OCHO RIOS, St Ann:

"Significant changes" are coming to the education ministry's regional councils under the transformation of the education system.

However, Andrew Holness, education minister has come out to say that the changes would be carried out in a fair and transparent manner.

Addressing the 19th annual professional development conference of the Jamaica Association of Education Officers (JAEO) at the Gran Bahía Principe hotel in Runaway Bay on Thursday, Holness ruffled a few feathers when he claimed many regions created more problems than they solved. He further pointed to poor leadership as the cause of many of those problems.

Education officers, Holness said, had to start appreciating that the Ministry of Education was going to have to find people who understood that the buck stops with them.

Vast resources

He acknowledged that among the staff at the regional level there were vast resources of knowledge and experience, which should not be lost.

Holness also reiterated the need for a staff college for leadership in education.

He further informed the gathering that a representative from the JAEO would sit on the board of the staff college.

He also invited education officers to apply for posts on the soon-to-be established Jamaica Teaching Council.

Meanwhile, some education officers at the conference have said they were not being kept abreast of changes taking place under the transformation programme.

Over 80 education officers were at the opening day of the three-day conference, held under the theme 'Strength Through Empowerment'.

- C.G.