Questions that are food for thought.
1. Is the Jamaica Gleaner too big and important to fail?
2. Will the Government step in and inject public funds to “save” what many consider a national treasure.
3. Given market trends and developments those in the know say, what is currently been done to stop the bleeding is too little to late.

“Stephens-Hall said as much as the company would love it, advertisers have not come back to their pre-pandemic spending levels. She reported that revenues had a marginal increase of roughly $54 million or about one per cent for financial year ended March 2024. She said most segments showed improvements, with audio-visual showing an improvement of $55 million and the audio segment showing an increase of $44 million but that this was offset by a reduction in the print segment, which had a loss of $44 million.”

The Caribbean Media Crisis: Can Digital Transformation Save Regional News?

 iCreate Limited

Tyrone Wilson, President & CEO

iCreate is a Creative Institute developed with the aim of filling the gap in skills training and development of creatives in the Caribbean and North America. As an important part of the creative eco-system, we provide students with a wide range of career opportunities in the Creative Economy, while being a key partner of the Advertising Industry, Film Production Companies, Animation and Gaming Companies, and Creative Outsourcing initiatives.

Edufocal 

Gordon Swaby, Chief Executive Officer

EduFocal is an online social learning community. The company is focused on using technology to enrich the learning experience outside of the classroom as well as to help ideate and innovate the way we move forward with technology in education. The idea to create EduFocal came to Gordon Swaby in 2010 and more than 2-million lines of coding later EduFocal Ltd was launched at The Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on March 15, 2012. Of EduFocal, Swaby says it is an “intuitive product that isn’t only cool and fun to use but also boosts students comprehension and retention skills. EduFocal’s mission is to become the premiere social learning platform in the Caribbean”.

Newly Listed iCreate Stock Price Jumps 30% On First Day Of Trading

Tyrone Wilson, President & CEO

iCreate Limited (ICREATE) listed it shares on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) Junior Market on February 25, 2019. This increased the number of companies listed to 38 which represents 40 securities listed on the Junior Market.

ICREATE raised $70 million and added 819 new shareholders to their register. Also with this listing, the market capitalization of the Junior Market increased from $136.96 billion as at Friday, February 22 to $137.2 billion. This compares to the first listing where the market capitalization stood at $503 million. The combined market capitalization for all markets now stand at $1.55 trillion.

Edufocal is the 44th company listed on the JSE Junior Market and the 98th company (143 securities) on the JSE.

Gordon Swaby, Chief Executive Officer

EduFocal’s prospectus was published on February 23, 2022, inviting subscription for 129,689,219 ordinary shares at a price of $1.00 per share. The Offer opened on March 3, 2022, at 9:00 a.m. and closed a minute later due to oversubscription of approximately 230%. The Company raised over $428.42 million from the offer; however, the value of the offer was for $129.69 million The Company now has a total of 2,415 shareholders and will begin trading under the symbol LEARN at a price of $1:00.

Edufocal is the 44th company listed on the JSE Junior Market and the 98th company (143 securities) on the JSE. EduFocal’s prospectus was published on February 23, 2022, inviting subscription for 129,689,219 ordinary shares at a price of $1.00 per share. The Offer opened on March 3, 2022, at 9:00 a.m. and closed a minute later due to oversubscription of approximately 230%. The Company raised over $428.42 million from the offer; however, the value of the offer was for $129.69 million The Company now has a total of 2,415 shareholders and will begin trading under the symbol LEARN at a price of $1:00.

When I ask groups of people this question, the answers I receive consistently follow a pattern. Most responses are very specific and had obviously been shaped by personal experience. I often hear job titles, like “teacher, nurse, pilot, engineer, doctor”. I also get some that are even more concrete – “job in which I wear white shirt and pretty tie” or something like “policeman riding a fast bike”. When the discussion is fast forwarded to what persons are actually doing in their adult lives, often there is very little overlap. On closer examination, it does appear that an individual’s ultimate career “choice” is more driven by a series of random events than decision making and conscious preparation.

Who Controls Your Destiny?
As one’s personality is shaped, the issue of locus of control becomes established fairly early. Regrettably, too few of us Jamaicans are socialized to believe that life events are occurrences in which the individuals concerned can have primary input. For most, their socialization leads them to believe that what happens to you is largely a function of external forces over which, and against which, the individual has very little control. This current generation is being raised on more of the same. This is evidenced by comments like “whey u can do fi mi” and “Nutten naah gwaan fi mi”. The individual who is socialized to know, and who accepts the philosophy that says “I can make my own breaks, I can be what I wish to be”, starts the process of self-determination and self-actualization very early. What was initially just a fantasy stimulated by some chance experience now becomes a goal. They begin to do research, utilizing whatever resources they have at their disposal. They buy or borrow the daily newspaper and get access to the internet as often as possible looking for information and stories related to the fields of endeavour that sparked their interest. These individuals join clubs and organizations that will help them learn more, and be better prepared to participate in the areas in which they are interested. They use their school library and the facilities of the Jamaica Library Service – available right across Jamaica, to find out more. They readily seek out and engage persons involved in these pursuits in discussion to draw from the experiences. It should be obvious that most of the above can be achieve at a very small economic cost; certainly less than a pair of ‘bling’ sneakers. The most important resources are interest, drive and determination.

The Power of Focus
This process then becomes the raw material that guides the interested individual’s subject selection at school and extracurricular activities outside. No-one who really wants to becomes a bio-chemist has to be told twice to do their homework. Failure is not an option. Where there is purpose and focus, class work and assignments are not seen as meaningless activities. They all become necessary markers on the path to the future that the individual has chosen. What they become is by their own design; not a series of accidents. I know of one young woman who wanted to become an astronaut. Instead of laughing, her father encouraged her. Today she is an Astrophysicist.

Any Road Will Take You There
To those who accept that the forces that control their life are beyond the ambit of their own control, the process of entropy becomes fully manifest. Things go from organized to disorganized because energy is not being systematically and specifically exerted. Subject/course selection is arbitrary and capricious. Sufficient time is never allotted for successful comprehension of class material and completion of assignments. An academic deficit becomes established and is exponentially compounded with every term spent in school. These individuals have less and less to show for the number of hours spent in school. If they do pass a course, they rightly attribute it to ‘luck’. When they fail, they blame the teacher. There are always others to be blamed. The fault is never their own. Isn’t it amazing that schools with poor records for academic performance manage to produce students with good CXC passes? These children have the same teachers, the same poor classroom facilities, the same economic circumstances. The difference? The successful students have set themselves a goal and accepted the responsibility for creating their own future.

The person who lacks focus often continues into the world of work with the same approach. Their Application Letter often has a line that says “I hereby apply for any position that suit my qualifications”. Another manifestation of this aimlessness is the person who says that they are looking for a job but who when asked “What can you do?” always responds with “Any little thing”.

Make A Change

Many adults reading this maybe seeing themselves described here. If you are not motivated at this point to take charge of what you want to be when you grow big, at least ensure that you are raising these questions with your child(ren). Make sure that they are being encouraged and stimulated by your enquiries to take charge of their future. Unless of course you want them to join that growing legion who are waiting for the MP to bring work into your communities. DJs and singers go to where the work is. We must all do the same.

By Leahcim Semaj

Leahcim T. Semaj & Company Limited

The JobBank

Tel: (876) 942-9057

Fax: (876) 756-2337

Web: www.ltsemaj.com

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