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Minister of Education, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, has commended students of Howard Cooke Primary School in Montego Bay for achieving academic excellence in the recent Grade Four Literacy Test. “I want to congratulate you all for doing very well in the Grade Four examinations last year, as when the national average for mastery in literacy was about 70 per cent,...

Education Minister, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, has said the estimated $18 billion expended each year by the public and private sectors on remedial education could be better spent at the foundation level “getting it right the first time”. Noting that this amount is about “20 per cent of the expenditure on education”, he said more focus must be placed “at...

Minister of Education, Hon. Ronald Thwaites, is encouraging students to choose their career path wisely in order to succeed in the world of work. He was addressing the National Career Development Conference held on February 15 at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston. Stating that "education is (the) doorway for career development,” the Education Minister told the hundreds of students...

A special award aimed at rewarding the input of non-academic support staff at high schools, was officially launched at the Ministry of Education, Heroes Circle offices, on February 10. The award dubbed, ‘Education Support Staff Achievement’ (ESSA), is an initiative of Kingston Bookshop (KB), and seeks to recognise a wide cross section of personnel, including: clerks, bursars, librarians, ancillary staff,...

Members of two vulnerable communities in  Westmoreland - McNeil Lands and New Roads - are now better equipped to deal with disasters, such as hurricanes and earthquakes, as some 100 persons from these areas have successfully completed intense training in a project called, ‘Building Disaster Resilient Communities’. The project was a three-year initiative lasting from November 2008 to September 2011,...

Minister of Youth and Culture, Hon. Lisa Hanna, is urging the nation’s youth to pursue education and training opportunities to enhance their competitiveness in the global job market. “The need for additional training to position yourselves with opportunities that will enable you to not only compete in Jamaica, but in the wider world, is a very noble step,” she stated....

A multipurpose court, constructed through $2.8 million in funding from the Digicel Foundation, was officially open on Thursday Feb. 2 at the all-girls Westwood High School in Stewart Town, Trelawny. The project entailed the refurbishing of the existing netball court, with facility also put in for basketball and volleyball. The court has been fully enclosed with perimeter fencing. The wider...

The University of Technology (UTech) on Monday (February 6), unveiled a sculpture of late Reggae icon, Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley, at its Papine campus in St. Andrew. The piece, which has been erected in the institution’s Caribbean Sculpture Park, was designed by Russian sculptor, Gregory Pototsky, and presented as a gift to the institution and, by extension, the government and...

Minister of Education, Rev. the Hon. Ronald Thwaites, has commended the Marcus Garvey Technical High School, in St. Ann, for an initiative, led by its Principal, Leslie Riley, which raised $14.6 million to construct a new block at the institution. Just before touring the new block, comprising two classrooms, a cosmetology lab and a music room,  on February 1,  the...

The Ministry of Education is set to embark on a National Comprehensive Numeracy Programme to be implemented in primary schools across the island for the 2012/2013 academic year, in an effort to improve numeracy skills among students, particularly at that level. “The programme will focus mainly on early numeracy, which is for three to five year olds, lower primary -...

The subject of civics is to be re-introduced to the school curriculum at the start of the new academic term in September 2012. This was disclosed by Minister of Education, Hon. Ronald Thwaites, during a statement on Tuesday (Jan. 31) in the House of Representatives. He informed that the subject will not just comprise “dry facts” but will be geared...

Education Minister, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, said the Government will be seeking to implement a number of remedial steps to improve numeracy and literacy skills at the primary level, which will come on stream in September. The Minister made the announcement at a press conference held at his National Heroes Circle offices on Jan. 31 to reveal the results of...