Has ‘HEART’ stopped pumping?
Amajor commercial crisis is looming over the Jamaican economy, the revelation of which has triggered a national debate and sent the tempers of many flaring.
This crisis was brought to light by Prime Minister Andrew Holness’s statement that Jamaica could be forced to import skilled workers for the construction industry amid a shortage.
This disclosure from the prime minister was nothing short of a bombshell and, as expected, Jamaicans, who are by nature a very expressive group of people, poured in their responses across social media, at their workplaces, and within their communities.
Since then, we’ve hardly had time enough to catch our breaths as a plethora of mixed reactions has engulfed the land of wood and water.
The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has hit back, labelling the prime minister’s suggestion as regressive, with leader Mark Golding quipping that the HEART/ NSTA Trust has not been delivering.
HEART is the island’s national skills training organisation which was established in 1982 by former Prime Minister Edward Seaga in a bid to satisfy the demand for solutions to the persistent problem of underdevelopment in the country.
However, with the prime minister’s recent disclosure of a shortage of skilled labourers in the island and the subsequent response of the Opposition leader, Jamaicans are now left pondering whether the country’s ‘HEART’ has stopped pumping? As a beneficiary of an NVQ-J level 2 certificate myself, I can say with all honesty that
HEART is still viable.
The contribution HEART has made to nation-building is undeniable and its legacy is and will be forever cemented in the history of Jamaica.
Author Sara Evans wrote, “If it’s not exactly like you thought it would be, you think it’s a failure. What about the spectrum of colours in-between.” After 40 years HEART has not failed, but the spectrum of colours in-between has started to emerge and, as with all large organisations, as time progresses success lures its people into doing the same things that made them successful in the past. Culture becomes hardened and complacency sets in. Innovation and reinvention then become necessary tools for survival and effective continued operation.
HEART now needs to scale up its operations nationally and create a larger consistent supply of qualified workers to meet the needs of the workplace. This task will require a united and clever nationwide marketing campaign, one that targets unattached youth and offers attractive incentives that will galvanise the youth to join the programmes being offered. This should be intentional to the specific needs of the marketplace and the sectors with the most demand should be given priority.
Within the context of this skills shortage, it is also important to contemplate the effects that the novel coronavirus pandemic has had on the operations of HEART. According to its 2020-2021 annual report, in anticipation of the closure of institutions in keeping with public health safety measures, the trust revised its annual enrolment target from 152,735 to 97,974 trainees. This target was exceeded (104 per cent) for the operational year, as the agency’s novel engagement and reorganisation strategies kept 102,270 learners in training. During the period, a total of 1,619 job placements were recorded. Of this, 82 per cent or 1,327 were HEART graduates. Total job placement was below its annual target of 3,500 by 1,881 or approximately 54 per cent.
Another intriguing statistic to note from this report, given the shortage of skills, is the analysis of the number of trainees who actually achieved certification within the various skill areas. Agriculture saw 2 per cent, construction accounted for 8 per cent, while tourism recorded 16
per cent, and services was the largest, tallying 36 per cent.
This data clearly reveals that though HEART isn’t operating at its optimal level, the issue of skilled labour shortage goes way deeper than meets the eye. HEART is just a part of the problem within a wider national phenomenon that should be investigated.
The 2020-2021 annual report reveals that only 8 per cent of those certified were within the construction sector and only 2 per cent within agriculture. This is another stark reminder that there remains a negative psychological attitude towards blue-collar work from childhood.
STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH BLUECOLLAR WORK
There is a negative cultural and psychological attitude towards blue-collar workers that has been fostered in Jamaica, and this attitude, though improving, has not been completely eroded. Therefore, parents do not emphasise the importance of having a skill, and children are often cajoled into the sciences and arts.
This is not a new phenomenon as 19th-century author Ellen Gould White, the most translated female author in the world, who wrote extensively on this issue, remarked, “Manual training is deserving of far more attention than it has received. Schools should be established that, in addition to the highest mental and moral culture, shall provide the best possible facilities for physical development and industrial training. Instruction should be given in agriculture, manufactures — covering as many as possible of the most useful trades — also in household economy, healthful cookery, sewing, hygienic dressmaking, the treatment of the sick, and kindred lines. Gardens, workshops, and treatment rooms should be provided, and the work in every line should be under the direction of skilled instructors.”
This timeless recommendation is needed now as much as it was needed then. We need to change the narrative surrounding agriculture, construction, plumbing, electrical work, carpentry, refuse collection, transporation operations, cookery, and the likes. These fields have been maligned and their importance downplayed.
A modern digital advertising plan must be embarked on, through all forms of media and literature, targeting students from early childhood to reshape how the future generations will view these fields. Vocational training needs to be emphasised in high schools and serious research and experimentation of this model must be embarked on in Jamaica.
A study of countries that practise technical and vocational education and training (TVET), such as Finland, the Netherlands, and Australia, revealed remarkable benefits from this type of education.
The TVET system is a hybrid form of learning methodology that involves public-private collaboration between the Government’s education ministry, schools, private sector employers, and labour unions. This combination is designed to deliver workplace-specific skills. The system respects diversity in students, who are all endowed with different skill sets and learning styles.
Parents, especially, need to accept this, and our education sector must be remodelled around the concept that not every child is good at the sciences, mathematics, or other traditional subjects. Some students are musical and mechanical, while others are artistic. Some students focus best in lecture theatres, halls, and laboratories, while others are hands-on, they learn by doing and these, though not suited for laboratories and lecture halls, would excel in the recording studio, woodwork shop, or welding warehouse.
HOW SHALL WE REACH THE UNATTACHED YOUTH?
Dr Henley Morgan, a seer and undoubtedly Jamaica’s leading social entrepreneur, challenged the status quo in 2004 when he moved his New Kingston offices to Trench Town, where he established the Agency for Inner-city Renewal (AIR) in 2008.
AIR is a social enterprise company which operates as a community-based organisation (Cbo)/non-governmental organisation (NGO). Its mission is to transform zones of political and social exclusion to zones of opportunities, investment, and wealth.
This visionary leader has a proven track record of reaching unattached youth through his asset-based community development (ABCD) model. This method can and should be replicated across Jamaica as the evidence of its ingenuity is undeniable.
I stood on the grounds at his corporate office in Trench Town and listened in awe as Dr Morgan explained that the very ground upon which we stood was once a volatile area. I watched as the globetrotting eloquent statesman passionately remarked, with a smile of satisfaction, that Trench Town is no longer a war zone and I witnessed first-hand the fruits of his words.
The implementation of the ABCD model is a proven method of reaching at-risk youth. The philosophy is to use social entrepreneurship to promote self-reliance by tapping into the energy, talent, creativity, and ingenuity of the people and, as we’ve seen in the success of Trench Town, it’s clear there is no shortage of talent across Jamaica.
Let us be careful to not get carried away with emotionalism on this issue of importing skilled construction labour if this is the only short-term solution to the crisis.
We must now focus on the bigger picture of retaining more of our skilled labourers and reducing the brain drain we have been experiencing; revolutionising the education sector by incorporation TVET systems; reinventing the HEART/NSTA Trust into a more efficient organisation; and promoting social entrepreneurship through ABCD to rescue our at-risk youth.
The time is now, “Up, you mighty race, accomplish what you will.”