It is probably too much to hope, in the current environment, which is probably when it is needed most, for new and bold initiatives in labour market reform in Jamaica.

But, with the global credit crisis starting finally to concentrate official minds and its likely consequences for the domestic economy, we can perhaps begin to get new thinking on education and training. Prime Minister Bruce Golding, in his speech Sunday night, hinted at how we might begin to frame this new direction.

Mr Golding acknowledged that with the meltdown, many firms will struggle to survive. The loss of jobs is inevitable.

It is against that backdrop that the Government's skills training agency, HEART Trust/NTA, Mr Golding disclosed, has developed "a special programme to retain workers and to guide them towards alternative job opportunities or to start up their own businesses". We applaud the initiative and support Mr Golding's suggestion to firms to engage HEART Trust/NTA on retraining employees when they contemplate redundancies.

Shortage of technical skills

But, the issue highlighted by the prime minister underlines two other factors of importance to Jamaica, one of which is often discussed with, so far, little noticeable impact. This has to to do with the severe shortage of technical skills in Jamaica and the fact that over two-thirds of the island's workforce lack any form of certification. The second issue is the relative dearth of entrepreneurial and effective management skills in the country, both of which, in our view, are as much learned as they are innate.

Difficult times are when innovative management is needed most, when the capacities of entrepreneurs are at a premium, as part of a broader process of jump-starting stalled economies. And, that is likely to be easier when there is a good availability of technically skilled workers to help drive innovation.

Indeed, it is this thinking that has informed the observations in these columns in recent weeks of the heavy enrolment of Jamaican students in the social sciences and humanities (75 per cent of the over 3,000 graduates in 2007 were from these faculties) at the University of the West Indies (UWI), with little concentration in areas such as engineering and agriculture.

A mere 25 Jamaicans graduated from the UWI's engineering faculty and five in agriculture. Even at the University of Technology (UTech), nearly 40 per cent of the students are in business administration and fewer than 11 per cent are in engineering.

Rebalance subsidies

At either institution, the integration between the theoretical bases of administration and the gritty, hands-on operational details of firms are limited. Emphasis on entrepreneurism is similarly limited.

A number of things are required, not least among them, a rebalancing of government subsidies to tertiary education, in favour of support of technology and science training, including the possible merger of the UWI and UTech. The latter and associated colleges could become an autonomous institution within the UWI system.

As we reorient tertiary level curricula, we suggest, too, aggressive efforts at using all available sources for training skills. An example is the workshop facilities and skilled staff at alumina refineries, which, with the downturn, may go dormant. There must be a way to integrate these facilities and their key staff in a big national training programme. The matter is urgent.

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