Boys In Education Week
Students from Pembrook Hall Primary in performance during the launch of the preliminary findings of the British Council’s Trilateral Champions Research.  ©

British Council

The British Council presented its inaugural Boys In Education Week from May 1-5, 2017, in Jamaica, under the theme: Supporting a Nation of Champion Boys. By turning the spotlight on boys, the British Council provided the opportunity for them to highlight the challenges and opportunities in their school life. Boys In Education Week was developed to coincide with Child Month and is grounded in the Trilateral Champions Project commissioned by the British Council in partnership with the Jamaica Teaching Council. The week of activities seeks to give students more confidence in their ability to contribute responsibly to society while creating a safe space for dialogue and sharing new ideas for teachers and education leaders from Jamaica and the UK. 

The British Council’s Trilateral Champions Project started over two years ago and was inspired by a statement made by the former Minister of Education Reverend Hon. Ronald Thwaites, at the Commonwealth Meeting of Ministers of Education. Minister Thwaites noted that the two major challenges he faced in education were the literacy and numeracy rates amongst school-leavers, from the formal school system, as well as the academic performance of boys in schools. The project focuses on the issue of gender equity through the examination of the differential in academic achievement of girls and boys in schools in the UK, the United States (USA) and Jamaica. The data gathered and analysed in our trilateral report research demonstrates that internationally over the last two decades, there has been a consistent gap between the performance of boys and girls, in critical national examinations and a significant under-representation of males at the tertiary level. Furthermore, boys are more likely to achieve lower grades than girls, exhibit more disciplinary problems, repeat a grade, and be placed in special education classes.

British Council Boys In Education Week 2017
On Monday May 1st the Jamaica Observer hosted a Global-level Dialogue, during their Monday Exchange, with local and international experts including Therese Turner-Jones, Country Representative for the Inter-American Development Bank, Dr Tony Sewell OBE, Founder and Director of the UK-based NGO Generating Genius and Mrs Rosemary Campbell–Stephens, Head of the National College for Educational Leadership. ©

British Council

British High Commissioner to Jamaica David Fitton
British High Commissioner to Jamaica David Fitton delivers an address during the launch of the preliminary findings of the British Council’s Trilateral Champions Research.   ©

British Council

British Council Jamaica Country Director Olayinka Jacobs-Bonnick
British Council Jamaica Country Director Olayinka Jacobs-Bonnick welcoming guests to the Boys Speed-Mentoring Day. ©

British Council

Parents, teachers and British Council Jamaica Staff
Parents, teachers and British Council Jamaica Staff during the Trilateral Parent-Teacher Workshop. ©

British Council

Boys In Education Week 2017
Students participate in a teamwork exercise during the Boys Junior Hack-a-thon.  ©

Kiwayne Jacobs

In collaboration with our local strategic partner, the Jamaica Teaching Council, the next phase of the Trilateral Champions Project will be designed to work with six secondary schools from each territory focusing on male students at grade seven and continuing to grade 11 or the equivalent in the England and US. The project will endeavour to identify strategies, which will be tested with a view to identifying if they have the potential to make a difference to boys’ learning, motivation and engagement with their schooling, and consequently to improve levels of academic achievement and personal and socio-economic development.

The Week of Activities

On Monday May 1st the Jamaica Observer hosted a Global-level Dialogue, during their Monday Exchange, with local and international experts including Therese Turner-Jones, Country Representative for the Inter-American Development Bank, Dr Tony Sewell OBE, Founder and Director of the UK-based NGO Generating Genius and Mrs Rosemary Campbell–Stephens, Head of the National College for Educational Leadership. On May 2nd the preliminary findings of the British Council’s Trilateral Champions Research was launched at the Mona Visitors’ Lodge. The launch was further supported by a Speed-Mentoring Day for boys on Wednesday, May 3rd at the JamaicaPegasus Hotel, a Trilateral Parent-Teacher Workshop on Thursday, May 4th, with the participation of UK teachers at the Knutsford Court Hotel and a Boys Junior Hack-a-thon at the Grace Kennedy STEM Centre on Friday, May 5th.