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Minister of Education, Rev. the Hon. Ronald Thwaites, is calling on Community Colleges to be more assertive, and to rescue the high percentage of the Jamaican workforce that has no certification. He added that many of the difficulties and challenges faced by community colleges result from inadequate literacy and numeracy among the applicants for entry into those institutions, and as...

Work will get underway next month on the construction of a state-of-the-art library and computer centre in the community of Accompong in St. Elizabeth. The project is being funded by recording artiste and music producer, Mystic Bowie, a resident of the area, who is living overseas. Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony on Sunday (January 6), Minister of Education, Hon. Ronald...

The 2012 recipient of the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA) Roll of Honour awardee, Byron Farquharson, has no regrets about the more than 40 years he has dedicated to the education system. While stating that his career was “one of challenges”, he said it was nonetheless, “very rewarding”. “I have gained tremendous riches by impacting the lives of others,” Mr. Farquharson...

Beginning in September 2013, approximately 230,000 students will receive a breakfast supplement under the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH). Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, made the announcement during a national broadcast on Sunday (January 6), in which she addressed several wide ranging topics following her first year in office. In other education related matters,...

The Centre of Excellence programme is achieving success in improving the performance of students in six upgraded high schools, many of whom were functioning below grade level. University of the West Indies (UWI) Lecturer and consultant to the programme, Dr. Joan Ernandez, says that while the targeted institutions are reporting different results, they are moving in the right direction.  “We...

Come next year, the Ministry of Education will begin the process of merging uneconomical and ineffective basic schools into some of the more than 200 primary institutions across the island. This was disclosed by Portfolio Minister, Rev. the Hon Ronald Thwaites recently during an interview on the Jamaica Information Service's (JIS) Issues and Answers Programme with Ian Boyne. Rev. Thwaites...

Administrative Assistant at the Clarendon Branch of the National Youth Service (NYS), Melissa Morris, was awarded first place in the NYS Essay Competition which was held under the theme 'Youth on a Mission'. The competition was launched in November 2012 as part of Youth Month activities, and was geared towards unearthing the creative writing capabilities of Administrative Assistants in the...

More than 200 at-risk youths have completed a six month on-the-job training programme under the Citizen Security and Justice Programme II (CSJP II), in partnership with the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF). The participants, who are from a total of 25 CSJP communities in the Kingston Metropolitan Area (KMA) and Montego Bay, provided skilled labour to the JDF in the areas...

Education officers will begin to receive some $557 million in retroactive payments in June 2013. The Government, on December 19,signed the Heads of Agreement to provide for the payments at a ceremony held at the Ministry of Finance and Planning in Kingston. The signatories included Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry, Hon. Horace Dalley; Minister of Education, Rev. the Hon....

Education Minister, Rev. the Hon. Ronald Thwaites, says that the Alternative Secondary Transitional Education Programme (ASTEP) has not “done what it was supposed to do.” Speaking on the Jamaica Information Service’s (JIS) Issues and Answers programme with Ian Boyne, the Education Minister said that several of the students in the programme have severe emotional and cognitive problems and their needs...

The winner of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) Schools’ Essay Competition is upper sixth form student of Munro College, St. Elizabeth, Raheem Smith. Upper sixth form student of Clarendon College, Kameesha Beecher, copped second place winner, while Shavine Briscoe, a student of Cornwall College, Montego Bay, placed third. At a prize-giving ceremony held on...

Ashroan Fraser strongly believes in the philosophy that success is not determined by where one begins in life, but is instead influenced by how well an individual moves on from where they started. It is this mindset that motivates this young man, who is one of the 2012 Programme of Advancement through Health and Education (PATH) tertiary scholarship recipients. Born...