Minister of Education and Youth Fayval Williams says scores of parents are now better equipped to assist with their children’s holistic development, after 40,199 of them were trained through the Department of School Services and the National Parenting Support Commission.

The education minister, who made the announcement during a post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday, September 13, said: “This is a significant initiative in collaboration with the Ministry of National Security in particular citizen and security programme as you know parents are very important stakeholders in education and to start the new school year with so many parents engaged due to this programme is very encouraging.”

Williams believes this initiative can foster improved parent-teacher relationships, while encouraging greater involvement in the lives of their children.

“The National Parenting Support Commission and the Department of School Services monitored the parental engagement programmed in 556 schools and we are expecting to see increased positive behaviours in those schools. I want to urge parents to continue to be active and constructive in their children’s education, not just in their academic lives but also their holistic developments,” Williams added.

In addition to improving parenting skills, the education minister said that training sessions were also conducted in the School Wide Positive Behaviour Intervention and Support Initiative (SWPBIS) with 120 school teams.

“For this school year, we are also expecting to see the improved ability of schools to positively manage schools behaviour as a result of these training sessions that were conducted. We conducted refresher sessions, coaching sessions and sensitisation sessions,” Williams said.

She noted that these initiatives are set to continue throughout the new academic school year.

The National Parent Support Commission is an agency of the Ministry of Education and Youth that is mandated to transform and empower parents through advocacy, communication, research, education and support. While the Department of School Services, also an entity within the education ministry, is mandated to coordinate activities and provide a stronger focus on school improvement and accountability.