A total of 6,000 young people will be engaged under the Youth Summer Employment Programme (YSEP) this year. Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, said that the new cohort will begin the programme in August and will be paid $40,000. “The municipal corporations and the Social Development Commission (SDC) will play key roles in the selection...

Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Robert Morgan says the Ministry is seeking to include the voice of the youth in the decision making process. “A big part of the conversation taking place … is the importance of the youth voice in our society,” Mr. Morgan said. He was speaking at a press conference...

Executive Director of the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD), Dr. Christine Hendricks, says parents of children with disabilities are able to access the Council’s Economic Empowerment grant to assist in the maintenance of a disabled child. The grant can be up to $150,000 for a person with a disability to start his or her own business. “We have...

Regional Director of the Child Protection and Family Services Agency’s (CPFSA) north-east region, Carolyn Stewart, says that persons who have responsibility for the treatment or care of minors have a duty to report known or suspected cases of child abuse. “These are persons who, by virtue of their employment, have to treat children. So all the guidance counsellors, teachers, doctors,...

Regional Director of the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA), North East Region, Carolyn Stewart, is encouraging persons to report suspected cases of child abuse. “If you feel like a child is being hurt, you have to report it. We do not want you to get the facts; we do not want you to investigate; we do not want...

The Stratmore Gardens Children’s Home in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, has benefitted from a donation of supplies from the George Moodie Cares Foundation and the St. Andrew Technical High School Key Club. Several members of the two organisations visited the home on Friday (May 7), where they handed over cleaning products, hand sanitisers, toiletries, clothing and food items. They also...

As the nation observes Read Across Jamaica Day on Tuesday (May 4), Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, took time out to read to children from the Mona Preparatory School in St. Andrew. The Prime Minister welcomed six students from the kindergarten class on the lawns of Jamaica House, where he read to them from the book ‘My Brain...