#JamaicaUnderLabour | Tax expert wants greater investment in technological education
Published:Friday | March 9, 2018 | 12:00 AMErica Virtue/ Senior Gleaner Writer
Tax expert Allison Peart is arguing that there is need for greater investment in technology education if Jamaica hopes for greater efficiency in the private and public sector and if the country is serious about economic growth.
Speaking at the second Jamaica Under Labour Stakeholder Gleaner Forum last Thursday, Peart argued that growth would not materialise without a greater commitment to training those who can learn.
"One of the things that I would like to see is more money put into education for the future. We have a habit of educating based on history and not being futuristic in terms of where our workforce should be. Who do we need? What skill do they need? What should they be taught with?" said Peart at the forum, which forms part of an examination of the performance of the Andrew Holness administration two years after it was elected.
Peart, who bemoaned the efficiency deficit in the governance structure, said that the digital revolution should be much further advanced and charged that Jamaica was notorious for not planning for the future.
"I am not sure when it comes to robotics, when it comes to information technology, when it comes to what's going to happen. We tend not to plan in advance.
"So when it comes to the growth that we have, we could get much better growth if we are planning for the jobs to grow the economy and what skill sets we are looking for," added Peart.
According to the tax expert, education should become more targeted, and the private sector should also become more efficient with technology.
"So we should be talking to our high school students. We should be looking at primary school students, our early childhood students. These kids now have one thumb doing everything. But are we training them for the jobs we expect to grow the economy?" said Peart.