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JAMAICA: Minister reaffirm commitment to ensuring teen mothers continue education

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#Kingston, November 2, 2018 – Jamaica – The Ministries of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport; and Education, Youth and Information, have reaffirmed their commitment to the national policy for the Reintegration of School-Age Mothers into the Formal School System.

Gender Minister, Hon. Olivia Grange; and State Minister for Education, Hon. Floyd Green, signed documents signalling continued support for the policy during a Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF) stakeholders’ forum  on Thursday (November 1) at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston.

The policy, which was accepted by Cabinet in 2013, ensures the right of adolescent mothers to return to secondary school following the birth to their babies, and facilitates smooth reintegration. It has since been subjected to at least two evaluations.

Ms. Grange pointed out that prior to the policy, it was the remit of the WCJF to negotiate space within the schools for the teen mothers, adding that quite often, the process was time-consuming and tedious.

“Thankfully, there is now a policy, which facilitates a collaborative process between the WCJF and the regional offices of the Education Ministry,” she said, noting that over the past five years, 2,002 girls have been reintegrated into the formal system.

Ms. Grange said that while the vast majority of the girls do complete their secondary education, a number of them drop out of school a second time.

This is largely due to factors such as inadequate preparation to return to school; insufficient post-placement monitoring; inadequate coping skills; financial constraints; little or no family support; domestic challenges; and a second pregnancy.

It is against this background that the Advancing Secondary, Tertiary, Remedial Education for Adolescent Mothers (A-STREAM) programme was launched in May to provide the adolescent mothers with psychosocial support that would enable them to complete their secondary schooling.

Ms. Grange noted that the programme is being delivered in collaboration with AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and, to date, a total of $672,040 has been disbursed to 14 adolescent mothers, three adolescent fathers, and three alumnae, who have matriculated to tertiary-level studies.

“Other requests are being processed, particularly as fees for the external examinations are to be paid during the course of this month,” she indicated.

Ms. Grange said that the Ministry is committed to providing the WCJF with the resources needed to deliver on its mandate to have the girls complete their secondary education.

Meanwhile, Mr. Green noted that the Education Ministry is a strong partner in the reintegration of school-aged mothers into the education system.

“However, more needs to be done. We still have to continue to change the mindset of a number of our administrators across the system, who seem to be more concerned about protecting the brand and image of their institutions than protecting our children,” he pointed out.

“Schools weren’t designed just to be names; schools were designed for a specific purpose to serve our children. So a lot of work will have to be done across the education system, and I commit that [my Ministry] will continue to champion to our school leaders and administrators, the need to understand why this is important,” Mr. Green added.

The WCJF is a government agency under the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport.

The core of the work of the foundation is providing adolescent mothers, 17 years and under, with continued education during their pregnancy, and having them reintegrated into the formal school system after the birth of their babies.

 

Release: JIS

Contact: Latonya Linton

Photo Captions:

Header: Minister, Hon. Olivia Grange (front left); and State Minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green (front right), display signed documents signalling both Ministries’ continued support for the Policy for the Reintegration of School-Age Mothers into the Formal School System, during the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF) stakeholders’ forum at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston, on November 1. Standing (in back from left) are: Consultant,  Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Ministry, Barbara Blake Hannah; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Denzil Thorpe; Executive Director, WCJF, Dr. Zoe Simpson; United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund Representative, Mariko Kagoshima; Deputy Chief Education Officer (Acting) Schools Operations, Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Mrs. Dasmine Kennedy; and Chairperson,  Board of Directors, WCJF, Debby-Ann Brown-Salmon.

First insert: Minister, Hon. Olivia Grange (left seated); and State Minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Floyd Green (seated right), sign documents signalling both Ministries’ continued support for the Policy for the Reintegration of School-Age Mothers into the Formal School System.

Second insert: Minister, Hon. Olivia Grange, hugs students and alumnae of the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF) during a WCJF stakeholders’ forum held at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston on November 1.

 

Adrian Walker Photos

 

 

 

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Caribbean News

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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Caribbean News

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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