Advancement in Education Summit kicks off in NY today

The seventh Advancement in Education Summit will be held in New York from March 21-25 under the theme ‘Meeting the Challenges of Education Today – Teaching, Learning, Leading, Healing’.

Summit 2022 is a collaborative staging hosted by the Union of Jamaican Alumni Associations Inc (UJAA) and Marymount Manhattan College, and includes the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) as the primary stakeholder.

President of the JTA Winston Smith, and Secretary General Dr Mark Nicely, recently visited New York and Philadelphia for meetings with members of UJAA, various alumni associations, and education officials in both cities.

The JTA is expected to send a delegation of some 65 people to this week’s seminar.

In Philadelphia, the JTA representatives met with 2021 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, National Association of Secondary School Principals, Principal of the Year 2019, National Association of Black School Educators, Principal of the Year 2017, Education Dive magazine, National School Administrator of the Year, Paul Robeson High School for Human Services, Philadelphia.

The JTA delegation had a meet-and-greet with Dr Robin Cooper, the first black, and female, president.

The delegation also visited three schools with Principal Aaron Starke of Universal Alcorn Charter School (K-8) and met with Jamaican and American educators, and Philadelphia community leaders.

The discussions centred around educational equity, promising practices regarding learning loss recovery, as well as social-emotional support for staff, families and students.

Nicely told The Gleaner that the visit was to interact with educators, education officials, UJAA representatives and union representatives ahead of the upcoming seminar.

“The seminar is expected to expand the reach in education,” he said.

Speaking specifically about the recent salary negotiations with the Government, which some teachers feel did not go far enough to address their needs, Nicely said that it was a work in progress and pointed out that the Government will be undertaking a comprehensive review of the salary structures.

“All is not lost. We are not leading them down a pathway, but we are looking at the bigger picture,” he said.

Nicely said the JTA would be spending some $25 million to purchase laptops and tablets for teachers.

A news release on the summit says the seminar promises to be a resource-packed week with discussions, presentations, plenaries, breakout sessions, workshops, and school tours resourced through the collaborative efforts of educators across borders.

This is the third summit being staged in the United States and follows the last two that were full virtual presentations.