The STEAM Education in Schools Jamaica is a three-year programme (November 2024 – October 2027) developed by the British Council in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Youth and Microbit Foundation; the programme is funded by the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, National Education Trust, e-Learning Jamaica, British Council, and supported by the Microbit Foundation. The programme the British Council will train 10,770 teachers, benefit 328,500 students and distribute over 30,000 microbits. 

The programme aims to enhance skills of children and young people by developing and integrating STEAM concepts in the Education system in Jamaica. The programme will integrate computational thinking and core skills in curricula and implement Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for teachers in Primary Education, and application of STEM with core skills in Secondary Education through CPD of teachers. It emphasizes, along with the traditional STEAM concepts and skills, the intentional integration of creativity (representing the ‘A’ in STEAM) into the STEAM curriculum and activities to provide a multi-dimensional way for students to engage with learning. Aligning with efforts outlined later, on gender mainstreaming and equity, this approach presents potential benefits particularly to boys, who have been shown to not engage as fully as girls in traditional academic subjects like mathematics or reading. 

Programme Objectives:

  1. Roadmap Development: Contribute to creating a national STEAM curriculum implementation roadmap.
  2. Curriculum Development: Adapt local curriculum and teacher training to improve confidence in coding and core skills.
  3. Teacher Empowerment: Equip primary school teachers with coding and core skills training, improving classroom pedagogy.
  4. Effective Knowledge Transfer: Promote best practices for STEAM knowledge transfer between teachers and students, addressing low-performing areas and gender inclusion.
  5. Core Skills Development: Focus on creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration, and social-emotional learning.

Key Components

  • Roadmap for STEM Education: Develop guidelines for the STEAM education development and stakeholder collaboration in Jamaica along with monitoring & evaluation tools for implementation.
  • Curriculum Adaptation and Integration: Adapt and develop pedagogical materials for teaching computational thinking and 21st-century skills in line with and to be embedded in Jamaica’s curriculum.
  • Teacher Professional Development (CPD): Continuous professional development for primary and secondary teachers through Quality Education Circles (QECs).
  • Student Engagement Activities: Codefest and STEAM Challenges to actively engage students.

The National STEAM Education commissioned by the British Council, is the first national study of its kind on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) education in Jamaica. It was developed through desk research, curriculum mapping, surveys, and interviews with educators, industry representatives, and community actors. The study assesses the current STEAM landscape—from early childhood through tertiary levels—alongside its integration in industry and community programmes. It also identifies gaps in alignment with international benchmarks and provides a policy framework for strengthening the national STEAM ecosystem.

The primary aim is to create a baseline understanding of Jamaica’s STEAM education ecosystem to inform policy, guide collaboration among stakeholders, and align educational outcomes with labour market needs. The report seeks to:

  • Map the current status of STEAM education in Jamaica.
  • Identify gaps in training, funding, infrastructure, and collaboration.
  • Recommend strategies and policy objectives to build a robust, inclusive, and future-ready STEAM ecosystem that supports the country’s socio-economic growth and Vision 2030 goals.

Download the report

Results:

  1. Curriculum Integration: Early childhood and primary curricula integrate strong STEM content but show low emphasis on problem-solving, innovation, and collaboration. Only 21% of reviewed curricula (Grades 1–8) were well aligned with STEM standards.
  2. Student Participation: On average, 43% of CSEC subject entries and 27% of passes were in STEAM subjects; for CAPE, 36% of entries and 30% of passes were in STEAM subjects.
  3. Tertiary & Teacher Training: Teacher training institutions lead in STEAM integration, but universities remain largely siloed. Over 500 in-service teachers have received STEAM methodology training, yet there is no unified national tertiary STEAM framework.
  4. Industry & Community: The STEAM-related labour force is estimated at 59% of Jamaica’s workforce, though this includes unskilled workers. Multiple private-sector and community initiatives support STEAM education, but coordination is limited.
  5. Key Gaps: These include inadequate teacher training, limited ICT skills, outdated infrastructure, lack of early STEAM exposure, insufficient funding for research, and weak industry–education linkages.
  6. Policy Recommendations: Establish a National STEAM Centre, adopt international standards, integrate STEAM methodology across all education levels, create STEAM-certified schools, promote public awareness, and expand funding for STEAM research and innovation.
 

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