The Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB) is projecting to disburse approximately $5.94 billion to eligible applicants during fiscal year 2022/23, to finance undergraduate and postgraduate studies, up from $5.33 billion last year. This is according to the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the Year ending March 2023. The document indicates that the SLB will continue to provide funding through three...

An additional $1.4 billion is to be paid out to Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) beneficiaries in the 2022/2023 financial year. This follows a recent Cabinet approval for an increase of 18.26 per cent for the programme. Labour and Social Security Minister, Hon. Karl Samuda, made the announcement in his contribution to the 2022/23 Sectoral Debate in...

The Ministry of Education and Youth has received approximately $365 million this fiscal year as budgetary support for its scholarship programme. The programme provides a wide range of scholarship opportunities to students who are desirous of pursuing tertiary studies. While delivering her sectoral presentation in the House of Representatives recently, Minister of Education and Youth, Hon, Fayval Williams, said that...

Fifty-six students from eight tertiary institutions will benefit from scholarships and bursaries to support their education in Spanish Language and Hospitality. The scholarships are courtesy of the Spanish Foundation of Jamaica and are valued at $4.5 million. The awards ceremony was held virtually, today (April 26). The eight institutions are University of the West Indies, Mona (Development Enhancement Fund); Shortwood...

Jamaica’s unemployment rate fell to a new record low of 6.2 per cent in January 2022. This, according to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) Labour Force Survey for the month, is a 0.9 percentage point lower than the figure recorded in October 2021. It is also 2.6 percentage points below the out-turn for the January 2021 Survey, Director General,...

The Government has invested more than $1.8 billion to militate against learning loss across the education sector. Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams, made the disclosure during her contribution to the 2022/23 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (April 12). “This figure does not include our continued support of online/media platforms and educational resources, which...

Access to, and use of financial services will be made easier with the use of the digital payment wallet, Lynk. Digital payment wallets are the platforms used to facilitate transactions of the Bank of Jamaica’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The CBDC is a digital form of central bank-issued currency and is legal tender that can be exchanged dollar for...