Youngsters with a passion for knowledge and a hunger to learn new skills are being encouraged to apply for the October intake of the historic Institute of Coding which is a joint venture between the Amber Group and the Heart NSTA Trust.

The residential programme will expose participants to intense training in world class coding to design and build software applications to meet the needs of several sectors and to help simplify business transactions.

Dushyant Savadia, founder and CEO of the Amber Group of Companies and software and coding pioneer in the Caribbean, said the company was pleased to launch the first ever coding institute in Jamaica on October 1 with an initial cohort of 500 students.

LONG-TERM VISION TO TRAIN 20,000 JAMAICANS

Savadia outlined that the Group’s “long-term vision is to train 20,000 Jamaicans to be engaged as software developers over the next five years”.

In June, Amber Heart Academy graduated an initial cohort of participants who matriculated from the successful pilot project, which saw the graduates being placed with several corporate entities to build software and join their tech teams.

The Institute of Coding which will be in full operation in October 2022, will offer spaces to 200 students who would commute. Three hundred would be in residence.  

Making an impassioned plea for an increased emphasis on skill-based training, Savadia emphasised that skills training, such as those provided by the Amber Heart Institute of Coding, was designed to provide trainees with the knowledge and abilities necessary to be successful in today’s job market.

“We, as businesses, need to provide these hardworking skilled persons with opportunities to work and grow,” the Amber Group CEO declared.

Already, two of Jamaica’s largest companies, Digicel and NCB, have moved to hire 27 of the graduates from the pilot programme. Agencies of the Government of Jamaica have also committed to follow suit in short order. 

Savadia said this would boost Jamaica’s economy with more employment of persons with tangible technology expertise, therefore providing skills for the future.

In June, during the graduation ceremony of the Amber Heart NSTA Academy, Prime Minister Andrew Holness lauded the initiative, noting that “this form of education is open and inclusive. It is not only for the elite, it is for everyone”.

He said he was encouraged by the results of the initiative and was hoping that it would be one of many to come. 

Holness has also commended the Amber Group and urged companies to hire skilled people who did not have degrees but who were competent and knowledgeable.