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To enhance the quality of service delivery, the Ministry of Education has commenced a customer service training programme for its staff islandwide. The programme, to be undertaken through the Ministry's Professional Development Unit, was launched at the Overseas Examinations Commission, Cross Roads, Kingston, today (Sept. 10). The initiative, which commenced today with a workshop for a number of the stakeholders,...

Cabinet has approved the award of a contract valued at $72.59 million for the renovation of the Nain Basic School and construction of the St. Elizabeth Early Childhood Resource Centre, both in St. Elizabeth. The contract has been awarded to A-One Construction Company. Speaking at a post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, yesterday (September 9), Minister without Portfolio in the...

Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding warned last night that his Government wants better results from the $70 billion it is spending on education this financial year. "We spend a lot of money on education, but we do not feel we are getting the value we expect. Everybody is going to have to pull up their socks," the Prime Minister...

As of October, wards at the Rio Cobre Juvenile Correctional Centre in St. Catherine will have even more prospects for a job and access to higher education beyond the institution's walls. The centre will be boosting its Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) programme, with two critical subjects - Mathematics and English Language added, increasing the programme's offering to five. Currently,...

Refurbishing and upgrading work on the Whyms Road Basic School, St. James, financed by the Kiwanis Club of Providence, Montego Bay, will ensure that the school's 40 students and three teachers face the new school year in a more learner friendly environment. With the refurbishing and upgrading completed, the upgraded institution was officially handed over on Tuesday (September 8). The...

The 2009/10 academic year got off to a smooth start in Region Four yesterday (Sept. 7), with all 163 institutions in the parishes of Trelawny, St. James, Hanover, and Westmoreland, opening their doors to accommodate students. Checks made by JIS News across the parishes revealed that furniture and staffing needs were met for schools at all levels, while all students...

Fourteen secondary school students in Manchester and Clarendon have received scholarships and books valued at more than $420,000, from alumina company, Jamalco. The students received $30,000 each, and will, if they maintain their grades and discipline, get the same amount for the 2010 academic year. The handing over ceremonies were held at three locations in the company's operating areas of...

Consultant to the Minister of Education, Robert Miller, has called on students of the Northern Caribbean University (NCU) to reach out and provide service to the wider community. "When we give service, we are making connections with ourselves, and the communities in which we live and operate," he stated. Mr. Miller was addressing the first meeting of the NCU's United...

Career choices for senior students at one of the country's oldest secondary institutions, the prestigious Jamaica College, in Kingston, have widened with the introduction of an aviation programme in the school's curriculum, beginning this academic year. The programme, the first of its kind to be offered at any high school in the English-speaking Caribbean, was recently launched at the Old...

Four St. James 4-H clubbites have received bursaries totalling $180,000, to assist in continuing their education during the 2009/2010 academic year. Tricia McBean, an 11th grader at Montego Bay High School; Steve Turner, an 8th grader at Cornwall College; Henrica Thompson, a first year student at UWI; and Marla-Kay Richards, a first year student at the Montego Bay Community College,...

Fourteen high school students from Manchester and Clarendon, who received 5-year scholarships last year from bauxite/alumina producer, Jamalco, were handed the second tranche of the funds on Friday (September 4). The scholarships are valued at a total of $420, 000 and were awarded last year to children selected from communities falling under each of the seven operating Jamalco community councils,...

Queen's School student, Candice Anderson, is giving high marks to the National Youth Services' Summer Employment Programme. The upper sixth former, who participated in the programme for three years, says she has learnt some valuable life lessons that will ensure her success in future pursuits. "Initially, I just went to the NYS as a means to (earn money) and to...