Region 6 has been instrumental in implementing the Transitions Project, which is designed to facilitate the implementation of strategies to improve existing structures in pre-schools and primary schools, and create new structures which can help to bridge the gaps between the two levels.

The project, which was proposed by U.N.I.C.E.F., attempts to address not only the point of actual entry in primary school, but also what happens to children over the first two years. This is in recognition of the fact that, in order to help children through transition periods, there needs to be support beyond the point of entry.

To address specific problems already identified, and thereby facilitate achievement of the overall aim of the project, five components have been conceptualised:

Teacher Training and Curricula
Improvement of Learning Environment
School Management
Parent and Community Orientation, Assistance Support, Education and Sharing (O.A.S.E.S.)
Support for Children at Risk
To achieve these objectives, Region 6 has been working in collaboration with the Early Childhood Unit of the Ministry; the Science Learning Centre of the I.C.W.I. Group Foundation; the School of Education at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona; U.N.I.C.E.F., Jamaica; Consultants from Oakland University, U.S.A., and Shortwood Teachers’ College.

The goal of the project is to improve school readiness and performance of children ages four to eight in pre-primary and primary schools by developing and testing methods for supporting children’s transitions to school and ensuring the school’s readiness to receive them.

The target population for the project includes the following beneficiaries in Clarendon:

Two primary schools, eight basic schools, 31 teachers, two principals
two vice-principals, two education officers, and 1,255 children.
Two components of the Transitions Pilot Project, Learning through Science and Literacy through Literature or Reading Aloud are currently being interwoven into the existing Early Childhood and Primary Grades 1 and 2 curricula.