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  The Ministry of Labour and Social Security is currently conducting assessments to determine the level of assistance to be provided to persons, who have been seriously dislocated by Hurricane Sandy, which affected the island on October 24. Acting Director of Social Security in the Ministry, Denzil Thorpe, told JIS News that two categories of assessments are being undertaken. The...

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Horace Dalley, says Jamaica needs to have regular, timely and reliable data on the labour force. He further says that a modern economy “must be able to tell, on a regular basis, how many persons are exiting and entering the labour force”. Minister Dalley was speaking at...

The National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC) will be staging its Grand Retirement Exposition on Sunday (Oct. 21) on the Jamaica College grounds, St. Andrew. The event, which gets underway at 10:00 a.m., seeks to raise awareness among Jamaicans about the need to prepare for retirement from an early age.  “With this exposition, we want to reach out to both...

Some six hundred students and parents, along with a number of guidance counsellors in St. James, are benefitting from a 12 month intervention and behavioral programme sponsored by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) at a cost of over $24 million. Executive Director of the Family and Parenting Centre in St. James, Dr. Beverly Scott, whose organisation spearheaded the programme,...

The Education Ministry is moving to clarify its decision to replace the teachers involved with the Career Advancement Programme (CAP) with teachers selected under the Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme (JEEP). Speaking with the JIS News during a recent interview, Education Minister, Rev. the Hon. Ronald Thwaites, said the decision was taken in order to relieve the CAP teachers from the...

The Abilities Foundation of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security will be observing Abilities Day, with a civil registration exhibition on Friday, October 5, at its 191 Constant Spring Road Office, Kingston, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Themed, 'Removing Barriers, through Empowerment and Technology', the exposition will provide a platform for persons who want to access civil registration documents, to...

The Government has granted a bauxite levy concession to Russian-based aluminum company UC Rusal, which will ensure, among other things, that the 600 local jobs are maintained at the Ewarton Works refinery in St. Catherine. This was revealed by Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell on Tuesday (October 2) in a statement to Parliament. He informed...

Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Phyllis Mitchell, says that the Government is taking steps to protect older Jamaicans, who make up 11 per cent of the population. She informed that a Maintenance Act to protect the vulnerable elderly, as well as expansion of facilities to see to their care, are “on our books”. Mrs. Mitchell,...

President of the Jamaica Employers' Federation (JEF), Wayne Chen, has identified a structured education system, backed by sound parenting, as an effective strategy to create a globally competitive workforce. "We have the immediate challenge of creating a globally competitive workforce…we believe that the roots to the solution lie in our education system, meaning that our curriculum has to develop the...

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security, concerned about a fall off in school attendance by students, who benefit under the Programme for Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), has launched an initiative aimed at affirming the benefits of education. The 'School Wi Seh!' educational campaign will be implemented through a series of island-wide school tours during the academic year....

The Jamaica Employers' Federation (JEF) will be hosting a CEO Breakfast on Wednesday (September 12) at the Wyndham Kingston hotel beginning at 7:30 a.m. The session is part of activities to mark National Employers’ Month, which is being observed this September. Guest speaker for the breakfast session will be Dr. Pierre Somse of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS...

A recently implemented workforce intervention programme between the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and various private sector organisations to provide short-term employment for young, skilled Jamaicans has been a success. Portfolio Minister, Hon. Derrick Kellier, informed that under the initiative, since May of this year, the Government has been able to place some 450 previously unemployed, young persons in...