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As thousands of Grade 6 students across Jamaica enter the final stretch of preparation for the 2026 Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examination, scheduled for the end of April, a mother-son pair that achieved top honors in last year’s assessment is sharing actionable advice to help this cohort succeed.

Roxanne Brown, whose son Giovanni Green claimed the 2025 Top PEP Award at the Access Financial Services (AFS) Marcus James Scholarship Awards Ceremony last September, says the most critical contribution parents can make is consistent, practical support. For Brown, a personal loans officer at AFS and mother of two, that support required major personal sacrifice: she put her own academic pursuits on hold to center Giovanni’s exam preparation.

“Preparing for PEP is an enormous undertaking, and no child should have to walk that path alone,” Brown explained. When Giovanni transferred to Mona Heights Primary in Grade 3, the transition was far from smooth, leaving the family playing catch-up to close learning gaps. Even when family members suggested easing the pressure, Brown stuck to a structured routine that balanced hard work with rest and personal time. She cut out unnecessary distractions, including limiting Giovanni’s recreational screen time, while still carving out space for play and church activities. Beyond her own effort, Brown emphasized that the entire family — Giovanni’s father and grandmother included — rallied around his goals. That collective support, she says, made all the difference.

That consistent, collective effort paid off in full: Giovanni’s strong PEP performance earned him a place at Jamaica College, one of the island’s most prestigious all-boys high schools, where he is now a first-form student. Now settled into two terms of secondary school, the 12-year-old rising scholar is sharing his own tips for upcoming PEP candidates, drawn directly from his experience.

Giovanni’s core advice prioritizes consistent preparation over last-minute cramming, and deep understanding over rote memorization. “Don’t wait until the final weeks to cover all the material you need to master,” he said. “Spread your study out over time, and focus on making concepts make sense, connecting them to real life instead of just memorizing facts.”

So far, Giovanni’s experience at Jamaica College has exceeded his expectations. He called the school’s 2025 ISSA Boys’ & Girls’ Athletics Championships win a huge point of pride, and he’s enjoying his time as a member of the school’s lacrosse team. While he acknowledges that secondary school coursework is more challenging than primary school, he’s already set his sights on earning a spot on the school’s honor roll this year.

Almost 13, Giovanni hasn’t locked in a specific long-term career goal, but he knows he wants to work in a role that helps other people. His teachers have repeatedly highlighted his strong academic potential, and Brown says she has just one wish for her son: that he follows the purpose he has been given.

A devout Seventh-day Adventist who is active in his church community, Giovanni combines strong faith with a proven work ethic — two traits his mom says will carry him through any path he chooses. “His future is so bright, and no matter what he decides to do, I’ll be right here supporting him,” Brown said. “That’s the message I want to pass on to all parents of PEP candidates: show up for your kids, stand by them through the hard work, and that support will make all the difference.”

A horrific mass shooting rooted in suspected domestic violence left eight children dead early Sunday in Shreveport, a city in the southern U.S. state of Louisiana, marking the deadliest such attack the country has seen in more than two years. According to data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive, the bloodshed unfolded just after 6:00 a.m. local time, leaving a community shattered and the nation confronting yet another devastating act of gun violence.

Law enforcement officials confirmed the shooter, an adult male who has not yet been publicly identified, was killed following a high-speed car chase and confrontation with responding officers. As of initial investigations, it remains unclear whether the shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound or fire from police officers, Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux told CNN. Louisiana State Police have confirmed no law enforcement personnel were injured during the incident or subsequent confrontation.

Police Corporal Chris Bordelon told reporters at a press briefing that investigators are working through an unusually expansive crime scene that stretches across three separate residential properties, all of which are being systematically combed for forensic evidence to piece together the full sequence of events. Bordelon confirmed the deceased children range in age from just 12 months to 14 years old, adding that some of the young victims are direct descendants of the shooter. Investigators currently believe the shooter acted alone, with no other accomplices involved in the attack, which authorities have classified as a domestic disturbance.

Mayor Arceneaux told CNN the shooter had pre-existing personal relationships with two women who were also shot during the rampage, though the exact nature of those connections has not yet been confirmed due to the severity of the women’s injuries. Both women remain in extremely critical condition, and investigators have not been able to interview them for information about the attack. Local ABC affiliate KTBS reported that both women suffered gunshot wounds to the head.

During the attack, the shooter arrived at a second residential property where nine children were present. Of that group, only one child escaped death, and that young survivor is currently receiving hospital care for injuries that are not considered life-threatening, Arceneaux said. Law enforcement officials have announced that additional details about the identities of both the shooter and the victims will be released to the public only after all next of kin have been formally notified, a standard protocol to protect the privacy of grieving families.

A years-long vision to upgrade a worn accessible playing field for physically disabled students at one of Jamaica’s leading special education facilities is moving toward fruition, after a major funding commitment from the American Friends of Jamaica (AFJ).

On Tuesday, at an official ceremony hosted at the United States Embassy in St Andrew, AFJ distributed a combined $1.3 million in grants to 65 community and educational organizations across Jamaica – and Genesis Academy, the island’s top-tier special education provider, counted among the recipients.

In an interview with the Jamaica Observer immediately following the award presentation, Genesis Academy co-founder and director Donna Lowe explained the critical need for the project. The institution has operated at its current campus since 2009, and just three years after relocating, a separate community organization donated the custom-built accessible playground that has served the school’s physically disabled students for over a decade. For many of these young learners, the specialized equipment represented their first chance to experience inclusive play: the design accommodates wheelchairs, including modified swings that allow students with mobility impairments to join in recreational activities their able-bodied peers take for granted.

After 14 years of heavy use, however, the playground’s surface has deteriorated severely, leaving large portions of the space unsafe for use. The damaged ground has created an ongoing safety hazard, forcing staff to restrict access to the area and require constant close supervision for any activities held there, creating unnecessary strain for both students and educators.

Lowe emphasized that the AFJ grant could not have come at a more opportune time. The funding will cover the cost of resurfacing the entire playground, and the timeline aligns perfectly with Jamaica’s academic summer break. Once the required safety tiles are ordered, the full reconstruction can be completed while students are away from campus, eliminating disruptions to the school year.

While the grant covers a substantial share of the total project cost, Lowe noted that the full refurbishment remains a costly undertaking, and the academy will launch additional fundraising campaigns to secure the remaining funds, working alongside the institution’s longstanding network of generous community partners. She confirmed that ordering of materials will begin immediately, and the school is confident the project will be fully completed before students return for the new term.

Lowe added that she approached this year’s grant application with some trepidation, despite Genesis Academy having received AFJ funding for three consecutive years. In the wake of Hurricane Melissa, she assumed that disaster relief and recovery projects would take priority, leaving little funding for other initiatives. Her selection for the award, she said, came as a joyful surprise, and the school remains deeply grateful for the support.

“Play is not a trivial luxury for our students – it is a core part of their development,” Lowe explained. “It gives them a space to build social skills, connect with their peers, and express themselves freely outside the structured classroom environment. Every child deserves that opportunity, and this grant gets us that much closer to giving it back to them.”

AFJ executive director Caron Chung outlined the organization’s rigorous selection process for the annual grant cycle. Funding opportunities are publicly announced every November in Jamaica, with eligible organizations submitting applications between November and February each year. A dedicated grants committee reviews every submission to verify alignment with AFJ’s core funding priorities, before selecting final recipients from the pool of applicants. This year, the committee reviewed 88 total applications to select the 65 funded organizations.

Chung stressed that all selected grantees – including Genesis Academy – share a common mission of transforming lives and expanding opportunity for communities across Jamaica, a mandate that aligns perfectly with AFJ’s core mission.
Founded in 1982, AFJ is a U.S.-based non-profit dedicated to advancing well-being for Jamaicans. The organization advances its goals by supporting local initiatives that build economic self-sufficiency, foster healthy, connected communities, and strengthen national development across the island.

On a celebratory Saturday held at the Jamaica College Auditorium in the parish of St Andrew, 50 remarkable Jamaican women stepped into the spotlight to receive recognition for their extraordinary career achievements and selfless contributions to the nation’s growth. The occasion was the Trailblazer Awards, a landmark initiative created to mark the 100th anniversary of St Andrew High School for Girls, one of Jamaica’s most prominent educational institutions for young women.

As the flagship centerpiece of the school’s centenary homecoming festivities, the award ceremony was crafted to shine a well-deserved spotlight on the institution’s former students, who have gone on to carve out exceptional legacies across key areas of Jamaican national development. Organizers divided the honorees into five distinct sectors that underpin the country’s progress, reflecting the breadth of impact the school’s graduates have made across Jamaican society. These sectors include education and human resource development, where awardees have shaped generations of learners and built capacity across the national workforce; arts, culture and sports, where they have elevated Jamaican creativity and athletic excellence on local and global stages; health, medical and social care services, where they have worked to improve public well-being and support vulnerable communities; governance, law and finance, where they have helped steer national policy, uphold justice, and strengthen the country’s economic foundation; and entrepreneurship, tourism and environment, where they have driven economic growth and championed sustainable stewardship of Jamaica’s natural resources.

Jamaica’s Supreme Court has delivered a landmark ruling granting over $7 million in total damages to the estate of a young motorcyclist who was left permanently disabled by a negligent vehicle collision, before dying three years later from unrelated causes. The 22-year-old victim, who passed away at age 25 in 2024, never recovered from the life-altering injuries he sustained in the May 2021 crash on Porus Main Road, where a negligently operated Mazda vehicle collided head-on with his motorbike, throwing him from the vehicle.

Following the collision, the victim spent five consecutive months hospitalized from the incident through January 2023, undergoing multiple invasive procedures including skin grafts and orthopedic reconstructive surgeries to repair his damaged legs. Court testimony from his mother revealed the long-term impacts of the crash: his left leg grew shorter than his right, he could not fully extend his right leg, he could not walk correctly, stand for extended periods, or return to his regular work.

Prior to the collision, the young man worked alongside his mother, conducting vehicle sales runs for a weekly wage of $20,000 Jamaican dollars. He was unable to resume this work for a full year after the crash, resulting in more than $1 million in lost wages alone. A passionate amateur football player, he was also forced to abandon the sport he loved, and suffered social embarrassment due to his visible physical disability and altered gait.

After the victim’s 2024 death from causes unconnected to the collision, courts appointed a substitute claimant to pursue the lawsuit on behalf of his estate, naming the Mazda’s driver as third defendant and the vehicle’s owner couple as first and second defendants.

In his written judgment, Puisne Judge Dale Staple emphasized the disproportionate harm the crash inflicted on the victim, who was in the prime of his youth and most productive working years when the incident occurred. Staple noted that even over the short three-year period between the collision and the victim’s untimely death, the severe injuries caused devastating, permanent disruption to his ability to work, engage in recreation, and participate in everyday social life.

“His injury was a very serious one and clearly had a serious effect on his work and social life, even in such a short period of time,” Staple wrote in the ruling, handed down in late 2024. The judge outlined that the first three years post-injury represented the most acute period of suffering, including a grueling five-month recovery marked by major surgical interventions, and that adjusting to life with permanent disability would have placed ongoing strain on the young man.

To account for this prolonged hardship, Staple ruled that a substantial portion of the total damage award would be allocated to the acute recovery and post-injury period. The final judgment set $6 million in general damages for pain, suffering, and loss of life amenities, accruing 3% annual interest from December 16, 2023 through March 16, 2026. The court also granted just over $1 million in special damages to compensate for lost wages and related expenses, with 3% interest starting from the date of the collision, May 7, 2021, running through March 16, 2026.

Commuters traveling through the busy Old Hope Road, Munroe Road, and Liguanea corridor in Kingston, Jamaica’s capital, are bracing for at least six more weeks of significant traffic congestion as the National Water Commission (NWC) advances a billion-dollar water and sewerage modernization project across the area. The $1.2 billion initiative, which includes replacing aging potable water mains and laying entirely new sewer infrastructure, is designed to deliver long-term transformative benefits for local residents, according to government officials who are urging the public to bear with short-term inconveniences.

During an on-site press tour of active work zones along Munroe Road and Wellington Drive, Matthew Samuda, Jamaica’s minister with oversight for water, acknowledged that peak-hour commuters already face extended travel delays along the route. However, he pushed back against widespread claims that the NWC project was the sole cause of the severe gridlock that locked down portions of Kingston’s Corporate Area last Friday, which left motorists stuck for hours on trips that typically take minutes between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Samuda attributed last week’s crippling traffic to a confluence of multiple unrelated factors, starting with heavy overnight and daytime rainfall that left three major gullies impassable for many vehicles. He added that two separate ongoing construction projects, one at the base of Red Hills Road and another near Maxfield Avenue, also contributed heavily to the systemic backup. While Samuda confirmed that the NWC’s water infrastructure work does add to regional congestion around Wellington Drive, Munroe Road, and Seymour Avenue, he emphasized it was not the primary driver of Friday’s standstill.

In response to growing public frustration over extended delays, senior government and NWC leaders conducted the weekend site inspection to verify project timelines and confirm that work is advancing to minimize disruptions for both local residents and through commuters. According to Samuda, the overall project remains on track, with all current construction phases on schedule for completion by September 2025, matching the original timeline set when ground broke in May 2025. He acknowledged that some level of travel disruption and local inconvenience will persist through the end of the project timeline, but noted that work has progressed as smoothly as possible given the massive scope of overhauling the area’s entire water and sewage distribution network.

Commuters will see tangible relief from congestion along the Munroe Road corridor as early as the end of May, Samuda confirmed. By that date, the NWC plans to fully repave the Munroe Road work zone, complete pressure testing for new water lines, connect all new infrastructure to the regional network, and shift construction crews to other phases of the project. To speed completion without unnecessarily disturbing nearby residents, the NWC has already shifted non-intrusive work to overnight shifts where possible, and will expand this practice over the next month when conditions allow. Samuda explained that loud, disruptive work like heavy digging and trenching will not be moved to nights out of respect for local residents’ sleep, but the agency will target public holidays for intensive work, when regional traffic volumes are far lower and full road closures can be done with minimal broader disruption.

Kevin Kerr, the NWC’s acting president, backed Samuda’s end-of-May timeline for the Munroe Road segment, calling the deadline entirely achievable. “We have heard the public’s concerns loud and clear, and we are here today to provide clear updates and transparency around this project,” Kerr told reporters during the tour. “What we are doing will drastically improve water and sewer services for our customers, and we recognize that the next six months will bring continued discomfort. We will share regular schedule updates across all our public platforms to keep commuters informed, and we remain committed to completing the Munroe Road segment by the end of May with high-quality road restoration.”

Project engineer Gary Walters acknowledged that construction on Munroe Road has faced unexpected challenges, specifically unusually hard rock formations in the sub-surface that required specialized excavation equipment and slowed progress temporarily. Even with this unforeseen hurdle, Walters confirmed the project remains on schedule and the team will meet the end-of-May deadline for the corridor.

Beyond improved water service, the project carries major long-term environmental and public health benefits, Samuda reiterated, a core priority he highlighted when the initiative launched last year. Outdated, failing sewer systems and widespread unregulated backyard septic pits have contaminated local groundwater supplies, leaving multiple productive wells in the area unusable due to dangerously high nitrate levels. Once complete, the new sewer infrastructure will eliminate this contamination, unlocking these critical local water sources for future use.

The press tour marked the latest government effort to address public concerns over the construction impacts, with leadership emphasizing that short-term disruptions will lay the groundwork for more reliable, sustainable water and sewer services for the Kingston corridor for decades to come.