A contingent 100 educators strong will be arriving from Jamaica for the eighth annual Advancements in Education Summit in Miramar, Florida in June.

The summit is the flagship event of the Jamaica Diaspora Taskforce Action Network (JDTAN), which will be hosting 100 Jamaican educators attending various workshops and panel discussions.

Under the theme, “Advancing our passion for teaching and learning: Rediscovering our Why,” the education summit runs from June 13 to June 16.

It will culminate this year for the first time with JDTAN’s inaugural Education Charity Gala on Diaspora Day, June 16.  

In a statement, the JDTAN said it was happy to announce that teachers from other Caribbean islands will join the summit, a new and essential part of the week’s activities, courtesy of the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA).

The network considered itself “a successful vehicle in the public-private sector partnership dedicated to improving the education system in Jamaica through enrichment and programs that improve the quality of knowledge transfer between educators and students”. 

Supporting educators

The major partners and sponsors participating in Summit 23 are JTA, Jamaica National Group, in supporting educators Florida Atlantic University, Union of Jamaican Alumni Associations, and JDTAN. Patron for the week’s events is Jamaican Ambassador to the US and Permanent Representative of the Organization of American States (OAS), Audrey Marks.

“In this eighth education summit, the mission of JDTAN in supporting educators has not changed but instead has evolved to meet the changing needs of educators. Using a collaborative approach to engage and mobilise the Jamaican Diaspora, the aim of the summit is to build capacity by identifying needs and delivering best practices to enhance pedagogy among Jamaican educators and other individuals within the education sphere,”

Dr Sherika Dacres, summit chairperson, commended JDTAN for continuing to provide access and opportunities for those in the education sector to grow and thrive in their craft.

For her part, Ambassador Marks said the diaspora is a reservoir of resources that has continued to enhance the development of Jamaica, in particular, the educational institutions, programs, and policies. 

For her the focus is frequently on young people, but the Jamaica Diaspora Taskforce Education Summit takes an unconventional approach by spotlighting the unsung heroes, the educators. With the diaspora’s support, teachers receive admiration and transformational tools to prepare young people to thrive and build a prosperous Jamaica.