Camp Summer Plus 2011: A holistic way to stem underachievement

The recently concluded Camp Summer Plus organized by the Ministry of Education with support from the USAID/Jamaica Basic Education Project has received outstanding reviews from parents. Grateful parents have expressed how the camp has made a noticeable difference in their children’s outlook over the five-week period.  One by one, they spoke at the final weekly parents meeting, telling stories of what they see as transformations in their children’s attitudes and accomplishments. Rosie, a mother who volunteered with the camp, spoke of her son Dean and his previous indifference towards school and reading in particular. “Tears come to my eyes,” Rosie explained, when she witnesses Dean reading unprompted. These days, she even has difficulties getting him to close the book before bed, and Rosie caught Dean “sleeping with his book”. He even reads in the morning before leaving for camp and for Rosie, this is truly a miracle. At the meeting, Rosie’s tears flowed freely.Rohan Carr, a father whose nine-year-old son attends Trench Town Primary, agrees that Camp Summer Plus has been very good for both the children and their parents. Without Camp Summer Plus, he would be unable to afford any summer programme. He was thankful that his son had an opportunity to spend his summer productively and improve on his mathematics, one of his weaker subjects.Parents were also thankful for the practical advice they were given on how to support their children’s literacy development by the Literacy Advisors and Academic Leaders. One mother told us that she now understands that she has to set an example by reading to encourage her child to do the same. Poignantly, she reflected, “it would be great if the school had the love and interest found here.”