Gregory
THE HEART Trust/NTA is seeking to certify half the country's workforce by 2008 in preparation for the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Robert Gregory, executive director of the HEART Trust, says that for Jamaicans to take up the opportunities presented by the free movement of skilled and certified workers in the region, under the CSME, the workforce would have to be certified.
"We recognise that too large a percentage of our current workforce is without certification, we have therefore been providing opportunities for customised training in workplace and requisite assessments and certification for the workers involved," Gregory explained.
Mr. Gregory was addressing the Lifelong Learning Conference at the Regional Youth Forum held at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston on Thursday.
REVISED BUSINESS MODEL
He said the HEART Trust was also recognising and certifying workers with prior learning. He said the institution's goal has become more achievable with the implementation of its revised business model.
"We now have a system that has created a more flexible pathway for the learner who can now accumulate toward a full qualification, certified units of competence over time," he said.
The new model recognises learning and skill acquisition as it occurs and provides a platform for the development and promotion of a culture of lifelong learning in Jamaica, said Gregory.
The country's labour force stood at just over one million last year. Jamaica is among six Caribbean countries to have officially embraced the CARICOM Single Market since January. The others are Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
The Lifelong Learning conference was put on by the HEART Trust/NTA, under the theme 'Lifelong learning for economic Development in the Global Marketplace'.
