Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, says the Administration will be engaging trade unions representing government workers during 2021/22, to fine-tune the public-sector compensation review. Opening the 2021/22 Budget Debate, in the House of Representatives on March 9, Dr. Clarke reiterated that consequent on the fiscal pressures resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the...

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information will be administering diagnostic tests to grade-six students to identify and address gaps in the delivery of the National Standards Curriculum due to the restrictions caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19). The pandemic led to the closure of school plants in March last year and the shift to online teaching and learning. In November,...

Former Prime Ministers, the Most Hon. PJ Patterson and the Hon. Bruce Golding, have joined the call for Jamaicans to take the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine. They were among persons who received the injection at The Good Samaritan’s Inn in Kingston on Wednesday (March 10), on the first day of the implementation of the vaccine programme. Mr. Patterson said that the...

Students who are contemplating whether to defer sitting the 2021 Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) examinations have until May 1, 2021 to decide. This was announced by Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Fayval Williams, who informed that the Ministry has prepared guidelines for those students who would like to defer the 2021 sitting of the CXC exams. “These guidelines...

The Ministry of National Security, on Wednesday (March 10), unveiled the report of the 2019 Jamaica National Crime Victimisation Survey (JNCVS), which measures and documents citizens’ perception of security in Jamaica. The report incorporates information on the extent to which persons may have been victims of 14 categories of crimes between September 2018 and August 2019. The fifth such household...

The Government has allocated $10.5 billion to the Ministry of Health and Wellness for special expenses related to the coronavirus (COVID-19). This includes $6 billion for the procurement, storage, distribution and administration of vaccines; $1 billion for personal protective equipment (PPE); $1 billion for drugs and reagents; $2 billion for the Regional Health Authorities (RHAs) to pay arrears to suppliers;...

Director of the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA), Errol Greene, became the first person in western Jamaica to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as the Government’s vaccination programme commenced on March 10. The vaccine was given to Mr. Greene at the Cornwall Regional Hospital’s vaccination centre, which is one of three facilities in St. James where the drug was being administered...