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Education Ministry Reports Improvement in CAP Certification

By: , July 13, 2015

The Key Point:

The Ministry of Education is reporting significant increase in the certification of young people involved in the revised Career Advancement Programme (CAP).

The Facts

  • Chief Education Officer, Dr. Grace McLean, says the certification rate has improved from below five per cent to up to 50 per cent.
  • She was addressing a graduation ceremony for 72 youngsters, who have successfully completed the programme, held on Thursday, July 9, at the downtown Kingston headquarters of the Institute of Jamaica.

The Full Story

The Ministry of Education is reporting significant increase in the certification of young people involved in the revised Career Advancement Programme (CAP).

Chief Education Officer, Dr. Grace McLean, says the certification rate has improved from below five per cent to up to 50 per cent.

She was addressing a graduation ceremony for 72 youngsters, who have successfully completed the programme, held on Thursday, July 9, at the downtown Kingston headquarters of the Institute of Jamaica.

CAP was implemented in 2010 as a second chance for students age 16 to 18, to fulfil their career goals. It aims to ensure that students leaving secondary school are literate and numerate, and have some form of technical and vocational qualification for post-secondary placement.

In 2014, the programme was revised to enable greater levels of efficiencies in its administration and improve outcomes.

A number of changes were implemented to include training of teachers, development of a national lesson plan database, and the creation of a comprehensive literacy and numeracy remediation programme.

Under the  revised programme, greater emphasis was placed on enhanced capacity building, intervention for teachers and coordinators, delivery training and continuous assessment using the Competency-based Education and Training methodology.

The two-year programme offers skills in areas such as hospitality, tourism, information and communication technology (ICT), business and agriculture. Participating students also benefit from career counselling and mentorship, training in life skills, entrepreneurship and personal development.

Dr. McLean said the programme has advanced significantly and has recorded various elements of success.

“We are really very proud of the achievements of this programme and of course, the graduation this afternoon is a testament of the progress that we have made,” she said.

Dr. McLean lauded the students for their stick-to-itiveness in completing the programme and encouraged them to not let their circumstances define who they are or what they can achieve.

Valedictorian, Romain Stone, said the programme has been a “life changer” for all those who participated.

Romain, who was a part of the Industrial Security Operations group, lauded the teachers for “the level of dedication they displayed throughout the programme” and thanked the parents and families for the support they provided.

The 72 young people, who participated in the programme, are now certified in several skill areas including marketing and  sales; industrial security operations; electrical installation; mechanical maintenance; warehousing/port and terminal operations; stevedoring operations/multi-purpose rating; and industrial plant maintenance.

The two-year training programme was offered through the Caribbean Maritime Institute’s (CMI) School of Advanced Skills and included a combination of academic subjects accredited by the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC), City and Guilds, and the National Council on Technical Vocational Education and Training (NCTVET).

 

Last Updated: July 13, 2015

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