Parent Place for Mount Salem by End of March
Photo: Mark Bell
Chief Executive Officer of the National Parenting Support Commission (NPSC), Kaysia Kerr, addresses a Think Tank held at the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) headquarters in Kingston.
The community of Mount Salem, in St. James, will have a Parent Place by the end of March, while several parenting seminars are on for Western Jamaica starting February 16.
According to Chief Executive Officer of the National Parenting Support Commission (NPSC), Kaysia Kerr, the agency is procuring equipment for the facility, which will facilitate the development of parenting skills for persons in the area and be an outlet for them to get crucial support.
“(It) will offer psychosocial support, literacy intervention, skills building, and ongoing parent education,” Miss Kerr told JIS News.
She said ineffective parenting has been identified as some of the reasons for much of the antisocial challenges in many communities, and the seminars will seek to provide meaningful responses with relevant professionals.
The events form part of the NPSC annual support for parents whose children will be sitting the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT).
“We are going to have a cadre of persons – psychologists and others – who will interpret data, so that we can respond on spot to what we are seeing,” Miss Kerr informed.
The first seminar will take place on Friday (February 16) at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Montego Bay starting at 11:30 a.m., followed by the second on Saturday (February 17) at the Hopewell Primary and Junior High School in Hanover at 3:00 p.m., and the third at the Mount Salem Primary and Junior High School in St. James on Sunday, February 18, beginning at 3:00 p.m.
“The interventions are very important because, as parents, we can always improve our skill sets,” Miss Kerr said.
