Secondary students who are preparing to enter the job market are being encouraged to not only excel academically but also to learn a skill to increase their marketability and contribute to the local economy.
This call is coming from Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who was speaking during a rap session with 5th-and-6th form students at Guys Hill High School in St Catherine on Thursday, January 18.
“Each and every one of you here must consider yourself an agent of growth and you have to promise me that you are going to use your time here at school in the most productive way. You are going to strive for academic excellence. It is very important, pay attention to your school work make it a priority, give it the best you can do because that is what is going to give you greater access to better opportunities in the workforce.
The other thing I would say to you, learn a skill. I want you all to do very well academically, meaning I want you to have a broad understanding and a very good grasp of the foundations of learning. Your math, your English, your social studies, your geography, economics, your accounting, your biology, your chemistry, your physics. Get a very good grasp of those things, they are foundations and that is what will bring you equal to your peers wherever you go in the world including embracing and learning other languages. But what is going to bring you closer to your goals is skills,” Holness said.
Holness, who referred to the educational system in Australia which places a special focus on skills training and development, highlighted the importance of skills training in today’s world.
“Whether it is you are going to learn masonry, carpentry, electrical installation, mechanical repairs, computer repairs, painting, plumbing, all kinds of skills are needed in the Jamaican economy, operating cranes, forklifts, excavators. All kinds of skills are needed in our economy and not just to say I can go behind the steering and steer the equipment, we need people who can do it well, quickly, efficiently and safely,” Holness explained.
The Government has placed increased focus on skills training to boost the economy. In April of last year, the government announced that tuition and administrative fees were no longer required for programmes offered by the HEART/NSTA Trust to encourage more Jamaicans to learn a skill.
Comments