Enrolment numbers at the HEART/NSTA Trust have been “consistently increasing” since tuition and administrative fees were waived on April 1 for programmes up to level four.

Managing Director of HEART/NSTA Trust, Dr Taneisha Ingleton, told JIS News that 40,310 students were enrolled in April, and that number increased to 50,679 by June.

“Compared to 2020/21, enrolment in this fiscal year increased by approximately 46 per cent… [and] compared to 2021/22, enrolment in the current fiscal year increased significantly by around 127 per cent. Compared to the 2022/23 fiscal year, enrolment in the current fiscal year increased by approximately 19 per cent,” she detailed.

Ingleton shared that hospitality programmes in allied health and housekeeping, all construction programmes, air-conditioning repair, and welding and electrical installation are among the programmes receiving the most traction.

“We would have seen increases in commercial driving; we are seeing increases, as well, in public area attendant, increases in public area hygiene, tiling, massage therapy and the makeup industry,” she said.

Meanwhile, the HEART NSTA head explained that the fee waiver is not applied at private institutions.

“We would have partnered with private institutions, we call them community training interventions, [and] we would have provided these institutions with subsidies, so the programmes are heavily subsidised by the trust,” she told JIS News.

However, Ingleton said there are ongoing discussions because the goal of the HEART/NSTA Trust is to ensure increased access to training.

“We are also having some conversations with our community colleges, as well, because it is a singular goal to ensure that we fulfil the mandate and ensure that we really have no barrier to human capital development,” explained Ingleton.

The Human Employment and Resource Training/National Service Training Agency Trust (HEART/NSTA Trust) is Jamaica’s leading human capital development agency.