Literary enthusiasts will travel to Montserrat in November for the second annual literary festival, the Alliougana Festival of the Word. With the theme, Discovering New Worlds Through Words, the November 12-14 event will bring together acclaimed writers and readers from the Caribbean, North America, United Kingdom and Australia. Confirmed speakers include award-winning poet and author Kwame Dawes... 

ST AUGUSTINE, Trinidad And Tobago – Professor Clement Sankat, Pro Vice Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (UWI) and St Augustine Campus Principal, together with Mr Ewart Williams, Governor of the Trinidad and Tobago Central Bank and current Chair of the UWI St Augustine Campus Council, will host a press conference on Thursday September 2nd at 11a.m. at the Central Bank to launch an appeal... 

Douglas BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – The Kitts and Nevis government says it will launch the first phase of a project that provides high school and college students with their personal laptops by the end of the year. But Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas has warned recipients that the laptops must be valued and viewed as the key to intellectual liberation and academic advancement. “I urge all recipients,... 

Holness KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica government has outlined new measures as it relates to providing subsidies for students pursuing the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) Examinations. “The new policy will see government subsidies going to students who have attained a historic grade that would ensure a pass at the actual sitting of the exam. So we would no longer fund the two compulsory... 

HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – Bermuda has signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of the West Indies (UWI) which could see Bermudian students offered discounted tuition rates as early as next year. Premier Ewart Brown signed the document with UWI Vice Chancellor Nigel Harris on Wednesday. Under the MOU, Bermuda will be an associate contributing country to UWI. Bermudian students who apply... 

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The Barbados-based Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) said performance in both English A (Language) and English B (Literature) for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) improved significantly in the May/June 2010 sitting. CXC said that 66 per cent of the subject entries submitted for English A achieved Grades I to III in 2010 compared with 56 per cent in... 

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica government has condemned  the decision of some schools to withhold the examination results of students who sat the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE). The Ministry of Education said it was “strongly advising school administrators” to desist from withholding the examination results... 

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Newly-installed president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), Nadine Molloy, is promising that there will be “no retreat, no surrender” as she leads the grouping’s fight for better wages and benefits for its members. Molloy, who took over the leadership from Michael Stewart on Monday, said along with the Caribbean Union of Teachers, the JTA will continue... 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – The Inter American Development Bank (IDB) Tuesday said it would raise US$500 million for an overhaul of the Haitian education system. The pledge was made during a meeting here of the board of directors of the Interim Haitian Recovery Commission,. The IDB, has been working on the plan with the Haitian Ministry of Education, the Presidential Commission on Education and... 

PHOTO BY ANEEL KARIM. THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES, MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE. Left to right:Sharifa Ammon, 2nd-place winner; Andrew M. Ali, 3rd-place winner; and Yunique Francis, 1st-place winner. Professor Dyer Narinesingh, Acting Principal of The University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago and Her Excellency Sharon Saunders, High Commissioner... 

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The Barbados-based Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) Friday said it was pleased that that its Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) has reached a significant milestone since it was launched 12 years ago. “For the first time, the number of Unit entries surpassed the 100, 000 mark; some 101, 643 Unit entries were submitted this year compared with 93, 648 in 2009,”... 

Shaw KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The board of directors of the Student’s Loan Buerau (SLB) resigned on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after Finance Minister Audley Shaw announced that the services of the SLB Executive Director, Lenice Barnett, had been terminated with immediate effect. The board members submitted their resignation letters following a meeting with Shaw. The names of a new board... 

Shaw KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica government has denied allegations of victimisation after Finance Minister Audley Shaw announced that the services of the Executive Director of the Student’s Loan Bureau (SLB), Mrs. Lenice Barnett had been terminated with immediate effect. Shaw is due to meet with the SLB Board of Directors on Wednesday to discuss the issue. But junior Finance Minister... 

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Mona campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) is to introduce several belt-tightening measures in a bid to survive, as it struggles to adjust to a one billion dollar  (US$11.7 million) cut in its subvention from the Jamaica government. Among the big reforms is putting pressure on permanent lecturers who have been getting full pay for half their scheduled classroom... 

NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC – The Bahamas government Friday said that no fees were being charged for students entering public schools after a child’s photograph was posted on the internet critising the existing policy. “As a political figure I expect that I will be attacked publicly; however, I do not expect innocent children to be used in this manner. I was particularly appalled because I am told that... 

Andrew Holness KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Education Minister Andrew Holness has sought to defend the Jamaica government decision to increase tertiary educational fees and has described as inaccurate Thursday media reports on the matter. “The change in how we fund tertiary education will be gradual. You are not going to see an overnight 40 per cent reduction, so the alarm raised in the headlines... 

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Law enforcement and Custom officials from several Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries Wednesday began a three-day workshop focusing on the identification of prohibited items that could be used in the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction. The workshop, which will be conducted by officials from the United States National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA),... 

(Photo Credit: www.uwi.edu) JAMAICA: The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus in Jamaica has taken note of the concerns that the outbreak of violence on the island has created with international partner universities and governments with nationals studying on the Campus. The Mona Campus is some distance away from the areas of unrest, and the security risk assessment conducted by UWI Mona... 

PRESS RELEASE: A new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between The University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) will join the strengths of the two regional organisations. Professor Clement Sankat, UWI Pro Vice Chancellor and St Augustine Campus Principal, and Ambassador Luis Fernando Andrade Falla, Minister of the People’s Power for Tourism of the Bolivarian Republic... 

A four-member team comprising two students from The University of the West Indies (UWI) Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has won the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) NextLab Award for Excellence in Technology Innovation. UWI students Mark Lessey and Yudhistre Jonas, along with two students from MIT’s Sloan School of Business, won the Innovation Award, one of three awards... 

The University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine Campus, Faculty of Social Sciences has distributed four scholarships to students of the inaugural class of the FIFA/UWI/CIES Postgraduate Diploma in Sports Management. On Wednesday May 12th 2010, academic and administrative staff convened at the Faculty of Social Sciences lounge to witness the distribution of scholarships, courtesy the Centre for... 

PRESS RELEASE:  A wheelchair for an injured dog, a personal air conditioner, a folding wooden boat and a solar water distiller – just some products that may be on the market in the future and all invented by students of The Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. How do they work? Find out at the Department’s... 

Chief Education Officer in the Federal Ministry of Education Dr. Patrick Welcome. CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (May 10, 2010) — The Federation’s Top Educator called on school Principals in St. Kitts and Nevis, to seek divine intervention in their tasks as leaders in their various learning institutions, particularly when they felt helpless. Chief Education Officer Dr. Patrick Welcome told the head teachers... 

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Despite a last minute attempt by the Bruce Golding government to restore normality to state-run schools, over 20, 000 public sector teachers on Tuesday remained off their jobs for a second consecutive day on Tuesday. Education Minister Andrew Holness has advised parents to use their discretion in deciding whether or not to send their children to schools, since only... 

Entrance of the Robinson School. *Photo credit: gbgm-umc.org San Juan, Puerto Rico – April 27, 2010 – Due to popular demand, Robinson School will open a Coed Boarding Program in August 2010, for students from grade 9th to 12th.   The Boarding Program is part of Robinson’s world class, American college preparatory curriculum, announced Nan Wodarz, Head of Robinson School. “We... 

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – A two-day regional workshop examining the factors influencing gender differentials in enrolment and performance at the secondary and tertiary levels in the Caribbean gets underway here on Monday. The workshop is being organised by the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) which said that the “overall objective of the project is to engender better informed... 

Barbados CMO, Dr. St John. Photo credit: www.gisbarbados.gov.bb (CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)  Innovation and creativity is needed to keep the Caribbean’s health care systems going in the face of dwindling resources and an uncertain economic future. This was the view of one of the scholars belonging to the second cohort of graduates of the Caribbean Health Leadership... 

*Photo credit: www.seocopywriting.com Anguilla and St Kitts are preparing for a showdown when they square off in the annual Leeward Islands Schools Debating competition in Nevis on Saturday night. The two islands will take to the stage in debate # 3 where the topic is : ‘ When Caribbean Heads of Government sign agreements with controversial leaders, the outcome will be detrimental.’ CLICK... 

Foreign students from outside Europe wanting to come to the UK to study will be required to meet stricter entry criteria.  The new regulations will ensure that students studying below degree level have a limited ability to work in the UK and that their dependants cannot work in the UK. The new measures for students which will affect Vincentian nationals wishing to come to the UK to study include: *... 

Barbados Opposition Leader Mia Mottley BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Opposition Leader Mia Mottley says she does not support the argument that there should be a reduction in the intake of students at the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) so as to ease the pressure on government spending. Principal of the campus, Sir Hilary Beckles and Economics professor Michael Howard have... 

Dominican Ambassador Charles Maynard The contribution of one of the region’s sons to the social, political and economic development of an ECCB member country will be showcased with the launching of the book: Charles Maynard: A Life in Public Service, at the ECCB Headquarters in St Kitts and Nevis on 23 February. The book captures the life and public service of His Excellency Charles Maynard, Ambassador... 

BELMOPAN, Belize, CMC – The Belize National Teachers Union (BTNU) says primary school teachers will not be attending classes on Friday to protest planned legislation that bans corporal punishment in schools. “What we are telling the public is that teachers, members of BNTU will not report to school they are heading to Belmopan.  That’s all we can tell the parents.  Obviously we expect what... 

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Guyana government is to hold a one-day retreat to discuss the education sector, particularly as it relates to the performance of students, President Bharrat Jagdeo has said. “Towards the end of February we are going to have a one-day retreat on education because we can’t just keep pumping all this money into the education sector and not get the corresponding results.” Jagdeo... 

Education Minister, Jacqui Quinn-Leandro. *Photo credit: www.ab.gov.ag ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – A tough-talking Education Minister, Jacqui Quinn-Leandro, has told teachers here that the time has come to shape up or ship out. “The numbers are revealing to us that more than 50 per cent of the teaching population in government schools is untrained (and) this is far from satisfactory,” Quinn-Leandro... 

President Jagdeo shaking hands with the new University of Guyana Chancellor, Professor Compton Bourne. *Photo credit: www.gina.gov.gy GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – President of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Professor Compton Bourne has been appointed Chancellor of the University of Guyana (UG). Bourne, the eight Chancellor of the institution, said he shared the views of President...