The Jamaica Productivity Centre (JPC) will today (November 11) host its second quarterly Productivity Forum, starting at 2:00 pm.

The virtual event will be held under the theme ‘Productivity, COVID-19 and Human Capital Development’.

Tamar Nelson, chief technical director at the JPC, told the Jamaica Information Service that low productivity has been a challenge in Jamaica over the last decade.

Recognising that productivity is the key to sustained economic growth, the JPC has been continuing its efforts to bring national attention and greater awareness to the matter of productivity and the important role it plays as the country pushes towards a path of recovery and becoming more resilient to future catastrophes.

Nelson pointed out that this year’s theme is in line with one of the recommendations coming out of the COVID-19 Task Force that the Ministry of Labour and Social Security has put together to increase the human capital contribution to productivity and economic growth.

Among to the topics for discussion during the forum are managing the virtual classroom; lack of devices, Internet and technical skills; productivity and the impact on education and human capital; current labour productivity and human capital trends; COVID-19 impact, response and JPC findings; success stories and local initiatives around bridging the gap; COVID-19 vaccination and the impact on labour; teacher/student engagement, and current human capital gaps.

The JPC is the national organisation responsible for promoting and facilitating productivity improvement in Jamaica. It is a tripartite organisation comprising the Government of Jamaica (GOJ), the Jamaica Employers’ Federation (JEF) and the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU).

This partnership reinforces the principle that growth in the Jamaican economy can be best achieved with an alliance and full cooperation of government, employers and workers.

Panellists will include Nelson; Winston Smith, president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA); Dominic Summers of I-Create; Novelette Denton Prince, acting managing director of HEART/NSTA Trust; and Dr Tamika Benjamin, national mathematics coordinator/tertiary support officer at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information.

The event will be streamed live on the social media pages of the Labour Ministry and the JPC. The event will also be carried live on Power 106 FM and the Jamaica News Network (JNN).