Juárez & Associates is the prime contractor for a seven-year project, assisting the Jamaican Ministry of Education to increase levels of literacy and numeracy among primary school students.

The program is directed at schools serving poor rural children who have had limited success in school, and includes creative integrated approaches such as improving children's health status, increasing local school management capacity, and introducing innovative learning approaches and educational technologies.

Over $2.5 million worth of computer hardware and software, books and educational materials have been shipped to 72 of the poorest schools on the island.

The New Horizons Project involves not only a partnership among the Government of Jamaica, J&A and specialized educational experts, but also among schools and communities, to improve student performance and thereby increase the competitiveness of the Jamaican workforce. Using the knowledge and skills of teachers, consultants and local decision-makers to improve learning opportunities for children, the project is bringing learning to life through context-specific instructional approaches and materials, involving parents and communities in all phases. Site-based management is designed to enhance the attempt to transform schools into communities where the appropriate persons (those most directly involved with the education of children) participate constructively in the major decisions that affect their schools.