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Capacity building, skills enhancement programme rolls out tomorrow

Published:Sunday | January 22, 2017 | 12:00 AM
JIS/Dave Reid
Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator Ruel Reid (centre), looks at a document at the launch of the three-year upskilling and retooling project at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on November 18, 2016. He is flanked by executive director of HEART Trust/NTA, Dr Wayne Wesley (left); and the entity’s chairman, Maxine Wilson,.

The second in the series of capacity-building courses under the Upskilling and Retooling Jamaica Initiative, gets under way on Monday at HEART Trust/NTA locations and other tertiary institutions across the island.

The programme, which focuses on technical skills and leadership training, involves collaboration between the Joint Committee for Tertiary Education (JCTE) and the HEART Trust/NTA.

Among the areas covered are food preparation, floral arrangement, vehicle maintenance, business planning, effective communication, executive strategy management, and transformational leadership.

The three-year programme, which was officially launched in November 2016, aims to train a minimum of 3,000 persons annually, in order to improve employee readiness, retention and productivity in particular impact sectors targeted by the Government for growth and expansion.

Chief Education Officer in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Dr Grace McLean, said the objective is to equip all Jamaicans with professional certification while facilitating continuous capacity-building.

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Consultancy and Institutional Capacity Building Department Manager, Nicole Berry Stanford, told JIS News that 2,488 individuals participated in training within the first two months of the programme.

She is anticipating an overwhelming response to this second batch of training sessions.

The programme is managed through the Leadership Academy by the JCTE and the Professional Skills Academy by the HEART Trust/NTA. Professional development certification is issued to participants upon successful completion of the training.

Jamaicans 16-99 years are invited to register for the free professional skills courses.  No prior qualifications are needed.  For further information persons may call 929-7299, 395-1522, 598-2049 or send an email to upskillingandretoolingjamaica@gmail.com

The Upskilling and Retooling Jamaica Initiative is part of the Government of Jamaica’s strategic priority for Human Capital Development.