With the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations fast approaching on April 29 and 30, hundreds of grade-six students across Clarendon and St. Catherine are feeling the familiar mix of anticipation and anxiety. For many, however, that anxiety is being transformed into confidence and determination, thanks to the Powered Up for PEP tour, an impactful motivational initiative led by the Marsha...

Eighteen General Construction students from the HEART/NSTA Trust Buff Bay Vocational Training Centre in Portland, have been given firsthand experience of a major construction site through a recent tour of the Boundbrook Urban Centre Project in the parish. The massive development is the second Urban Centre to be built in Jamaica and is now 51 per cent complete. It is...

The Jamaica Association for the Deaf (JAD), founded in 1938, has long stood as a pillar of empowerment for members of the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community. Since that time, the organisation has worked tirelessly to dismantle barriers that hinder access to education, employment, and entrepreneurship, ensuring that deaf Jamaicans are equipped to fully participate in nation-building. Located at Hope Estate,...

Jamaica’s financial sector is strongly supportive of the National Identification System (NIDS), recognising it as a vital tool for reducing risk and fostering the country’s digital economy. NIDS is designed to provide a comprehensive and secure framework for collecting and storing identity information. In 2022, the Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with deposit-taking institutions to support pilot implementation...

For more than two decades, Head of the Language Department at Enid Bennett High School in St. Catherine, Camille Brown, has quietly but powerfully shaped young minds, leaving an indelible mark on her students, colleagues and the wider school community. For her dedication, the veteran educator was named Teacher of the Year 2025-2026 by Friends of the Ministry of Education,...

Scores of small farmers in Kitson Town, St. Catherine, say they are benefiting from an agricultural transformation in the community that is improving livelihoods, redefining community, and reimagining the future of rural enterprises. The small farmers tell a story of empowerment, innovation, and renewed hope, and are crediting the Improving Rural Livelihoods through Resilient Agri-food Systems (IRL) Project for the...

The familiar hum of academic debate during the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) Research Day Expo in March gave way to the sizzle of grills and the whir of blenders, as students set aside textbooks for burners to test their entrepreneurial mettle. For students enrolled in the Portland-based institution’s Small Business Management Programme, the Expo was transformed into...

LASCO/NAJ Nurse of the Year 2025, Fione Collins, through her ‘Inspiring Women Igniting Newness (IWIN) Project’ is empowering women to rise above their personal and economic challenges and transform their lives. The initiative, which offers financial assistance to women and girls ages 15 and older, is making a meaningful impact, one life at a time. At its core, IWIN is...

At St. Mary Technical High School, the hum of innovation is not confined to classrooms. It spills into workshops, projects and collaborative initiatives where students are being shaped into future-ready citizens. Leading this transformation is Principal Orville Richards, who recently received the title of LASCO/Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information/Jamaica Teaching Council 2025 Principal of the Year. In an...