Kingston, Jamaica, CMC – Government is intensifying efforts to improve educational outcomes among boys, with the Ministry of Education launching a dedicated push to address the growing gender gap in the school system.
Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Senator Marlon Morgan, has been tasked with leading the Ministry’s boys’ education agenda as officials develop measures to provide greater support for male students.
Permanent Secretary Dr Kasan Troupe said the move follows concerns that boys were trailing girls at the end of the last academic year.
She said technical work is already underway to identify ways of supporting schools and teachers and enriching the educational experiences of boys during the 2026-27 academic year.
“We have gone already into the workshop to look at how we will be supporting our schools this year under the leadership of Senator Morgan,” Troupe said.
“He will be leading the boys’ education machinery in the Ministry. The technical work has begun, and you will hear more about that as we support our teachers, looking at other activities that will help and enrich the experiences for our boys,” she added.
Troupe said the Government wants boys to catch up academically while also preparing them to become responsible adults and contributors to Jamaican society.
“We want them to catch up. We want them to be good husbands and good fathers… good partners,” she said.
“We have daughters and we want them to find good men tomorrow. So we have a responsibility to make sure that our boys can stand out and stand up in Jamaica,” Troupe added.
Meanwhile, she said more than 8,000 teachers worked with the Jamaica Teaching Council during the summer to prepare for the 2026-27 academic year.
Troupe also reported that the National Parenting Support Commission reached more than 56,000 parents between April and September as part of efforts to prepare students and parents for the new school year.
The commission, an agency of the Education Ministry, provides programmes and services aimed at strengthening parenting skills and promoting greater parental involvement in education.
Troupe said partnerships between home and school remain critical to improving student outcomes.
