Jamaica starts a 54-school pilot under a UN joint programme on digital education

29 October 2026

UNESCO reported on 29 October that Jamaica has entered the pilot phase of the SDG Joint Programme on Digital Transformation for Education. UNESCO leads it jointly with UNICEF, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme, working alongside Jamaica's Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information. Fifty-four schools have been picked by the Ministry for the pilot, and a sensitisation session for their teachers was held at Mandeville. The programme is meant to widen the country's Education Management Information System, so that school records now spread across separate platforms sit together in one system. It will also get the existing teacher data systems to speak to one another, and shift hiring processes for teaching and non-teaching staff onto digital records. Principals and school administrators are to get their own workshop on digital transformation and artificial intelligence early in 2027. UNESCO ties the work to Sustainable Development Goal 4, which covers inclusive and equitable quality education.