Ministry of Education, Youth and Information (Jamaica)

The Ministry of Education (MoE) is the government entity responsible for the management and administration of public education in Jamaica. The Ministry of Education was first established in 1953, as the Ministry of Education and Social Welfare. Currently, the MoE carries out the Government of Jamaica’s mandate of ensuring a system which secures quality education and training of all citizens of Jamaica in order to optimise individual and national development.The MoE provides the avenue for the enrichment and upward mobility of our people through education. The organisation is one of Jamaica’s largest public entities and is comprised presently of 11 agencies, six Regional Offices, and a central office with approximately 40 units which fall under 5 divisions. These unite to provide the framework for the efficient functioning of over 1,000 public educational institutions that serve over 100,000 students and over 20,000 teachers. The Ministry of Education is also responsible for two public universities and several community, multidisciplinary and teachers’ colleges. Core Roles and FunctionsThe Ministry’s role of effectively managing the education system is accomplished through the execution of functions carried out by its divisions and agencies. Among these functions are:

Planning, developing and implementing educational policies and programmes
Monitoring and evaluating the performance of locally and internationally funded projects and programmes
Maintaining an efficient system of collecting, collating, analyzing and presenting current and accurate data on quantifiable educational indicators to meet local demand and international standards
Developing and supporting programmes, services and activities geared towards personal and national development
Providing guidance in financial management for all educational institutions and affiliated agencies.