Oshane Dunstan, the 23-year-old aspiring car maker hailing from Rocky River, Clarendon, is set to benefit from the Flow Foundation’s Skills for the Future Programme.

Dunstan’s participation in the next cohort of the programme comes on the heels of receiving a Samsung smartphone from Flow Jamaica to enable access to the internet.

The Skills for the Future Programme is being executed in partnership with the Caribbean School of Data (CSOD), under the Mona School of Business and Management (MSBM) and provides a foundational curriculum in digital and data literacy.

Expressing gratitude for the opportunity to participate in the Skills for the Future Programme, Dunstan said: “I am very excited to participate in this programme as it will give me the opportunity to learn more about being online and build my digital literacy.”

He added: “This is important to me as it will equip me with the skills to market my miniature cars on social media and in the online space.”

The Skills for the Future Programme is free for participants, based online and self-paced. The estimated time for completion is 12 weeks (three months), following which the participants are presented with a certificate of achievement. Each group of students is supported by a trained facilitator to ensure they stay on track and have the tools they need to complete the programme. The next cohort, which will include Dunstan, is slated to begin at the end of May 2021.

“We are pleased to welcome Oshane in our next cohort of participants as we were touched by his story. Having gifted him with a mobile phone to support his endeavours, we wanted to empower him to benefit from the world of opportunities that digital literacy unlocks. He’s very passionate about his craft and as we provide this support, we look forward to his next chapter,” said Kayon Mitchell, executive director of the Flow Foundation. 

Stating that the Foundation is focused on driving digital inclusion, Mitchell also shared that the Skills for the Future Programme is among a suite of offerings from the Flow Foundation, including the Training for Professionals programme in partnership with One-on-One Education Services and TheHive (a platform for freelancers) in partnership with Ingenuity Technologies. 

The Foundation will also be providing grants to micro, small and medium-sized entrepreneurs (MSMEs).

Persons interested in applying for the Skills for the Future Programme or learning more about the other initiatives may visit: www.flowfoundationja.org