Mural project goes to Ann Hill

Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training Santia Bradshaw has pledged that her ministry remains committed to students with special needs and ensuring that those who teach them are well-trained.

She said the ministry is committed to providing ongoing training and professional development opportunities for teachers and leaders of institutions to remain on the cutting edge of educational development in order to cater to their students’ psycho-social and cognitive needs.

Bradshaw was delivering remarks at the unveiling of a mural at the Ann Hill School, Pine Plantation Road, St Michael, where she noted that educational research continues to confirm the positive role which art and the use of creative spaces play in the social, psychological and emotional development of all students, including students with special needs.

“Exposure to arts disciplines therefore can be groomed into actual opportunity for employment and entrepreneurship. Our message through this mural is therefore two-fold, that art is decorative and can beautify while it can also serve as a viable stream of income for our youth at all levels,” she said.

The minister said that the art captured in the mural could serve to motivate and inspire the students of the Ann Hill School to believe in themselves and in their own artistic abilities.

She reminded the audience that artistic spaces represent calming, creative environments where all students can develop their powers of reflection and interpretation. She said that hopefully the students would view the painting, not only through the lens of the story it tells, but also as a source of inspiration and a self belief to pursue those things that can bring a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

“The inclusion of the Ann Hill School in this pilot mural project not only ratifies our understanding of the importance of the arts to all students, but it is an attempt to effectively capture the story of the school through a series of very creative images.