Students in State care are being encouraged by their peers to use the opportunities presented to rise above stigma and improve their lives. “I wouldn’t want them to feel less of themselves. I want them to see [State care] as an opportunity because, honestly, I’ve been part of this system for four years and the opportunities I have received, I...

Morant Bay High School, located in the cool hills of Highbury, St. Thomas, will welcome many new faces when the 2022/23 academic year begins in September, and one of those will be 12-year-old Alex Talbot. This year’s ‘Top Boy’ in the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations at Morant Bay Primary School, young Alex has defeated the odds, rising from once...

Children born or cared for at the Mandeville Regional Hospital in Manchester are in for the best developmental support, with the institution now internationally certified as a Baby Friendly Hospital (BFH). To be baby friendly means giving every baby the best start in life by creating a healthcare environment that supports breastfeeding. This is in keeping with the global campaign...

High school teacher, Asheka Headley, was invited to a function and wanted to find the perfect purse to complement the shoes she planned to wear. Frustrated with going from store to store and finding nothing, she decided to use the clothing and textile skills she learned in school to make the accessory herself. Pleased with her handiwork, Ms. Headley attended...

Several small and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMTEs) across the island are receiving much-needed support to scale up their operations, generate new opportunities and increase earnings. The support, which includes capacity-building training, marketing and promotional assistance, is being provided under the ‘Big up Small Business’ initiative, a new project being undertaken by the Travel Foundation in collaboration with international charity, the...

Target beneficiaries of the Government’s $700-million entertainment and transport-sector loans are being encouraged to take advantage of the offers. The funds are earmarked for onlending by the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) to stakeholders whose income-earning activities were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of $500 million is programmed for the entertainment industry and $200 million for the transport...

Entertainment and transport industry stakeholders have welcomed the Government’s provision of two loan facilities, valued $700 million, to support the sectors’ recovery from the economic ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the provisions, $500 million is earmarked for on-lending to the entertainment sector and $200 million to public passenger vehicle (PPV) operators by the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), through...

Apart from the impressive academic achievements and destined-for-greatness attitude, the two top performers in the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) at the Providence Kinder-prep School in St. Thomas have more in common than meets the eye. Both boys tell of a simple secret to their years of academic excellence, and it is not mere hard work and determination; it’s also the...

Come September, young Z’iandra Tabanor will leave her home in St. Mary to begin the next phase of her education at her first-choice school – Immaculate Conception High, in Kingston. Z’iandra, who graduated from Three Hills Primary, in the parish, performed outstandingly in the 2022 Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations. She was assessed ‘Highly Proficient’ in Mathematics, Language Arts, Science,...