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The Ministry of Education is expecting to complete the distribution of textbooks to primary and high schools across the island by August 31. "We are, right now, in the process of distributing textbooks to the system. Some distribution has already taken place and we expect that by August 31, all textbooks would have been in place in the schools," said...

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Hon. Horace Dalley, says that while the Government is fully committed to the divestment of Caymanas Park, it is not prepared to “give it away." Addressing stakeholders at a Horse racing Summit at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston on August 23, Mr. Dalley said that “the most challenging and...

Pro Registrar at the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC), Glenroy Cumberbatch, said that there are no clear factors for the decline in the performance of students in this year’s Mathematics and English ‘A’ examinations. “One of our research projects for 2012 is to look at the factors that impact academic achievement in the Caribbean as a whole,” Mr. Cumberbatch said. He...

Work commenced Thursday August 23 on the Granville to Retirement road in St. James. This follows a tour of the area on August 22 by State Minister in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing, Hon. Richard Azan, along with a team from the National Works Agency (NWA), led by the agency’s Chief Executive Officer,  E.G. Hunter. They also toured...

Minister of Education, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, has said that every teacher, regardless of their specialist area, must become part of the solution to the deficit in numeracy and literacy in education. "Every teacher has to become a special education teacher… I don't want to hear that the Spanish teacher or the geography teacher, or the woodwork or the agriculture...

Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) Governor, Bryan Wynter, is reporting that the inflation rate recorded for the April to June quarter averaged approximately 1.5 per cent. This figure, he notes, is significantly lower than the revised forecast range of  between three and five per cent which the BoJ announced in June, subsequent to implementation of the revenue measures outlined by Finance...

The Programme of Advancement through Health and Education (PATH) is to embark on a Back-to-School campaign, dubbed ‘School Wi Seh’, for the 2012/13 academic year, beginning the first week in September. Speaking at a JIS ‘Think Tank’ on August 22,Project Director for PATH, Dunstan Bryan, informed that the 12-month campaign involves two elements - ensuring that all children registered under...

The Government of Jamaica has partnered with Food for the Poor to provide some 9,000 housing solutions over the next five years for low-income earners across the island. A total of 1,800 structures are to be provided per year, and a contract for construction of the first 1, 200 wooden houses and 600 concrete units was signed on Aug. 21,...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The city of Stone Mountain in Atlanta, Georgia has declared the month of August as 'Jamaica 50th Independence Celebration Month.' Honorary Consul in Atlanta, Vin Martin, presented the proclamation to Ambassador to the United States, Professor Stephen Vasciannie, on behalf of Mayor of Stone Mountain, Patrice Wheelen, at a town hall meeting held on Friday (Aug. 17)...

Education Minister, Rev. the Hon. Ronald Thwaites, says the country's education system ranks highly with those of other countries, particularly developed nations, whose standards  Jamaica surpasses in many instances. Speaking at Northern Caribbean University’s (NCU) colloquium at its central campus in Mandeville, Manchester, earlier this week, Rev. Thwaites said that level has been achieved with less Gross National Product (GNP)...

Minister with responsibility for Sports, Hon. Natalie Neita-Headley, has committed to boosting the capacity of local sports organisations. This, she said, is in an effort to increase the number of events that Jamaica will participate in at the next Olympics in Rio de Janiero, Brazil in 2016. Mrs. Neita Headley was speaking at the launch of the opening of nominations...

At 4:00 a.m. the centre of Tropical Storm Isaac was located near Latitude 15.3 degrees north and Longitude 64.0 degrees west. Isaac is moving towards the west at 19 km/h and some erratic movement toward the west-northwest to northwest could occur this morning. A steady motion toward the west-northwest is expected to begin by this afternoon or tonight and continue...