The NCB Foundation has committed to a partnership with the Amber Group, HEART/NSTA Trust and the Ministry of Education, to extend training to youth in coding through the Amber HEART Coding Academy and the ministry’s Coding in Schools Pilot Programme.

A total commitment of J$18M has been earmarked towards supporting the country’s thrust in becoming the next technological hub of the region. The announcement was made at an official partnership ceremony held at the Stony Hill HEART Academy last Thursday, July 22.

Speaking at the ceremony, Dushyant Savadia, founder and CEO of the Amber Group welcomed the partnership.

“We are pleased to have the N.C.B Foundation on board as we work towards positioning Jamaica as a global producer of technology. With the right tools, our youth have the potential to transform their lives and the nation with what they can create. The Amber Group’s mission is to do good and create change in the world through technology, and we look forward to a bright future ahead for our nation,” he said.

For her part, Minister of Education Fayval Williams also welcomed the support of the government’s thrust and said that, “we must recognise that we must build on the capacity of our students to function in the digital space and help them to be agile and ready for contemporary and emerging jobs, regardless of their backgrounds and starting points in life.”

Fifty students of the second cohort of Amber HEART Academy will benefit from the partnership, as well as thousands of students across the island, who are a part of the education ministry’s Coding in Schools’ Pilot programme.

All trainees of the academy will also be employed with the Amber Group as developers, once they graduate.

“This partnership is a key part of fueling this pipeline of digital producers and we are proud to be a part of,” said CEO of the NCB Foundation Nadeen Matthews Blair.

“We are focused on empowering Jamaicans through digital education because we are bought into the vision of Jamaica becoming more than consumers of technology. We must also become producers of digital solutions such as software, digital content, data-based products…and the foundation intends to play a major role in making this Jamaica’s reality,” Matthews Blair added.