分类： society

On Teachers’ Appreciation Day in Antigua and Barbuda, local politician and long-time community advocate Emanuel Peters turned a national moment of recognition into a tangible gesture of gratitude, personally serving warm meals to more than 175 educators and school staff across three campuses in the St. John’s Rural East region.

Peters’ outreach brought him first to Ottos Comprehensive Secondary School, where he joined forces with the school’s principal and a group of graduates, including local cultural figure Queen Singing Althea, to cater to more than 90 teaching and non-teaching staff at the institution. Following his stop at the secondary school, he traveled to two area elementary campuses: Golden Grove Primary School, where he recognized more than 40 educators, and Mary E. Pigott Primary School, rounding out his day of service across the district.

In remarks shared after the event, Peters emphasized the irreplaceable role that educators play in communities across the country. “Teachers dedicate their lives to shaping minds, building confidence, and inspiring the next generation,” he noted. “Teachers deserve to feel special, valued, and appreciated every single day.” Reflecting on the opportunity to engage directly with staff across all three schools, he called the experience “an absolute honor and pleasure.”

Peters went on to reaffirm his commitment to centering educator appreciation in his community work, even amid constrained local resources. “Today we celebrate the incredible educators who pour their hearts into shaping futures, inspiring greatness, and making a lasting impact every single day,” he said.

The initiative led by Peters was one of dozens of recognition events held across Antigua and Barbuda this Teachers’ Appreciation Day, all organized to honor the relentless service and quiet dedication that teaching professionals bring to their work year-round.

In a heartfelt ceremony held earlier this week at Cedar Grove Primary School, a cohort of dedicated teaching staff was celebrated for their unwavering commitment to student success and years of exceptional service to the local education community. School administrators, parent representatives, and local education officials gathered to honor the educators, highlighting the profound impact each has made on the lives of hundreds of young learners over their tenures at the campus.

Many of the honored teachers have served the school for more than two decades, guiding generations of students through foundational learning milestones, from early literacy and numeracy to social-emotional development. During the event, several current and former students shared personal anecdotes of how these teachers went above and beyond their formal job duties, offering extra support after school, mentoring struggling learners, and fostering inclusive classroom environments where every child feels seen and valued.

Local school board chair Margaret Hale presented the educators with custom service awards and praised their work as the backbone of the community’s public education system. “Great primary school teachers don’t just teach lessons from a textbook—they shape the trajectory of young lives,” Hale said in her remarks. “Their dedication shows up every single day, in small acts of patience and big investments in student potential, and it is past time we give them the public recognition they deserve.”

Parent-teacher association president James Torres noted that the commitment of these educators has helped build Cedar Grove Primary’s reputation as a welcoming, high-performing campus that serves as a cornerstone of the neighborhood. “When families move to this area, one of the first things they hear about is how caring and dedicated the teaching staff is here,” Torres said. “That reputation is built entirely by the work of these men and women who have given so many years to our kids.”

Following the award presentation, the honored teachers thanked the school community for the recognition, emphasizing that their work is a collaborative effort that relies on support from families, administrators, and fellow staff members. Many reflected on how seeing their former students go on to achieve their own goals is the most rewarding part of their career in education.

KINGSTON, Jamaica – May 15, 2026 – The University of the West Indies (UWI) has announced the passing of the Honorable Dennis Hugh Lalor O.J., LLD, a towering figure in Jamaican public and private life who died on May 14, 2026. In an official statement released from UWI’s Regional Headquarters, Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles led the university community in extending heartfelt condolences to Lalor’s family, friends, colleagues, and all those impacted by his decades of service.

Described by the UWI community as a gentle giant of Caribbean public life, Lalor combined incisive intellectual skill, sharp wit, and a magnetic personality that made him a respected leader in boardrooms across Jamaica and the entire Caribbean region. Throughout his entire professional career, he stood as a benchmark for ethical leadership and civic duty, maintaining an unwavering commitment to advancing growth and opportunity for Jamaica and its people.

While Lalor built a distinguished career in the private sector, his contributions to public institutions extended deeply into the academic sphere, particularly at the UWI. He served on multiple key management and governance committees for the university, leaving a lasting institutional legacy through his work following 1988’s Hurricane Gilbert. Partnering with then-Vice-Chancellor Sir Alister McIntyre, Lalor leveraged private sector support to conceptualize, found, and grow the UWI Development and Endowment Fund at the Mona Campus. The innovative public-private partnership model he helped create has since been expanded to all of UWI’s campuses across the Caribbean, setting a standard for collaborative institutional development that endures today.

Lalor’s long-held belief in the interconnected fates of the university and the region was captured in remarks he delivered when UWI awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1993: “If the University fails the region fails. If the region succeeds, it is because the University has succeeded.”

The UWI community expressed deep gratitude for Lalor’s lifelong commitment to the institution’s mission, noting that his life was defined by purpose, dignity, and service to the public good. “We share in their grief and celebrate a life that was lived with purpose, dignity, and service,” the statement reads. “May his soul rest in peace.”

Founded in 1948 as a small affiliated university college of the University of London with just 33 medical students based in Jamaica, the UWI has grown over 75 years into a leading global higher education institution serving nearly 50,000 students across five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda, and the UWI Global Campus. It also partners with leading academic institutions across North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe to deliver global academic programming.

Today, the university offers more than 1,000 certificate, diploma, undergraduate, and postgraduate degrees across eight core academic areas, from culture and the arts to engineering, law, medical sciences, and technology. As the Caribbean’s leading higher education institution, it hosts the region’s largest concentration of research and expertise focused on solving the most pressing challenges facing the Caribbean and the world. The UWI has been featured in the Times Higher Education (THE) global rankings since 2018, and is the only English-speaking Caribbean university to hold placements across four prestigious THE ranking lists: the World University Rankings, Golden Age University Rankings, Latin America and Caribbean Rankings, and Impact Rankings, which measure contributions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This global recognition supported the launch of UWI’s International School for Development Justice, a global online graduate business school training future leaders to advance equitable sustainable development.

The annual celebration of Nurses Week has entered a new phase of community appreciation as Minister Michael Joseph continues his scheduled program of delivering handcrafted gift baskets to frontline healthcare workers across regional healthcare institutions. This initiative, launched at the start of the national Nurses Week observance, is designed to honor the relentless dedication and sacrifice of nursing professionals who form the backbone of the country’s healthcare system.

Each basket is curated to include a mix of practical self-care items, local artisanal products, and handwritten notes of gratitude from community members, turning a simple gesture into a meaningful recognition of the long hours, emotional labor, and life-saving work that nurses provide year-round. Facility administrators at multiple participating institutions have noted that low staff morale has been a lingering challenge in the post-pandemic healthcare landscape, making targeted recognition efforts like this particularly impactful for frontline teams.

Minister Joseph has emphasized that the effort goes beyond a one-time celebration, framing it as a starting point for broader policy conversations around improved working conditions, competitive wages, and expanded mental health support for nursing staff across the nation. As the distribution effort continues through the final days of Nurses Week, more healthcare institutions are scheduled to receive visits and gifts, with organizers reporting growing community support for the initiative since its launch.

Nearly six decades after its founding, the Antigua and Barbuda Workers’ Union (ABWU) is preparing to mark its 59th anniversary with a two-week series of community and celebratory events running from May 16 to 31. This year’s commemorations carry the thoughtful theme “59 Years of Stewardship: Embracing the Changes and Preparing for the Future World of Work”, reflecting the organisation’s longstanding commitment to supporting workers amid shifting industry and labor norms.

Founded in 1967, the ABWU has built a decades-long legacy as a unwavering champion for fair labor standards and social equity across the twin-island nation. Throughout its history, the union has continuously adjusted its policy positions and member programs to align with the evolving realities of the global and local labor market, ensuring it remains a relevant and powerful voice for all working people.

In comments on the 2026 anniversary theme, ABWU General Secretary David Massiah highlighted the unprecedented speed of transformation reshaping workplaces across the world today. From the rise of artificial intelligence and widespread automation to the boom in remote work and gig economy roles, plus the global shift toward a low-carbon green economy, Massiah noted that the very structure of work is being redefined faster than many workers and institutions can keep up.

Massiah emphasized that these seismic shifts are not temporary or reversible—but that proactive action can help workers adapt and thrive even amid uncertainty. “The priority right now has to be expanding access to training and upskilling that equips workers with the competencies they need to succeed in this new labor landscape,” Massiah explained. He added that the union also has a critical unmet goal: extending the same labor protections, benefits and security that traditional full-time workers have long enjoyed to the growing populations of remote and gig workers, who are currently largely unorganised across much of the region.

The full schedule of anniversary events is designed to bring together members, supporters and the general public to celebrate the union’s legacy while building community for future work. The festivities kick off with an Anniversary Church Service on Sunday, May 17 at 10 a.m. hosted by the Swetes Wesleyan Holiness Church. On Sunday, May 24, the ABWU will host its annual Anniversary Fun Ride starting at 9 a.m. from the union’s headquarters on Lower Newgate Street. A Members Appreciation Day will follow on Friday, May 29, opening at 10 a.m. at the ABWU headquarters to honor the union’s rank-and-file members. The two-week celebration will conclude on May 31 with the ABWU Invitational Race, held in conjunction with the OECS Championships, kicking off at 8 a.m. from the Lower Newgate Street headquarters.

The ABWU has issued a public invitation to all current members, long-time supporters, community partners, and residents of Antigua and Barbuda to take part in the anniversary activities, as the organisation marks 59 years of service, advocacy, and worker empowerment across the country.

A formal public announcement issued by the Ministry of Health, Wellness, Environment and Civil Service Affairs has confirmed a long-planned change to local burial services: starting April 1, 2026, St. John’s Public Cemetery will no longer accept any new interments. This policy shift comes as part of broader government efforts to reorganize and streamline the management of public cemeteries across the region, addressing longstanding capacity constraints at the aging St. John’s site that have made continued new burials unsustainable. Going forward, all future public burial arrangements will be relocated to and handled at the purpose-prepared Tranquility Park Cemetery, a facility that has been developed to accommodate growing community demand for burial space. In releasing the updated notice, the Ministry has reiterated its call for full cooperation and patience from members of the general public as the transition is rolled out. Officials emphasize that the move is designed to ensure all burial services and public cemetery management remain orderly, accessible, and aligned with long-term community planning goals, and that support will be available to help families adjust to the new arrangement.