Training programme a bold move
MANAGING DIRECTOR of HEART Trust/NTA Dr Janet Dyer welcomed the Clarendon Municipal Corporation’s (CMC) “bold move” to initiate the threemonth Clarendon Youth In Business (CYIB) training programme.
“What is happening here today is a powerful example for all our municipal corporations that good things happen when we collaborate and build synergistic partnerships,” she said last week during the graduation ceremony.
Dr Dyer further stated that HEART is in expansion mode, having merged with the National Youth Service, Jamaican Foundation for Lifelong Learning, and Apprenticeship Board, and is repositioning itself to do more in terms of vocational training.
“We want to stay close to this initiative in May Pen. We want to bring the full measure of our entrepreneurial training and support incubators to ignite this fire into a burning flame that will catalyse a new energy among the young people of this town and beyond,” the managing director said.
She indicated that HEART has a suite of tuition-free entrepreneurship programmes, up to the National Vocational Qualification of Jamaica (NVQ-J) Level Three, that are available to all 25 graduates.
MOBILE TRAINING LABS SOON
Dr Dyer said the agency is committed to providing on-thejob training, funding support, labour market intelligence, and capacity building for them.
“Soon, we will be launching our mobile training labs that will go to the nooks and crannies of communities all over Jamaica to bring training to the people, [and] Clarendon is one of our major [destinations],” she added.
Meanwhile, another CYIB graduate, Edward Campbell, a young farmer who has been rearing goats since 2010, indicated that he plans to use his grant to improve his farm’s infrastructure and acreage, as well as boost his breeding stock.
Campbell said the most important lessons he learnt from the three-month training course are how to network and to be determined, adding that “I am doing well in spite of the challenges”.
Other partner stakeholders in the CYIB programme included the Planning Institute of Jamaica, the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), National Commercial Bank, and GraceKennedy.
Representatives of several retail chains, including Hilo Food Stores and MegaMart, also gave their entities’ commitment to purchasing products manufactured by the graduates.