In Jamaica, it was fortuitous that the Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) was established in 2008 with a mandate to enable and sustain a quality teaching profession. As such the profession should be geared to realize the mantra of Jamaica “Every child can learn, Every child must learn.”  Its initial review of the performance of students revealed the gravity of the issue of the performance of boys.  The “Advancing the Education of Boys Programme” was launched in the National Arena as part of the National Forum for Innovations in Teaching (FIT) exhibition in October 2014. In the launch of the Programme, the Council was clear that the intention was not to compare boys and girls, it was directed at raising the achievement levels of boys so that they would all become productive citizens.

Males in education and corporate Jamaica are selected through recommendation and screening to support our boys across primary and secondary schools. This is done with the support of the principals and parents/guardians as we work collaboratively to build a mentorship programme for schoolboys such that they have a context in which they can access psychosocial support and acquire competencies for livelihood.