Ninety-two per cent of the nation’s four-year-old children are developmentally ready for early-childhood education. This was outlined in the National Age Four Assessment, which was conducted in June of this year from a cohort of approximately 40,000 by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information. Speaking at a back-to-school press conference, at the Ministry’s Heroes Circle offices in Kingston on...

The Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) has presented book grants valued at $740,000 to children of staff, who will be starting high school on Monday (September 5). The children, who performed well in the 2016 Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), received $10,000 each to help in their school preparations. At the presentation ceremony held at the Cornwall Regional Hospital in...

All critical repairs and construction being undertaken at schools will be completed before the start of the new academic year. At a back-to-school press conference at the Ministry’s Heroes Circle offices in Kingston on August 31, Portfolio Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid said $750 million is being used to effect repairs at 190 schools. He said $70 million has...

Students at the Windsor Castle All-Age School in Portland and Horace Clarke High in St. Mary will enter the 2016/17 academic year with newly outfitted science laboratories. The facilities were provided under the European Union (EU)-funded Improving Innovation Capacities in the Caribbean (INVOCAB) Project, which is managed by the Scientific Research Council (SRC). They are equipped with burettes, microscopes, flasks,...

Principal of the Spanish Town High School, Ventley Brown, has described a move by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information to increase its budgetary support to schools as welcome and valuable. Speaking on a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) television Back-to-School Special Forum, Mr. Brown said this will increase by over 50 per cent the school’s cash flow. This he...

The National Parenting Support Commission (NPSC) will be staging its ‘Stay Connected’ programme from October 2016 to March 2017, to empower parents with helpful tips on how to develop healthy relationships with their children. There will be several training sessions for grade-seven students and their parents, to provide guidance for parents on how to understand and handle the developmental issues...

Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says the Government has provided budgetary support for all operational costs in schools. He added that to ensure that all schools are equipped to deliver quality education in the absence of mandatory auxiliary fees, the Ministry has increased funding in several areas. The overall allocation for the sector has...