The Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information has announced major improvements in literacy across Jamaica’s schools, as reflected in the 2025 Primary Exit Profile (PEP) Grade 4 National Results.

The results demonstrate that the nation’s education system continues to make steady progress in equipping students with foundational skills in reading, writing, and numeracy.

The ministry said that 70.4% of all students sitting the Grade 4 PEP are at mastery in numeracy, while 67% of all students sitting the exam are at mastery in literacy.

In relation to the literacy results, the ministry said, it is important to note that only 475 of the over 33,000 students sitting the exam were recorded at the non-mastery level.

“These results reflect the extraordinary work being done by our teachers, principals, literacy coordinators and our students,” said Senator Dr. the Hon. Dana Morris Dixon, Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information.

The Ministry of Education will be reinforcing several strategic interventions to sustain this momentum, including:

• The National School Learning and Intervention Plan (NSLIP) and tactical coaching for literacy and numeracy teachers;
• Christmas and Easter Camps;
• School-based data review meetings to develop tailored improvement plans;
• Identification of top-performing schools to capture and share best practices.

Morris Dixon noted that the results are a reflection of the success of the government’s broader education transformation agenda, which includes literacy and numeracy initiatives, as well as teacher professional development.

“These gains remind us that when we invest in our teachers and support our students early, we lay the foundation for lifelong success,” the minister added. “Our goal remains full literacy and numeracy for every child, regardless of background or circumstance.”

The Ministry will continue to provide schools with individualised reports and intensify its technical support to close remaining gaps.