In his address to the nation yesterday, he said the money will be used to improve the cadre of literacy and numeracy specialists in schools. Literacy specialists are to be increased from 50 to 90 and numeracy specialists to 70.

"The literacy programme will give support to classroom teachers, while principals and senior staff members will be assisted in executing their responsibilities as literacy leaders," Holness said, underscoring that it was in keeping with plans to achieve full literacy at the primary level by 2015.

Currently, a quarter of the students leaving primary schools are illiterate or reading below their grade level. The national adult literacy rate stands at 80 per cent.

The minister said all schools would be given specific targets and that principals and school board chairmen would be held accountable.

"Much work needs to be done to achieve this target. We must ensure that the primary literacy rate increases nationally by seven per cent each year," he emphasised.

Behavioural issues

Simultaneously, Holness said his ministry will be going ahead with plans to manage antisocial beha-viour in schools.

He said deans of discipline would be instituted in schools to tackle the problem.

"The deans will enforce the school rules, establish standards of behaviour, administer a system of rewards and penalties and ensure that a permanent record of student conduct is maintained," Holness explained.

The deans are also to meet regularly with parents and teachers to help students develop acceptable standards of behaviour.

Incidents of violence

The island's schools continued to be rocked by violence throughout the last school year, which in some cases resulted in fatalities.

In May, the Portmore-based Ascot High School suffered a series of incidents, including the stabbing of a teacher by a student.

Holness also outlined a number of initiatives that the ministry had already undertaken to assist with the reopening of schools.

He said more than 2,500 new school spaces had been created for the September term, inclu-ding a new high school in Westmoreland which should provide approximately 900 spaces. More than 140,000 school spaces are needed across the island.

Holness added that 64 contracts totalling $114 million had also been awarded to provide new furniture for some schools.

Of the 34,000 units already ordered, 19,000 had already been delivered, he revealed.

Holness said $130 million had also been given to schools for emergency repairs, while the Government has provided half the tuition support, amounting to $1.1 billion, to schools.