On Friday, May 19, National Children’s Day, the Old Pera Infant and Primary School in St. Thomas was abuzz with activities. The school, which is located in deep rural St. Thomas, was selected by the National Child Month Committee (NCMC) for its special National Children Day’s project. With support from the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation through sponsorship, ground was broken...

Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams (right) presents the winning trophy in the 'Just Medz It' jingle competition to Vere Technical High School. Accepting are Head Boy, O'Neil Grant, and Head Girl, Derricka Wolf, while Acting Principal, O'Neil Lewin, shares the moment. The awards ceremony was held at the institution in Clarendon on May 19. The jingle competition...

The success of the Jamaica College (JC) robotics team in the recent FIRST Tech Robotics Championship, is being hailed as a testament of the country’s ‘little but we tallawah’ mantra. The international contest, held in Houston, Texas in April, brought together 192 student robotics teams from around the world who put their innovation, teamwork, and robotics skills to the test...

The Child Diversion Programme in the Ministry of Justice is achieving “tremendous success” in steering young people away from the criminal justice system, says portfolio Minister, Hon. Delroy Chuck. He noted that of the just over 1,000 cases referred to the programme by the courts since the operationalisation of the programme in 2020, more than 50 per cent of them...

Children’s Advocate, Dian Gordon Harrison, is encouraging children in need of mental health support to make use of the SafeSpot helpline at 888-723-3776. The call comes as data from the national child and teen helpline show a worrying mental health condition among some Jamaican children. SafeSpot is a dedicated toll-free line that is available 24 hours daily, seven days per...

The Government has provided almost $9 billion towards the school-feeding programme for this 2023/24 fiscal year, representing an increase of $2 billion over the prior year. “Nutrition Products Limited (NPL) will continue to provide the breakfast/snack component of the school-feeding programme,” Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams, said during her contribution to the 2023/24 Sectoral Debate in the...

A total of 24,245 students are enrolled in the Ministry of Education and Youth’s Sixth-Form Pathways Programme (SFPP) for the 2022/23 academic year. The number represents a 21 per cent increase in enrolment over last year’s figure of 19,122. “We will continue to monitor and look for new ways to engage students, especially those in the tertiary space who have...