Over the past three years, the educational outcomes and future job prospects of more than 10,000 students from 15 schools islandwide have been greatly enhanced by their engagement in social enterprise awareness sessions under the British Council’s Social Enterprise in Secondary Schools Programme. This was disclosed by Acting Country Manager of the British Council, Damion Campbell, who noted that the...

Sixty-one new tablets have been handed over to the Vauxhall High School in Kingston, to assist needy students to access online learning. The devices, donated by the Vauxhall High School Past Students Association of New York, in collaboration with past students in Canada and Jamaica, were handed over at a virtual ceremony, held at the school’s Windward Road location in...

Several regional stakeholders have endorsed the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) e-Campus’ new online Caribbean Securities Trader Professional Certificate Programme. The three-tiered Programme, delivery of which commenced on March 7, comprises the FX (Foreign Exchange) Trader, Caribbean Securities, and Brokerage Operations Management courses. It is designed to ensure that participants are fully equipped with a broad understanding of operations within the...

The portfolio of the Micro Investment Development Agency (MIDA) is to be transferred to the National Export-Import (EXIM) Bank and managed as a concessionary revolving loan programme for productive microenterprises. This follows Cabinet’s approval for the transfer. Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Fayval Williams, made the announcement while providing details on recent Cabinet decisions, during a virtual post-Cabinet...

Chairman of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) e-Campus, Johann Heaven, says the institution is well positioned to deliver quality tertiary training to persons across the region at a lower cost, particularly during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Speaking during the virtual launch of the e-Campus’ Caribbean Securities Trader Professional Certificate Programme on Monday (March 1), Mr. Heaven pointed out that in...

The Government will be amending the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) Act to incorporate new and emerging service sectors into its regulatory mandate, streamline its powers and harmonise across regulated sectors with sector-specific legislation. This was announced by Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, who said the changes are being made to facilitate a suitable regulatory framework...

The 2021/22 session of Parliament got under way this morning (February 18), at Gordon House, highlighted by the delivery of the Throne Speech by Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, under the theme ‘Building forward…Stronger Together’. His address outlined the priority programmes and policies to be pursued by the Government in the new fiscal year, which begins...

Honourable Members, We are here today during an unprecedented time which is emerging as a “new normal” in our consciousness. We have mounted a largely successful and intense programme to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and swiftly adapt to a new way of life. Wearing of masks has evolved from a practice, once essential only for a few, to being universally...

Introduction  Mr. President I rise this morning to update this House, and indeed the nation on where we are, having received the INDECOM Special Investigation Report into the Rio Cobre Juvenile Correctional Centre less than two weeks ago. Mr. President, I had committed when I became a Minister, to always bring to the attention of the Senate any issues found,...

Records and information management (RIM) across government is being streamlined under a special RIM programme being implemented by the Jamaica Archives and Records Department (JARD), an agency of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, in collaboration with the Cabinet Office. All ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) are being targeted under the initiative, which was officially launched in October 2018,...

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) says institutional reforms initiated by the Government of Jamaica placed the country in a very strong position to respond to the economic and financial fallout resulting from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In its 2020 quarterly bulletin – ‘Report: Institutional Reforms and Infrastructure Crucial for Future Caribbean Growth’ – the IDB noted that the reforms...

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Audley Shaw, says the Government is embarking on an initiative to facilitate the digitization of over 25,000 business enterprises’ operations within the next three years. “With the demand to go digital, especially given the current [coronavirus (COVID-19)] pandemic, information technology-enabled services, logistics and digital transfers of goods and services are now commonplace,” Mr....