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Grade-Nine students create history at Mico Practising

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#Jamaica, September 9, 2017 – Kingston – After successfully conducting an experiment with an all-male grade-six class in 2016, which resulted in an improved performance in the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), Mico Practising Primary & Junior High began another experiment earlier this year with grade-nine students, and the school’s administration is pleased with the outcome.

For the 2016/2017 academic year, the institution registered 13 students for the first time in the school’s history to sit the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subject, Electronic Document Preparation and Management (EDPM), of which 11 passed – one with a grade two and the others at grade three.   The CSEC examinations are usually taken after five years of secondary school by students who are 16 years and older.

The students who created history at Mico Practising by passing EPDM are all under the age of 16 years.   They are Shenelle Samuels, Grizell Scarlett, Shamari Smith, Taciann Smith, Nasatia West, Jeneale Rose, Ashanty McDermott, Kelvin Paisley, Keanu Jones, Tyecia Lawrence and Ishama Pounall.   They all received a grade three pass, except Ishama who got a grade two.

They were also part of a group of 100 students from Mico Practising, who sat the Grade Nine Assessment Test (GNAT) in the last academic year, and who all passed the examination and were placed in other high schools.

Shenelle, Grizell, Tyecia and Ishama were placed at Merl Grove High School; Shamari and Nasatia, St. Andrew Technical High; Taciann and Ashanty, Kingston Technical High; Jeneale, Gaynstead High; Kelvin, Excelsior High; and Keanu, José Martí Technical High School.

In an interview with JIS News, Principal, Mico Practising, Geraldine Allen,  says the idea of students sitting EPDM  at CSEC came from Dawn Duckworth, who teaches  grades seven and eight at the school.

“She didn’t teach grade nine, but she came to me with the idea, so we agreed to enter some grade-nine students.   With the help of Dwayne Earl, who is the Information Technology (IT) teacher, we identified the students who were the best performers in IT and used that as the basis to select them,” Ms. Allen notes.

“EDPM was chosen because that was the subject we had most resources to focus on. It didn’t require School Based Assessments (SBAs).   It didn’t require too much outside of the children’s experience, because they were already doing Information Technology, and some of the areas they did in Library Science.   It was thought that (based on) those two factors, they would be able to manage,” she tells JIS News.

Ms. Allen says she is elated at what the children were able to achieve, as they came to Mico Practising at grade seven with minimal GSAT grades.

“We are a Junior High School, so we do not get the children who are performing. We get the children who are at the bottom, so I am really proud of them,” Ms. Allen adds.

The Principal says she is also proud of teachers at the school, because without their input, especially from the grade-seven level, the students could not have been successful.

“The Junior High teachers work really hard with the students, particularly children who are non-performers,” Ms. Allen says.

Based on the students’ success, the Principal says the administrators of the school are considering to register grade-nine students for Human & Social Biology alongside EDPM for the 2018 sitting of CSEC.   Meanwhile, Ms. Allen notes that the all-male grade-six class again performed very well in the 2017 examination.

“For the students who just graduated (from grade six), the performance was excellent.   The boy with the lowest average in that class was 70 per cent, so the boys did really well. Over 20 of them in that class were placed in their first-choice school,” she tells JIS News.

In June 2016, the school reported that of the 28 boys who did the GSAT from the all-male class, 22 passed for traditional high schools such as Campion College, Wolmer’s Boys, St. George’s College and Kingston College.   The overall top GSAT performer at the school in 2016, Taric Myles, attained a 99 per cent average.   Mico Practising has a student population of 1,097.

Story by: Ainsworth Morris

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CARPHA Progresses to Eligibility for the First Disbursement of Pandemic Funding

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Following a landmark Public Signing Ceremony for the Pandemic Fund (PF) Technical Cooperation Agreement (“Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Prevention, Preparedness, and Response” [RG-T4387] Project) on December 14, 2023, in Trinidad, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) continues to progress towards the start of implementation.

 CARPHA fulfilled the IDB’s nine conditions prior to first disbursement, achieving full eligibility on March 15, 2024, and is now eligible for the first disbursement. This milestone achievement in just 3 months after the signing speaks to the commitment of both CARPHA, the Executing Agency, and IDB, the Implementing Entity, toward the regional PF project with the objective of supporting the reduction of the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean by building pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR) surveillance & early-warning systems (EWS), laboratory systems and workforce capacity, regionally at CARPHA and in countries.

Since the signing of the Technical Cooperation Agreement and as part of the conditions prior to first disbursement, CARPHA has achieved the following key outputs (i) the development of the PF Project Operations Manual, Multi-annual Execution Plan, Procurement Plan, Financial Plan, Procedure for CARPHA’s Financial Reporting System; (ii) vacancy announcements for two tranches of consultants with the subsequent hiring of five (Technical Coordinator, Financial Specialist, Procurement Specialist, Operations Officer and Project Operations Coordinator) and (iii) the establishment of the Project Execution Unit (PEU) and Project Execution Steering Committee (PESC). The dedicated PEU will be responsible for execution according to its planned timelines, which will be led by the Dr. Lisa Indar, the Project Director (CARPHA’s Director of Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control Division).

 CARPHA, as the lead regional public health agency and an expression of Caribbean Cooperation in Health is mandated by its Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) to support its 26 CARPHA Member States (CMS) in bolstering national systems and coordinating regional response to public health threats. The Agency works closely with regional and international agencies and uses regional mechanisms, surveillance systems, and networks for coordinating its public health response work.

In July 2023, the PF Governing Board announced that CARPHA’s regional entity proposal, entitled ‘Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Strengthened Integrated Early Warning Surveillance, Laboratory Systems and Workforce Development’ was successfully selected for the first round of financing. It was one of only 19 proposals selected from over 300 submissions and the only regional project. The three priority areas in the proposal are: (i) Comprehensive disease surveillance and EWS, (ii) Laboratory systems and (iii) Human resources and public health and community workforce capacity.

This project is expected to begin implementation in March 2024, starting off with a blended onboarding session. A Stakeholder Meeting with countries is tentatively planned for July 2024.

CARPHA remains dedicated to working together with the IDB, CARPHA Member States and the Pandemic Fund to successfully implement the regional proposal geared toward reducing the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean.

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Men who had Murdered Man, Marley Higgs’ cell phone face Court

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Wilkie Arthur

Freelance Court Correspondent

The prosecution intends to try two young North Caicos men, both age 21 for the offense of possession of property of a murdered man, property that was stolen and landed in their possession.

The phone belonged to Peureton ‘Marley’ Higgs, who is believed to have been an innocent gunned down at his apartment complex in the Glass Shack area in a spray of bullets on February 2 that killed another man and wounded two others, including a ten-year-old little girl.

The cell phone was described as white in colour, an iPhone, in a hard black case. 

On Monday, March 18th, JEFFVANO HANDFIELD of North Caicos pleaded not guilty to the offense, and the matter was adjourned to April 2024. He was granted bail in the matter.

A second North Caicos man was charged similarly.  

SARENO CAPELLAN aka, Kino Williams is the second individual brought before the court pertaining to the said cellphone. He appeared in court a week after JEFFVANO HANDFIELD, the date being Monday March 25th 2024.

The case for the Crown is that both men sometime in February of this year possessed the cellphone knowing or suspecting it to be stolen property.

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Caribbean News

Supreme Court Closed for Easter

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NOTICE is hereby given that the Easter Recess shall commence on Friday 29th April, 2024 and end on Friday 5th April, 2024. During the Easter Recess Judge Selochan will be available to deal only with matters that are urgent or require prompt attention.

Court Business During the Easter Recess

A person who wishes to have a matter heard during the recess must file a certificate of urgency along with an affidavit, which must set out the reasons why the matter is urgent or requires prompt attention. The matter will not be listed during the recess unless the Judge deems it fit for urgent hearing.

Opening Hours During the Easter Holiday

The Supreme Court’s last sitting day for the first term is Thursday 28th March, 2024. The Court will officially resume sittings on Monday 8th April, 2024. The Supreme Court Offices in both Grand Turk and Providenciales will continue to operate while the Court is not sitting during the recess.

The Court Office will be closed on the following public holidays:

  • Friday 29th March, 2024 (Good Friday) CLOSED
  • Monday 1st April, 2024 (Easter Monday) CLOSED

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