shetty – Child Psychiatrist
• Winston Smith – President, Jamaica Teachers’ Association
• Dr Rebecca Tortello – Education Specialist, UNICEF
• Christina Williams – President of the Jamaica Union of Tertiary Students

Ministry Representatives

• Fayval Williams – Minister of Education, Youth and Information
• Robert Morgan – Minister of State, MoEYI
• Dr Grace McLean – Permanent Secretary (Acting)
• Dr Kasan Troupe – Chief Education Officer (Acting)
• Viviene Johnson –Senior Director, Planning Unit
• Simoan Foster – Coordinator Character Education and Uniform Groups
• Dr Clover Hamilton-Flowers –  Assistant Chief Education Officer, Core Curriculum Unit
• Fern McFarlane – Assistant Chief Education Officer,  Guidance and Counselling Unit
• Marlon Morgan – Director (Acting), Executive Services Unit
• Marlon Williams –Senior Education Officer, Core Curriculum and Support Services Unit
• Anna-Kay Magnus Watson – Coordinator and Senior Education Officer for Health and Family Life Education
• Rosalee Gage-Grey – Chief Executive Officer, Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA)
• Kaysia Kerr – Executive Director, National Parenting Support Commission (NPSC)

The task force reports directly to the Minister of Education, Youth and Information and liaises with government and non-governmental partners as approved by the minister.