Foster-AllenElaine Foster-Allen has been appointed chief inspector of the National Education Inspectorate, the Ministry of Education announced yesterday. Foster-Allen will assume duties on September 1.
The National Education Inspectorate will be an independent body mandated to inspect, assess and review the quality of schools and the education system.
According to a release from the education ministry yesterday, the inspectorate will insist on the highest professional standards, particularly in the use of evidence and data in forming judgements and making recommendations. The inspectorate will be required to provide advice to Parliament and the ministry.
Foster-Allen has been the principal of Shortwood Teachers' College since 2002.
School supervision
She is a former education officer with five years of service to the ministry. During her tenure, she was responsible for school supervision as well as the co-ordination of a number of initiatives and programmes, including standards for primary education, the master teacher programme, the distance education project and environmental education for sustainable development.
Foster-Allen was also a member of the 2004 Task Force on Educational Reform. The newly appointed chief inspector also served as a member of Her Majesty's Education Inspectorate in the United Kingdom.
She is a member of several civic organisations and statutory boards, including the education advisory board of the Jamaica National Commission for UNESCO.
Foster-Allen holds a masters degree from the University of Birmingham and a bachelor's degree in education from Nottingham University.
Minister of Education Andrew Holness, in his contribution to the 2008-09 Sectoral Debate in May, said the National Edu-cation Inspectorate and the Jamaica Teaching Council would become fully operational by September 2009.
