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The Ministry of Education is spending nearly $8 million this fiscal year to address absenteeism in the island's primary schools. According to the Estimates of Expenditure tabled on April 7 in Parliament, the objectives of the project are to raise attendance levels at 100 primary schools, and evaluate the National School Lunch Programme, in order to determine its contribution to...

The Government has allocated $211.6 million to repair and rehabilitate educational infrastructure damaged by Tropical Storm Gustav, last August, as outlined in the Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. Some $55 million will be spent by the Government to facilitate repairs to schools damaged by the storm. The remaining $156.6 million will go towards the Schools Rehabilitation...

Minister of Water and Housing, Dr. Horace Chang, on Wednesday April 8, handed over a Letter of Commitment for approximately $6 million to the Western Society for the Upliftment of Children (WSUC), an organisation which seeks to educate needy and disenfranchised children in Montego Bay, St. James. The money, which Dr. Chang provided from the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), will...

A two-day literacy conference, which is aimed at arming educators and parents with the information and skills to improve reading among children, got underway on April 7 at the Northern Caribbean University (NCU) in Mandeville. The conference, which is being held in conjunction with Howard University in the United States of America, targets teachers, parents, administrators and policy makers, providing...

The Primary Education Support Project has received an injection of $615 million this fiscal year, as recorded in the 2009/2010 Estimates of Expenditure tabled in Parliament on April 7. The money is to be spent on making improvements to the performance, efficiency and equity of the primary education system through civil works projects, and the effective implementation of the Revised...

The Early Childhood Commission has received $59 million for its Early Childhood Development Project in the 2009/10 Estimates of Expenditure. The project is geared towards improving the monitoring of children's development, screening of household-level risks affecting such development, and implementation of early intervention systems. The project also aims to strengthen and enhance the quality of early childhood schools and care...

Minister of Transport and Works, Michael Henry, has said all Jamaicans have a duty to contribute to the education system, especially at the early childhood level, to ensure a wholesome society. Mr. Henry, who is Member of Parliament for Central Clarendon, was speaking at a recent graduation exercise in Clarendon for trained basic school personnel from the parish. He said...

Seventeen students from Northern Clarendon are the beneficiaries of scholarships, totaling $500,000, from the Constituency Development Fund (CDF). The scholarships were awarded as part of an educational programme run by the constituency's Member of Parliament, Laurence Broderick, who is also the Minister of State in the Ministry of Mining and Telecommunications. At the presentations at his ministry in Kingston on...

Professor the Hon. Errol Laurence Miller O.J. has been installed as the first Chancellor of Mico University College(formerly Mico Teachers College), Kingston. Chairman of the Lady Mico Trust, Henry Buxton, officiated at the ceremony at the institution's Marescaux Road campus, aided by: Pro-Chancellor, Dr. R. Karl James; President of the University College, Dr. Claude Packer; Vice-president, Dr. Carol Clarke; and...

Campion College student, Sherraine Phillips, was named the winner of the Access to Information (ATI) Unit's National Essay Competition on Thursday(April 2). She won the competition with an essay on the topic, 'Why is the Access to Information Act 2002 important to Jamaica's democracy, and how can it be used to improve your community?' The competition was launched last September,...

Twelve-year old Huddoy Walters is the pride of Port Antonio Primary, having copped top honours in the Junior Division of the 2009 Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) Environmental Poster Competition. For his winning poster titled: 'Preserving Our Island's Paradise', the Portland student not only defeated other entrants from the wider Caribbean and Latin America, but earned US$6,000 for himself and his...

The House of Representatives on Tuesday (March 31), approved a Government guarantee of US$2.75 million, of a loan of US$5.5 million to the University of the West Indies (UWI), to partially finance the construction of a Vice Chancellery building on lands adjacent to the Mona Campus. According to a Ministry Paper, which was tabled in the Lower House, the Vice...