Principal urges students to pursue skills training for wealth building
Published:Friday | April 7, 2023 | 12:05 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Anniona Jones, the principal of Marcus Garvey Technical High School in St Ann, is recommending that students pursue skills training as a valid employment and income-earning opportunity.
Addressing the Muschett High School’s fifth annual grade seven luncheon at the Day O Plantation in St James on Tuesday, Jones said that young people can make a lucrative career out of any skill they get certified for.
“Why can’t your face be on trucks and billboards, and why can you not be making your millions while you are in your bed? That is why I am asking my gentlemen to go into skills because skills training is where the money is. I have spent over 11 years at the university level, studying things that cannot make me as much money as my plumber or my mechanic,” said Jones.
“Wherever you come from is a gift, and what you do with that is your choice. Do not blame anybody for your life; your life is as a result of your choices, and if you want a better life, make better choices,” continued Jones. “Excellence has a look, it has a sound, and it has a feel. Excellence is a combination of every choice that you make from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep.”
Jones’ recommendation comes on the heels of the Government's recent announcement that Jamaicans will no longer be required to pay tuition or administrative fees for HEART/NSTA Trust programmes up to Level IV – the associate degree level – as of April 1.
On Wednesday, Industry Minister Aubyn Hill cited the removal of tuition fees for HEART/NSTA Trust programmes as an avenue to encourage training among citizens and urged Jamaican companies to push for the training of more locals to join the workforce. Approximately 400,000 young people have been identified as needing such training.
That call also echoed a recommendation made last July by Keith Duncan, chairman of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee, who called for training programmes to prepare young people for the job market. At the time it was said that approximately 500,000 people were outside of the local workforce, inclusive of 250,000 young people.
Jones also told the students that wealthy people increase their wealth because they know how to manage their resources.
“Have you ever seen a Chinese man in a Clarks?" Jones asked, referencing a shoe brand. "But who is it that owns the supermarket? And yet the one wearing the Clarks and wearing the name-brand jeans and shirt is the person who works for him.”
Added the principal: “These people do not take their money and buy clothes, shoes, and jewellery; they take their money and buy property, and then they rent it to you.”