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JAMAICA: PATH scholarship comes at right time for medical student

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#Jamaica, November 7, 2017 – Kingston – Without a $1-million scholarship from the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), Chedukia Langley, a fourth-year medical student at the University of the West Indies (UWI), says she would not have been able to meet her financial obligations to the university, and faced the possibility of being deregistered.

Chedukia, who spoke to JIS News at PATH’s 15th anniversary scholarship awards ceremony held at the Mona Visitors’ Lodge in St. Andrew on October 27, says with the money received, she was able to clear outstanding fees for last year and make a deposit on this year’s tuition.

The 22-year-old, who started UWI in 2014, tells JIS News that even with two scholarships, she was unable to meet her full tuition cost of $3.5 million per annum for her Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree, in addition to other expenses, including travelling, as she is a commuting student.

“I was at the brink of dropping out, because, although I had gotten scholarships, I still owed the university, and I did not know how I was going to pay,” she says.

The student, who has been a PATH beneficiary since high school, says that when she heard that she would be a scholarship recipient she was “beyond elated”.

“PATH is aimed at breaking the generational cycle (of poverty). They recognised that I needed the help, and they knew I could help other persons as well as contribute to Jamaica’s economic development. They made a wise investment in me,” Chedukia says.

The former Glenmuir High School student, who was born in St. Elizabeth, tells JIS News that becoming a medical doctor is a dream she has had from a young age.

“I wanted to become a doctor from I was very small. I always said I wanted to go to Glenmuir High School and become a doctor. Medicine is a rewarding career, and you get to help people where you can restore someone’s health,” she notes.

Chedukia says it has taken much sacrifice to get to this point, including leaving home to live with an aunt in Old Harbour, and she is determined to persevere in order to make life better for herself and her family.

“I can’t say I had an excellent childhood, but it was okay. I wasn’t living with my dad or my mom at one point in my life. We lived in one room with a zinc kitchen and (pit) latrine. My mother had six children, but it was okay,” the young woman tells JIS News.

Amidst all her challenges, Chedukia says she remained determined to excel, scoring grade ones in Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Mathematics, English Language, History, Spanish, Food and Nutrition, Physical Education, Office Administration, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Electronic Document Preparation and Management (EPDM).   Chedukia tells JIS News that her next major goal is to complete her degree programme.  She intends to work in the public sector and then enter private practice.

PATH is an initiative by the Government of Jamaica with support from donor partners, such as the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and other multilateral and bilateral agencies.  It is aimed at delivering benefits by way of cash grants to the poorest and most vulnerable persons in the society.

The programme is administrated by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, and the main objectives are to increase educational attainment and improve health outcomes of the poor, break the intergenerational cycle of poverty, reduce child labour by requiring children to have minimum attendance in school, and serve as a safety net by preventing families from falling further into poverty in the event of adverse shock.

As at June 2017, 70.62 per cent of registered PATH beneficiaries were children up to 18 years old.

In celebration of its 15th year of service to the people of Jamaica, PATH offered tertiary scholarships valued at $15 million to beneficiaries pursuing bachelor’s degrees at accredited institutions, to assist in covering the cost of tuition and books.

Seventeen students pursuing bachelor’s degrees in law, medicine, actuarial science, engineering, chemistry, plant biology and psychology received those awards.

The funds will be disbursed over a period of up to three years, with the condition that the recipients maintain a GPA of at least 2.5.

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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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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