Create more high-value jobs

I must concur with the stance taken by the governor of the Bank of Jamaica, Richard Byles, when he posits that Jamaica needs to create more high-value jobs. Jamaicans need to stop with the mentality of deciding what our nation’s children can become. We have been brainwashed from a very young age with the ideology that we need to become a doctor or lawyer. Given the reality, even this feat is proving to be difficult, given the current market saturation.

The only way for Jamaica to exit this state of ‘anaemic economic growth’ is to develop value-added jobs to diversify our economy and provide more scope for development. Simply relying on primary industries will not suffice if we are interested in creating a stable, more resilient economy. Primary industries, like agriculture, need to be a thing of the past as numerous factors can affect its profitability, including larceny, a glut or recession, disease or drought. Additionally, as we can see, neither tourism nor business process outsourcing is sufficient for Jamaica to realise its full potential.

INVEST IN EDUCATION

Jamaica’s economic future will not be determined by its resources but by its human capital. We are the ones who will be finding new methodologies to make our resources more sustainable and efficient in the first place. For this to happen, we need to be more educated. The more educated you are, the more likely you will acquire a career that can effectively add to the nation’s GDP, leading to economic growth and diminished debt. Therefore, we must start from the ground up by making education more appealing from early childhood straight to the tertiary level, while providing the highest quality education.

Starting at the early-childhood level is of paramount importance as thousands of Jamaicans are not equipped with the necessary skills for basic nor even high-value jobs. Thus, paying early-childhood teachers more must be implemented. With a well-revised curricula and a well-trained elite team of staff, more students at the secondary level can thrive and achieve subjects needed by the labour market to maximise our economy’s potential. Providing a good foundation at this level will lead to higher achievement in the future.

Additionally, we need more people going on to pursue tertiary education in STEM, and entrepreneurial subjects is essential for value-added jobs that are needed to grow and diversify our economy. People are often afraid of entering STEM fields for multiple reasons, namely because of expensive tuition, limited scholarships, and gender stereotyping where men are encouraged more to pursue these fields.

People often fail in STEM subjects because the foundation from secondary school is quite dismal, especially where math and the sciences are concerned. Training more competent teachers with passion for the subject will, hopefully, motivate children to learn rather than fear these subjects. Perhaps subsidising tertiary education in these fields could also convince people to enter those fields.

STEM and entrepreneur fields hold incredible potential for Jamaica to diversify its economy by increasing our scope for trade, goods and service production, productivity, innovation, technological development, and sustainable resource management. These value-added careers can help us mass-produce a variety of products for both the local and international market. Increasing exports will help us address our balance of payment deficit and successfully place Jamaica on a level of economic growth and competitiveness that we need.

Local entrepreneurs must also start business ventures in these areas. This will not only diversify employment, but also assist in the retention of our skilled labour force and decrease the impact of brain drain. Also, the increased production of goods for export can drive more international trade for Jamaica. This will ultimately improve our positive global interactions with our major trading partners.

n Armani Gayle is a 19-year-old volunteer at Youths for Sustainable Development.