HEART Trust defends programmes after damning Auditor General's report

The HEART/National Service Training Agency Trust has sought to defend its programmes in the wake of a damning report by the Auditor General’s Department tabled last week.

The report claimed that for the past five years the Trust did not deliver value for money in terms of rate of certification to  expenditure. 

HEART, in a statement issued today, said that the socio-economic circumstances of many trainees made them more vulnerable to joblessness.

It also said the ability to gain employment was a key index of the value of some courses. 

“As an example, it is entirely feasible for a mother of two, who enters one of our entry-Level 2 programmes in food preparation with a duration of 18 months, to acquire modularised skill components after three to six months in the programme to find gainful employment at a hotel or restaurant that provides well-needed income, reduces personal stress, and gives her the time and space to complete her studies and training, even as she contributes to the national GDP,” a HEART spokesperson said in the statement. 

HEART also said it had surpassed its traditional TVET service offerings, providing a range of social training programmes and services in support of increasing numbers of persons who need remediation, literacy, numeracy, pro-social mentalities, and conflict resolution skills to function in the society.  

According to HEART it spent more than $3 billion between FY 2014-15 and FY 2018-19 on social training interventions, funding and operating programmes to "rescue unattached youth from falling between the cracks of society and into criminal activities” and to place them in apprenticeships.

See more from HEART's Statement below: 

We run work-based programmes that pay a stipend to programme participants such as graduates from our universities and colleges in our Graduate Work Experience Programme, for persons with physical and intellectual disabilities in our Empowerment Programme, and the HOPE Youth Summer Work Programme that caters to thousands of young people every summer. 

How HEART will Increase Certification Rate from funded programmes going forward 

As the Auditor General accurately pointed out, HEART “despite significant efforts” achieved a 45% rate of certification against the set target of 70 percent certification from training programmes, a key performance indicator that the Agency has kept in place to continuously challenge itself to meet the visionary goal of a fully certified Jamaican Workforce. 

Our decided goal is to meet and exceed this 70 per cent NVQ-J Certification stretch target, which we are now better structured and resourced to accomplish as a result of the recent merger with the  National Youth Service, Jamaican Foundation For Lifelong Learning and the Apprenticeship Board. 

The re-organised HEART is increasing Prior Learning Assessments to capture more persons who are skilled but not certified, through a fully-fledged Mobile Assessment and Certification Unit resourced with more staff travelling to communities across the island, as well as established Assessment Centres at St. Ann’s Bay, May Pen, Montego Bay and Rockfort. 

We are also addressing the concern raised by the Auditor General with respect to the low certification levels and other sub-optimal results by HEART-funded External Training Providers, which are now under the supervision of an expanded Monitoring and Evaluation Department  with additional support from six Regional Directors and 15-Parish Managers with fully resourced teams. 

Why the nation should expect a quantum leap in HEART performance

The Board of the HEART/NSTA Trust has instituted enhanced governance structures and mechanisms for all investments  in major training partnerships, to ensure an acceptable return in terms of greater access to training and the quality of graduates for the Labour Force. 

We are confident that, following the merger and repurposing,the Agency has the structural capacity and wherewithal to “track the life cycle” of our enrolled trainees, and to support increasing numbers of them to complete their programmes of training to earn their full NVQ-J competency certification for the job market. 

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