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Education, Youth and Information Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (third left), presents a trophy to Personal Development Teacher at Ardenne High School, Kamika McKellop (second left), after the school emerged winner of last year’s Best School Spirit, at the staging of the Success Conference for Teens 2017, at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston, on March 31. Others (from left) are Conference Chairperson and Founder of the Children Upliftment Restoration Foundation, Dr. Velma Brown-Hamilton, and Custos of Kingston, Steadman Fuller.

Students Urged to Research Career Choices

Education, Youth and Information Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, is encouraging students to learn about their preferred career choice as well as to develop sound moral values. “Read, research and study as much as you can about your choice...

Students of the Jamaica Christian School for the Deaf in St James perform “A mother’s Love” at the opening of the Deaf Dance Festival at the Little Theatre in Kingston on Thursday, March 30.

Deaf Dance Opens National Finals of Performing Arts Competition

Child Diversion Policy to Provide Alternative for Juvenile Offenders

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Karl Samuda (second left), with (from left) Managing Director, AMCHAM Finland, Dr. Erica Sauer; Country Managing Partner, Ernst and Young (EY), Allison Peart; and Private Sector Co-Chair, Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) Jamaica, Derrick Nembhard, during an AMCHAM Breakfast Forum at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel on March 31. The forum was held under the theme ‘Trade and Investment: Prospects for 2017 and Beyond’.

Sugar Producers Urged To Seek New Markets in CARICOM

Minister of Justice, Hon. Delroy Chuck (centre), speaks with Pastor of the Transformed Life Church, Dwight Fletcher (right) and Managing Director of Make Your Mark Consultants (MYMC), Jacqueline Coke-Lloyd, at the media launch of the MYMC’s Middle Managers’ Conference 2017, held today (March 31) at The Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston. The conference is slated to be held on April 25 and 26 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston, under the theme ‘Leadership 365’.

Justice Ministry to Establish 14 Parish Centres

State Minister for Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green, along with Early Childhood Commission (ECC) Chairperson, Trisha Williams-Singh (centre), and Director of stakeholder partner, One Jamaica Foundation, Ann-Marie Vaz, at the ECC’s inaugural certification fair at Jamaica College in St. Andrew in August 2016.

9 years ago Education

Operational Standards Set for ECIs

The Early Childhood Commission’s (ECC) basic-school certification programme, now under way islandwide, is ensuring that all early-childhood institutions (ECIs) meet the 12 Operational Standards set by that body. The three-year engagement of the new Board of Commissioners commenced in May 2016, targeting 300 ECIs to be certified by 2019. The Standards cover a wide range of areas. These include Staffing;...

Chief Corporate Communications Officer at Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ), Meris Haughton, speaking at a JIS Think Tank on Thursday (March 30).

9 years ago Housing

Greater Equity for Strata Owners under New Property Tax Regime

Strata property owners will benefit significantly from the new property tax regime when it takes effect on April 1. A new methodology for property tax assessment will be applied to strata properties that will allow owners to pay tax for the value of their individual units rather than the entire strata as was the case previously. Chief Corporate Communications Officer...

Education Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (2nd right), cuts the ribbon to open the Infant Department of the Allman Hill Primary and Junior High School in Above Rocks, St. Andrew, on March 29. Sharing the moment (from left) are Chairman for the school’s Board of Management, Rev. Christine Gooden Benguche; Principal, Georgia Henry; and Member of Parliament for St. Andrew West Rural, Juliet Cuthbert Flynn.

9 years ago CommunityEducation

Infant Department Opens at Allman Hill Primary and Junior High

The Allman Hill Primary and Junior High School in Above Rocks, St. Andrew, now has an Infant Department complete with amenities for early-childhood growth and development. The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information provided more than $2.1 million towards the project, which involved refurbishing an existing structure on the school’s compound to create classroom space, internal and external play areas...

Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security, Senator the Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr. addresses a meeting with representatives from the National Security, Justice, and Health Ministries; the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) and other stakeholders, to look at the issue of mental illness among inmates. The meeting was held at the Ministry on Oxford Road on March 27.

9 years ago CommunityHealth & Wellness

Gov’t Putting Measures in Place to Address Mental Illness among Inmates

State Minister for National Security, Senator the Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr., says the Government will be putting measures in place to deal with mentally ill persons in lockups. “There are plans to allocate budgetary and manpower resources to meet the treatment needs of the mentally ill who are incarcerated. We also hope to amend legislation to address the criminal justice...

National Cruise Council Chairman, Michael Belnavis

9 years ago Tourism

Upgrading of Dunn’s River Falls to Boost Cruise Industry

Chairman of the National Cruise Council (NCC), Michael Belnavis, says upgrading of the Dunn’s River Falls attraction in Ocho Rios will further boost Jamaica’s growing cruise sector. Mr. Belnavis told JIS News that Jamaica was already on course to becoming the number-one cruise destination in the region and that the recent Dunn’s River upgrade has all but sealed the deal....

Paul Holness: Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Prime Minister Andrew Holness (right), listens attentively to Director of Tourism, Paul Pennicook, at the ground-breaking for the Excellence Group’s Oyster Bay hotel in Blue Waters, Trelawny, on March 30.

9 years ago Tourism

Gov’t to Place Focus on Falmouth – PM

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says the Government will be placing focus on the development of Falmouth, noting that the town has the potential to become a tourism Mecca. He noted that while Falmouth continues to dominate the cruise ship landscape, its rich culture and history have not been tapped. “The town has so much history; the architecture...

Community Development Officer of the SDC, St. James, Donovan Hart (left); Director, Local Economic Development and Community Project, Avril Ranger (second left); High School Poster and Product Development Competition Coordinator, Deroux Jones (second right); and Community Development Officer, St. James, Sherona Drummond, view some of the entries in the Product Development Competition in St. James.

9 years ago Community

SDC Targets Young People in St. James

An initiative to help in the fight against crime has been developed by the Social Development Commission (SDC), targeting young people in St James and Trelawny. The project is called the ‘High School Poster and Product Development Competition’ and is being executed through the SDC’s Local Economic Development and Support Programme (LEDSP), which is primarily aimed at promoting and supporting...