Jamaica’s education system has longstanding challenges. These cannot be fixed with the waving of a magic wand. Indeed, transformation of the present education system requires diligent attention, massive injection of financial and other resources...
It has always been recognised that development requires innovation and the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) is essential. On Sunday, July 16, the Gleaner published an article by Dr Jenny Bulstrode of the University College of London...
Fayval Williams, the education minister, must provide an unvarnished report of the annual summer programme aimed at bringing underperforming grade-four and pre-high-school students up to basics. Hopefully, it achieved success and that the 28,000...
Given how matters unfolded with respect to the 37 Haitians who say they want to apply for refugee status in Jamaica, it seems that the island’s border control, law-enforcement, and other relevant public officials should be regularly refreshed on...
Decades before Emancipation Day was declared, Gene Autry and I found ourselves, one Friday at midnight, playing dominoes against Dr. S. Blanc, self-styled Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Domino, and Jimmy Hunchback. Jimmy, long ago emancipated...
While speaking at the thanksgiving service for the life of slain police officer Constable Damien Blair on July 15, Police Federation Chairman Corporal Rohan James gave the Police High Command a tongue-lashing. He chided his superiors for allegedly...
Heads of state and government of 60 countries: 27 from the European Union, and 33 from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), met in Brussels July 17-18. The last time they did so was in 2015, eight years ago. The summit...
The governing regime in Jamaica is exhausted. There is no longer even the pretence that current policies will offer basic opportunity for upward mobility to the majority of our people in our lifetime. Our best efforts are expended to settle for...
Last week’s interdiction of Police Federation Chairman Rohan James for remarks his bosses believe could undermine the discipline of the force, raises questions about what protections ought legitimately to be expected by the leader of a trade...
Delroy Chuck’s intriguing idea of making wills mandatory in Jamaica is worthy of discussion, given the vast amount of wealth that lies fallow because potential beneficiaries can’t agree on how to share the estate. But an important corollary to...
On Wednesday, July 26, the day after the government used its majority to railroad an amendment to Jamaica’s Supreme Law – without prior notice, without consultation with the Opposition and without indication to the Constitutional Reform Committee...
Constituency meetings can be a death trap. Politicians are often caught off guard. Surrounded by a crowd of faithful followers, they get carried away and chat a lot of dangerous foolishness. Spontaneous ejaculation can, most certainly, have deadly...
Everyone hates dust, it settles on everything and requires that we constantly clean surfaces and equipment. It’s as if the Earth is attempting to slowly and inexorably bury us alive! Aside from the inconvenience, ugliness, and dirtiness of dust, it...
How does one prefer charges against a subordinate for criticising you, and then be able to appoint judges or be the judge yourself, and have an outcome which obeys the rules of natural justice? Impossible! And if the very set of people who are...
The Duhaney River in Kingston, choked as it is with garbage and other waste, is the likely habitat of a crocodile which was recently spotted in a yard in the New Haven area. This is not the first sighting in that area this year. Additionally,...
Guatemala, the largest country in Central America, is undergoing a critical test of its commitment to democracy and the rule of law in its presidential elections. The outcome will shape the nation’s political and social stability, economic...
“I heard a rumour about our Prime Minister. I’m not sure if it’s Trudeau. Wait. There are some rumours that are Justin.” This is the kind of joke I hear from members of my Canadian fan club. Here’s another, “How do we know that the Pope isn’t being...
No one, on the face of it, would reasonably be opposed to bringing the retirement age of the director of public prosecutions (DPP) and the auditor general (AuG) in line with that of other employees in the public sector. There is good reason,...
One 26-year-old man who was identified as ‘Jamal’ in a local newspaper related his experience working with a ‘cougar’ who wouldn’t leave him alone. She would oftentimes force an interaction with him by calling him to do things for her even when it...
“So we just appeal to the people of St Thomas: be patient with us. We are working with you, and we are trying our best to complete this stuff. … Joy cometh in the morning. So just hold on. You will have joy very shortly. … Very soon you will...
THE 28th Ibero-American Summit took place in the Dominican Republic on March 24. This event involved South and Central American, Caribbean and European, Spanish/Portuguese-speaking nations. The focus was to be on post COVID-19 economic issues....
AFTER RESISTING the Dark Side for over a decade, it appears that I’ve finally been beaten, broken and battered into submission. Yup. Your favourite social-media-hating Ebenezer Scrooge has finally succumbed to the pressures of Elon Musk’s blue bird...
Nigel Clarke, the finance minister, thought it important last week to highlight how little, as a proportion of the national wealth, Jamaica spends on early-childhood learning, compared to Caribbean neighbours and other segments of the domestic...
It is good that they are on to it, but it should not have taken a public brouhaha over what would happen to a wheelchair-bound child for the education ministry to fast-track efforts to make the Merl Grove High School in Kingston accessible to...
In the relationship between the European Union (EU) and the Caribbean, there were two meetings of note which took place last week. These were the EU’s meeting with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (CELAC) held in Brussels,...
