Wheatley: NEST programme targeting young scientists for all early childhood institutions

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Government is looking to roll out the Nurturing Early Scientific Thinking (NEST) programme in all early childhood institutions (ECIs) across the country by year’s end.

The NEST pilot, conducted between February and June 2025, engaged 25 early childhood institutions in Kingston and St Andrew and, according to the Minister of Science, Technology and Special Projects, Dr Andrew Wheatley, they were deliberately selected to include schools in zones of special operations, low-performing institutions, and compliant schools.

He was speaking Tuesday during his contribution to the Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives.

Wheatley shared that 25 educators were trained through a Training of Trainers model delivered by Early Childhood Commission officers, with mentorship support provided through the Association of Science Teachers of Jamaica.

“The evaluation is positive. The evidence base is built. The scale-up plan is ready. We are now rolling NEST out nationally,” Wheatley said. He divulged that the plan targets 500 early childhood institutions across all seven education regions and all 14 parishes by the end of 2026. Rollout has already begun in Kingston, St Andrew, Portland, St Mary and St Thomas. St Ann, Trelawny, St James, Hanover, and Westmoreland will follow. St Catherine, with 107 ECIs, and Clarendon will complete the national coverage by year’s end.

Wheatley said all ECIs are targeted “because the child who grows up asking ‘why’ and ‘how’ is the entrepreneur, the innovator, and the problem-solver Jamaica needs — and that journey begins not at university, but at age three”.

The minister explained that NEST is Jamaica’s structured approach to embedding the foundations of inquiry, problem-solving, and evidence-based thinking into the earliest years of a child’s education. It works by building the capacity of educators in ECIs to deliver play-based science. Books and hands-on STEM kits are designed specifically for the early childhood context.

Wheatley stated that, “NEST targets our youngest children because for far too long we have sought to embed and grow scientific thinking at the secondary and tertiary level. This approach in my estimation is wrong and we must start cultivating scientific minds at the basic and primary level”.