In Focus

The Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) is, for all intents and purposes, a trade union with a teacher-centred purpose. Its mission is clear:

The 2013-14 Budget Debate has come and gone, and as is customary, we are left with a plethora of grand announcements and proposals as to how things should and will be done.

Former president of the Senate, the Rev Stanley Redwood, served his last sitting in the Senate a few Fridays after confirming that he would relocate to Canada with his family. The senator, who hails from the South West St Elizabeth constituency, argued personal family reasons for his decision, a position most Jamaicans can relate to and accept.

On April 29, Jason Collins, of NBA team Washington Wizards and soon-to-be free agent, became the first active male professional athlete in a major North American team sport to publicly come out as gay. He got positive endorsements from a number of prominent persons, including a congratulatory telephone call from President Barack Obama and a positive tweet from Michelle Obama.

On May 2, before the ink dried on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement, Peter Phillips delivered a stirring speech obviously intended to fan our most patriotic flames. He insisted the successful completion of Jamaica's IMF obligations was a national undertaking, which required "all hands on deck".

On this Mother's Day, Monica Dystant argues that while the maternal instinct is powerful, women - and men - should better assess their capacity to raise children.

Government acceded to the desire for knowledge and has agreed to have a commission of enquiry into the incidents that led to the incursion into Tivoli Gardens in 2010 and the confirmed deaths of 76 persons. Rumour is rife, and some know-it-alls who have a clear ideas of what happened think a commission is a waste of time

The following is an article by the Jamaica Civil Society Coalition.In 2007, a report commissioned and published by the World Bank and Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility said of Jamaica's approach to public-private partnerships (PPP) that...

This year, I turn 24. The only Jamaica I have ever known is mired in poverty, crime and held hostage by poor governance.

In closing the Budget Debate, Finance Minister Peter Phillips sought to reconcile the apparent conflict between his pronouncement and that of Minister Paulwell made earlier in the debate regarding the divestment of Clarendon Alumina Production (CAP).

The Budget Debate has come and gone. How has the discourse advanced us? How have our options been clarified and elucidated? How better informed are we about our prospects for growth?

I am a patriotic Jamaican and truly love my country and am crossing all 11 of my fingers and 12 toes that Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller got it right and knows what she is doing in this country. This is the third year of her reign, adding the period from 2006 to 2007, and it is old, old news that she is from the belly of the poor, a woman, Sister P or any of those populist appeals.