Forty-five youth, mainly from inner-city communities, have been trained and certified as call centre operators, under the Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme (JEEP). The training was done over four weeks at the University of the West Indies Open Campus, with resources from JEEP, in collaboration with the HEART Trust /NTA. Beneficiary, Annakay Williams said the job readiness initiative has enabled the...

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s Employment Agency Unit is warning the public to beware of overseas employment agencies that operate from cyberspace. The warning comes following an increase in the number of complaints the Unit has received from members of the public, who have reportedly been scammed by illegal overseas employment agencies operating via the Internet. Speaking with...

A total of $93 million has been set aside for the continuation of the Poverty Reduction Programme (PRP) III, in the 2013/14 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The project, which is being implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), with funding from the European Union, began in May 2012 and is slated to run until...

Labour and Social Security Minister, Hon. Derrick Kellier, says introduction of the flexi-work arrangement, and the anticipated resulting positive economic spin-offs from doing do, could generate increased employment, particularly for Jamaica’s youth. He made this point while speaking at the first in the Ministry’s series of Regional Dissemination Sessions, at the Wexford Court Hotel in Montego Bay, on April 3,...

The Government has set aside $278.9 million in the 2014/15 Estimates of Expenditure, which have been tabled in the House of Representatives, to continue the Public Sector Modernisation Programme, this year. Under the Public Sector Moderation Programme III, which is funded by the European Union (EU), Inter-American Bank (IDB), China Co-Financing Fund, and the Government of Jamaica, Ministries, Departments, and...

The Government is expected to conduct a review of the Early Stimulation Programme (ESP) during this fiscal year, in a bid to strengthen the effectiveness of this intervention for children with disabilities. It is also anticipated that 64 social workers in the ESP as well as the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD) will be trained during this period,...

Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Professor Archibald McDonald says there must be partnership among the government, private sector, and academic stakeholders, in order to create a disability friendly society. This he argues is to ensure that Jamaica makes provisions for the disabled that are consistent with global developments. The Pro-Vice Chancellor was speaking at the...