Ongoing push for students to latch on to digital literacy training
Published:Monday | February 5, 2024 | 12:10 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
Amid the perceived threat of artificial intelligence (AI) taking over many jobs once dependent on humans, Minister of Education and Youth Fayval Williams is calling for more students to grab hold of digital literacy training opportunities now being offered islandwide.
Williams made her concern known while addressing the launch of National Career Awareness Week 2024 at Emmanuel Apostolic Church in Kingston, yesterday.
The minister said digital literacy has emerged as a key factor in career success, influencing job opportunities, salaries and overall workplace productivity.
“A lot of people talk about jobs, but a job is a post of employment. A career is an occupation; one that has special training ... We want to stir more interest in digital technology. In today’s digital age, the importance of digital literacy cannot be overstated,” Williams said.
“The job market demands individuals who are not only well-versed in traditional subjects, but also proficient in the digital realm. Career development goes beyond being employable. It emphasises the need for entrepreneurship and, as you know, entrepreneurship is a catalyst for societal growth, raising standards of living and contributing to long-term economic prosperity,” she said.
Williams said devices are just one part of the puzzle of technology and digital literacy, and yeoman’s work has been done to provide schools islandwide with Internet connectivity, with 663 now having broadband service that will bridge the gap for digital literacy. There are, however, 1,010 primary and secondary schools islandwide.
Additionally, she noted that all technology labs in high schools have been completed and upgraded.
Ahead of National Career Awareness Week and following the Statistical Institute of Jamaica’s announcement last Tuesday that Jamaica had achieved a record-low unemployment rate of 4.2 per cent as at October 2023, Dr Dana Morris Dixon, minister with responsibility for skills and digital transformation, gave a similar warning as Williams did to the youths.
“What we are doing is saying to our young people ‘you matter just as much as any child anywhere else in the world, and you deserve to be doing the programmes that are demanded worldwide in this new world’,” Morris Dixon said as she addressed the launch of Ikonwork – Jamaica’s newest job recruitment platform – at AC Hotel in St Andrew.
FOCUS ON CAREER DEVELOPMENT
At the church service, Williams also encouraged the nation’s youths to participate in the career development aspects of focus in their respective regions this week, as she said a career is more important than merely having a job.
“The observation of National Career Awareness Week is aimed at empowering Jamaicans of all ages and to provide information on the wide range of career choices, pathways and training programmes available to enable our youths in particular to make informed and wise career decisions,” Williams said.
“We aim to broaden perspectives and equip our citizens with the tools needed to navigate the dynamic landscape of education, of business and careers in our ever-evolving world,” she said.
Given the religious setting of the church, Williams used the Bible to inspire youths to work hard and pursue their dreams.
“Proverbs 14:23. In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty. Proverbs 22:29. Do you see a man skilful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men. And Romans 12:6-8 says, ‘Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness.’ The Bible is speaking to us,” she said.
The nation is now celebrating National Career Awareness Week with numerous activities and intends to reflect on the significance of career development in the lives of Jamaican youths. It is a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Education and Youth, HEART/NSTA Trust, Junior Achievement Jamaica and CHOICES.
The week-long celebration is being held under the theme ‘Expanding our Horizon: Respecting the Journey through Career Development’ with a science, technology, engineering and mathematics-based focus.