Hundreds of special needs children across the island benefited from support through the Early Stimulation Programme (ESP) last year. The intervention included the provision of developmental assistance, stimulation and therapy, assistive aids and educational support. As contained in the Economic and Social Survey Jamaica 2021, there were 888 referrals to the ESP last year, with Kingston and St. Andrew recording...

Children across the island’s four juvenile correctional facilities were treated to an end-of-summer fun day last week. The event was held to close out the annual summer programme staged by the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) and the Ministry of National Security for the wards under the ‘We Transform’ initiative. Policy Director and Project Manager at the Ministry, Ella Ghartey,...

Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams, is calling on business graduates to assist the Government’s efforts to impart financial literacy skills to students. She said there is need for students to be exposed to such knowledge at earlier levels of the education system. Addressing the University of Technology (UTech) School of Business Administration’s recent annual staff retreat, Mrs....

More than 1,200 children are expected to participate in the fifth staging of the National Children’s Summit (NCS) on Thursday, August 18, at the National Indoor Sport Centre. The event will be held under the theme ‘Beat the Odds, Chart your Destiny!’, and is in keeping with the strategic objectives and core values of the Child Protection and Family Services...

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Most Hon. Juliet Holness, is encouraging children to tell their parents not to use corporal punishment to discipline them. “Talk to Mommy and Daddy with respect; tell them do not hit you. Sit down and reason with you, and you reason with them, [but] reason with respect,” Mrs. Holness said, at the...

Nineteen males and six females from vulnerable communities in St. James have participated in a week-long behaviour-modification summer camp. The camp, hosted by the Youth and Adolescents Policy Division of the Ministry of Education and Youth (MOEY), was held from July 20 to 25 at the St. James Youth Innovation Centre in Montego Bay. It was part of the Youth...

Young creatives are being invited to enter the National Youth Policy (NYP) Summer Creative Challenge. Winners will be named Youth Policy Ambassadors for the Ministry of Education and Youth. The challenge provides an opportunity for persons, aged 15 to 29, to creatively express their interpretation of the six priority areas/goals of the NYP. These are education and training; health and...