Jamaica’s first Science, Expertise, Engineering, Arts and Arithmetic (STEAM) Academy is being established in St. Catherine as a part of the Authorities’s thrust to higher put together college students for the roles of the longer term.
Deputy Chief Schooling Officer for Core Curriculum and Assist Providers on the Ministry of Schooling, Expertise, Youth and Data, Winnie Berry, made the disclosure whereas talking throughout the launch of Jamaica’s Younger Voices Sustainable Growth Targets (SDG) Artistic Expression Competitors, held on Thursday (September 25) at Excelsior Excessive College in Kingston.
Ms. Berry, who represented Everlasting Secretary within the Ministry, Dr. Kasan Troupe, knowledgeable that plans are underway to increase the variety of STEAM academies to 6 by 2029.
These establishments will function state-of-the-art amenities, superior laboratories, and devoted areas for digital innovation, robotics, and the artistic arts
“That’s an enormous deal,” she declared, including that “the Authorities has already laid the inspiration for the primary STEAM Academy in St. Catherine”
Ms. Berry famous that the initiative aligns with broader schooling reforms, together with the Ministry’s Reworking Schooling for Nationwide Growth (TREND) Programme, which goals to modernise curriculum supply and guarantee equitable entry to high quality studying alternatives for all college students.
She added that the schooling thrust additionally aligns with Imaginative and prescient 2030 Jamaica—the nationwide improvement plan aimed toward making the nation the place of option to stay, work, elevate households, and do enterprise.
“A central pillar of this imaginative and prescient is schooling, one that’s related, trendy, and able to equipping our youth with the instruments to navigate an ever-changing world,” Ms. Berry said.
She said that the Ministry’s emphasis on innovation is mirrored within the launch of Jamaica’s Younger Voices competitors, which is able to have interaction college students from grades 4 to 13 in poetry, brief tales, visible artwork, and digital media.
“This competitors is particularly significant because it types a part of Jamaica’s preparation for the third voluntary nationwide evaluate in 2026. By participating college students in artistic expression, we’re saying to them, your voices matter… your views are valued, and your creativity might help form Jamaica’s progress on the worldwide stage,” Ms. Berry stated.
She added that excellent entries might be featured in Jamaica’s official report back to the United Nations in July 2026, underscoring the seriousness with which the Authorities values the contributions of younger folks.
“Be daring in your creativity, fearless in your expression, and happy with your voice. Whether or not by way of a poem, a narrative, a portray, or a digital art work, let the world see Jamaica by way of your eyes,” Ms. Berry informed the scholars.
In his remarks, Director Basic of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Dr. Wayne Henry, welcomed the competitors as a significant platform for empowering younger Jamaicans to contribute to nationwide improvement.
He added that the initiative ensures the concepts of younger individuals are not solely heard, however actively integrated into shaping Jamaica’s future improvement agenda.
Submissions for Jamaica’s Younger Voices SDG Artistic Expression Competitors are due by December 19, 2025.
