Black Immigrant Daily News

The shift system may have adversely high school students’ performances in the CXC CSEC exams this year, according to Education, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Sharie De Castro.

During a House of Assembly sitting on Oct. 25, Ms. De Castro noted the difference between the time recommended by the CXC for each subject and the schedule offered by the shift system that Elmore Stoutt High School has often used since Hurricane Irma.

In many cases, she said, ESHS classroom time was as much as 40 percent below the CXC recommendations. Only English A and theatre arts were scheduled to fit the weekly hours recommended by the CXC, she said.

Nevertheless, she said, the pass rate was 100 percent for 10 subjects, including agricultural science, Caribbean history, and family and resource management.

In other subjects, however, students didn’t fare as well. For example, the pass rate for English A was 96 percent (an increase of over 12 percent from last year), and the pass rate for mathematics was 56 percent (an increase of nearly nine percent from last year).

“This year, the subject which resulted in the least acceptable pass rate was industrial technology (electrical), at 28.57 percent,” Ms. De Castro said.

Planned return

The minister added that the planned return to full days of schooling later this year should make a difference. She didn’t specify when this would happen, but it is dependent on the completion of the new ESHS buildings.

“With the much-anticipated change from the shift system to full-day schooling this year, with the exception of the sciences all subjects will be allotted the recommended time or more than the recommended time,” she said. “Recommended times from CXC are based on two-year timeframes; our schedule is based on a three-year schedule for most students. Our advanced students, however, are able to take CSEC examinations in two years.”

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

The question of which of the two major political parties locally has done a better job of providing housing solutions for the Jamaican people is taking centre-stage ahead of Local Government Elections which are due by February 2023.

On Friday, the People’s National Party’s (PNP) Spokesman on Housing and Sustainable Living, Floyd Morris, defended his party’s record in this area. He even defended the controversial Programme for Resettlement, Integrated Development Enterprise (Operation PRIDE).

Morris was speaking in the Senate as he made his contribution to the State of the Nation Debate.

By Sunday, the Minister with responsibility for information, Robert Morgan, who is also the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Clarendon North Central, charged that Prime Minister Andrew Holness had opened more houses for Jamaicans than any other prime minister.

He also took a swipe at the PNP, which he described as “chalk”, while referring to the governing JLP as “cheese”, as he pointed out what he described as the many accomplishments of the JLP, housing solutions being chief among them.

“Dem talk bout house, dem say dem build house fi poor people — unu ever see no PNP minister or prime minister open as much (many) houses as (Prime Minister) Andrew Holness? Make we look pon di facts,” said Morgan.

Robert Morgan

He cited that when the JLP retook the reins of Government in February 2016, the National Housing Trust (NHT) built 1,859 houses that year.

“Di first time wi lick it inna 2017, wi guh 3,000 house fi di year; 2018, we guh over 5,000 house fi di year; 2019 we guh over 6,000 house fi di year, and prime minister has now announced that we a build 70,000 house fi people who contribute to the NHT. PNP a chalk, JLP a cheese,” Morgan stated.

For his part, Morris not only defended the PNP’s record in housing, he went further by defending Operation PRIDE that was established by former Prime Minister PJ Patterson in 1994.

His tone was more measured, as he acknowledged that the various political administrations had over the years, implemented diverse housing projects to improve the living conditions of Jamaicans. He presented what he called a “sample of projects implemented by PNP administrations”.

“Let us never forget that it was the Rt Excellent Norman Manley (PNP founder) in the 1950s that (who) introduced the first set of housing schemes in the island. Mona, Hope Pastures and Harbour View are among these seminal achievements,” said Morris.

“Thousands of Jamaicans owned their homes through this housing initiative. Indeed, these housing developments triggered the establishment of a new middle-class in Jamaica,” he added.

Morris told the Senate that “In the 1970s, the venerable and indefatigable Michael Manley triggered the housing transformation in Jamaica. This was led by the creation of the National Housing Trust in 1976. Between 1976 and 1980 alone, over 40,000 housing units were delivered to Jamaicans through the NHT. The era of the thatch houses and the wattle and daub was coming to an end, thanks to the visionary housing policies of Michael Manley.”

Morris also stated that the NHT has indicated that it has built over 110,000 houses over its 45-year existence.

In the face of recent criticism from the JLP, Morris defended the PRIDE programme.

JLP Members of Parliament have raised questions about Operation PRIDE both inside and outside Parliament, and have pointed out that up to $9 billion associated with the programme has gone unaccounted for.

The MP for Trelawny Northern, Tova Hamilton, recently criticised the programme during her contribution to the State of the Constituency Debate. According to Hamilton, more than 20 years after a number of her constituents made deposits on Government-owned lands for the construction of houses under the Operation Pride programme, the promised development is yet to materialise.

But, Morris insisted on Friday that “Patterson embarked on one of the most commendable and comprehensive initiatives to deal with the historical injustices of slavery”.

Floyd Morris

He said Operation PRIDE delivered over 58,000 titles and certificates of possession to ordinary Jamaicans across the island.

“We can proudly say Pines of Karachi, developed by PJ, Wentworth in St Mary, developed by PJ, Mount Edgecombe in St Ann, developed by PJ, Luana in St Elizabeth, developed by PJ, Melrose Mews in Manchester, developed by PJ, Langston apartment in St Andrew, developed by PJ.”

“We make absolutely no apologies about the Operation PRIDE developments,” Morris stated even as he acknowledged that there were problems with the programme.

“I say emphatically, yes,” he said about whether there were problems with the programme.

As to whether questionable decisions were made relative to the programme, Morris said “probably”.

“However, Operation PRIDE brought significant benefits to thousands of Jamaicans who would not have received the chance to own a piece of this rock. We in the PNP create opportunities for the small man to gain access to and be included in the society by implementing initiatives such as Operation PRIDE,” said the Opposition senator.

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

News

Dr Roodal Moonilal . File photo by Jeff K Mayers

Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal is calling for an independent investigation into the cost of construction of the Prime Minister’s Tobago residence. He said the cost, as stated in documents received from Udecott, had gone from a initial budget of $25 million to $63 million.

Speaking at the UNC’s virtual meeting on Sunday, he said a request had been made for the cost during the Standing Finance Committee.

“When we were in office, I told Kamla Persad-Bissessar that Udecott said it would cost $20 million and she said that money could be better spent elsewhere, and that Udecott should either revise the budget or shelve it. We can now confirm that $48 million was already paid to the company, with a further unpaid balance of $15 million. We are calling for an unbiased enquiry as to who the contractors were and why the cost was so high.”

Moonilal also asked why the PNM was using TTT as a resource to broadcast its political meetings for free.

“During the standing finance committee, we asked what was the revenue collected from broadcasting political meetings. The information we received was that there had been at least six PNM political meetings aired during the fiscal year for which no payments were received and no payments were outstanding. No political meetings of other parties were aired.”

The MP also asked for details of the 2,500 cameras which the PM recently announced would be acquired at a cost of $18 million. He asked whether this figure included the system needed to run the cameras, what the specifications were, what the tendering process had been, and whether the cameras would be able to capture information which could be used as evidence in a court of law.

NewsAmericasNow.com