Education Minister Maxine Henry-Wilson has already received instructions to the effect, the prime minister announced at the Jamaica Teacher's Association 41st annual conference in Ocho Rios yesterday.

The Opposition Jamaica Labour Party had initially objected to the drawdown as a raiding of the NHT accounts - whose estimated surplus now tops $52 billion - saying it opened the door for possible abuse by government, but eventually capitulated after stormy debates in both chambers of Parliament.

Yesterday, Patterson still appeared to be soothing feathers, with his assurance that the housing funds would be scrupulously spent.

"I have asked the minister of education to prepare for me a very special budget as to how that $5 billion is going to be spent. Not one cent of it must be wasted," said Patterson to applause from the packed hall at the Jamaica Grande Hotel.

"It is going to be spent on improving the physical plant and providing furniture and it is also going to be spent, some of it, in some of the training programmes which are necessary to advance the human capital that is required in the transformation process for education."

But the NHT funds are just over a fifth of the incremental $22 billion that reform plan architect Rae Davis and his team had proposed to the prime minister last year.

Patterson, alluding to the gap, said there was still a commitment to finding the funds for the reform, but indicated that the NHT was not intended to become a routine source.

"It remains our intention to supply a dedicated source of funding to enhance the education programme, incorporating other grants and loans from local and international sources," he told the 22,000-strong JTA.

Government had $30 billion in its budget for education last year, but Davis has suggested an investment of $52 billion yearly over the next 10 years to develop a first- class system of education for Jamaicans.

The plans are slowly emerging, with Patterson indicating that the boosted school places was one of the first planks.
The new spots, he said, are being financed under various internationally-funded programmes, including the World Bank, 4,250 places; and the Inter-American Development Bank, 4,410 places.

Another, 2,500 spots, he added, are to be developed from local resources over the new school year.

"All of this is in addition to what has been coming on stream in the western Jamaica schools project," he said.
Patterson did not give details of when, where, or at what level the places would be provided.

His keynote speech side-stepped the matter of salary for the teachers which the JTA has indicated would be a key issue to be dealt with after the MOU expires next year, already stating their intention to push for a 47 per cent increase, focussing entirely on the planned transformation of the education system and addressing the welfare of students.

Patterson enunciated plans for taking Jamaica to the cutting edge of information technology, extend and provide new school places, build science laboratories, language training facilities, provide administrative space, and supply furniture and equipment to meet the needs of the system.

He told the teachers that this coming September, his administration expects every child to be in school from the first morning, having implemented the fee subsidy - averaging some $3,000 per student - for each student in every high school.

Referring to the Millennium Development Goals for Education to 2015, Patterson said the schools must address six critical areas:
. A strong and effective board;
. A responsive principal displaying strong leadership;
. Responsibility and management of the teaching function by principals, vice principals and heads of departments;
. An articulated, shared vision of success around which all stakeholders align themselves

. A strategic plan and monitoring to achieve the vision; and
. Adequate funding to achieve their vision.

He added that the E-learning project, run jointly by the Ministry of Commerce, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education, is aimed at providing support to classroom teachers and students at the secondary level.

He also reiterated that the education ministry has to be effective in policy development and monitoring, and needs to be effective use of the regional education authorities and the efforts of education officers and specialists to support the work in the classroom.

Patterson urged the JTA to continue its work in a number of areas, including its efforts to promote professional development and practice in school and standing up for the rights of teachers.
But he also challenged the teachers to put Jamaica and the children first, at all times.