Jamaican teachers travel to New York for education summit

The summit will be held from March 21-25 in Manhattan, New York, and will bring together approximately 60 Jamaican educators from varied backgrounds to experience workshops, seminars, panel discussions, and school tours. The activities are aimed at leveraging vast Diaspora expertise for capacity development within the educational landscape for a post-pandemic Jamaica.

This year's Summit will be hosted by the Union of Jamaican Alumni Associations (USA) Inc. (UJAA) and the Marymount Manhattan College (MMC) on the college's campus in New York, NY. The Summit has rotated over the years to deliver different pedagogical experiences for teachers and educators before going virtual during the pandemic for the past two years.

President of the Union of Jamaican Alumni Association (UJAA), Lesleyann Samuel was ecstatic about delivering on a pandemic-delayed promise. She stated: “UJAA is proud to co-host this summit as we follow through on our promise to bring our teachers to the Big Apple, to have them experience the unique and diverse education landscape, to see, to learn and to compare.”

Michael Salmon, associate vice president and dean of academic excellence at Marymount Manhattan College added: “As someone who is a product of the Jamaican educational system, it is my pleasure to be a co-chair of the JDETF Education Summit 2022, to be held at Marymount Manhattan College, where I have been for almost 30 years. Everything that I have achieved in my life is a result of the education I received in Jamaica, from my little basic school in the hills of Manchester to University of the West Indies. As a fellow educator, I am especially excited to welcome our teachers and educational leaders from Jamaica, to what will be a week of solid professional development. I must also applaud our partners, the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA), for making this possible. If education is the doorway to economic development, our teachers are the keys to that door. Best wishes for another great summit."

The summit has been hosted by various organizations in the past, including the City of Miramar, the Broward Alliance of Caribbean Educators and Broward College in Florida. Plans are already in place for this important annual event to be staged in additional cities across the USA next year and beyond. “It has been a pleasure to observe the growth of the education summit over these past eight years. The involvement of the early and long-standing partners, the designers, planners, and participants have been tremendous in the thrust in preparing our educators to advance Jamaica.  As we take a turn out of this COVID-19 pandemic, empowering and emphasizing our educators will be essential for the future", said Leo Gilling, chairman of the JDTAN.

Winston Smith, president of the Jamaica Teachers Association, further added that the JTA is very grateful for the support and collaboration of the Jamaican Diaspora to advance education here in Jamaica.  “The partnership with JDTAN over the years is second to none. The exposure gained has added significant improvement in our teachers' pedagogy and to the level of motivation when our teachers return to the classroom in Jamaica. Finally, this event signals Jamaica's brain gain and capacity development for our country's growth, as we seek to capitalize on this vast number of opportunities in the Diaspora-led initiative."