More

The activities of the Early Childhood Development Project have been strengthened with an allocation of $32 million in the 2013/14 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The project has the objective to improve the monitoring of children’s development, the screening of household-level risks affecting development and early intervention systems, in order to promote development. It also seeks...

The Parent-School Partnerships for Improved Literacy Outcomes Project has received an allocation of $21.37 million in the 2013/14 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The project, being implemented by the Ministry of Education through funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), seeks to increase parental involvement in improving reading skills among Grade 1 students...

Implementation of the Education System Transformation Programme (ESTP) will continue this fiscal year, with an $881.21 million boost. The money has been set aside in the 2013/14 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The programme seeks to provide support to the Ministry of Education’s policy to expand compulsory education from age 16 to 18 by providing approximately...

The reading and mathematics skills of students at targeted schools should see some improvement, following an allocation of $227.59 million to the Jamaica Basic Education Project. This is contained in the 2013/14 Estimates of Expenditure, currently before the House of Representatives. Being implemented by the Government of Jamaica,with funding from the United States Agency for International Development(USAID), the project aims...

The University of Technology (UTech) School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (SHTM) is expected to be completed this fiscal year, following an allocation of $343.6 million. This is set out in the 2013/14 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The allotment has been provided for the University of Technology Enhancement Project, under which construction and other activities...

The academic capacity of students at seven primary schools in East Kingston and Port Royal is expected to be significantly boosted, through the provision 56 portable tablet computers, valued at just over $950,000, by telecommunications firm, Digicel Jamaica. Institutions benefitting from the 56 Huawei tablets are the Elletson Road Primary, Holy Rosary Primary, Norman Gardens Primary, Rollington Town Primary, Windward...

The activities of the School Feeding Modernisation Programme have been boosted with an allocation of $18.1 million. This is set out in the 2013/14 Estimates of Expenditure, currently before the House of Representatives. Being implemented by the Ministry of Education, the programme seeks to improve the operations of the School Feeding Programme by modernising and upgrading its institutional capacity and...

The Government will be introducing a breakfast programme in the new legislative year, as part of measures to improve student nutrition. The initiative will be piloted in 150 schools in Kingston and St. Andrew, with some 115,000 students to benefit. It is being undertaken by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The breakfast...

The Savanna-La-Mar Primary School in Westmoreland is to be given a face-left soon, as the institution has received 10 gallons of paint from Edgechem Jamaica Limited. Managing Director of the company, Doreen Frankson, handed over the paint at the official opening of the company’s new paint store in Savanna-La-Mar, on March 22. Member of Parliament for the constituency and Minister...

Glenmuir High School student, Yashae Mitchell, is the 2013 winner of the Access to Information (ATI) National High School Essay Competition. The very articulate and confident, 18-year-old copped the top prize, after beating out some 21 rivals, during an awards ceremony held at the Medallion Hall hotel in Kingston on March 26. Yashae received high praises from the judges for...

Approximately 108 students and six teachers of the Tower Hill Missionary Early Childhood Institution, in Kingston, are now enjoying newly upgraded facilities at their school, completed at a cost of some $29.5 million. The project was spearheaded by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), with funding from the European Union, under Government of Jamaica’s Poverty Reduction Programme (PRP). Beneficiaries, including...

The Ministry of Education has devised several strategies aimed at strengthening the early childhood sector, in light of the fact that the formative years are critical to the development of children. Some of the strategies include: the merging of uneconomical and ineffective basic schools into primary institutions; teacher training; the development of nutrition programmes; and forging partnerships with stakeholders, which...