250 Unattached Youth Benefit From Information Technology Training

Over 250 unattached young people have been equipped with information technology skills through the Sutherland Community Technology Centre (CTC) programme.

The young people, from inner city communities spread across Kingston and St. Andrew, St. Catherine and Clarendon, benefitted from a free three-day online course in computer, Microsoft and Internet literacy held at the Mona Baptist Church, St. Andrew.

They were presented with Microsoft Digital Literacy Programme certificates at a graduation ceremony held on the church grounds on July 20.

Minister of State in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Julian Robinson, was on hand to present the certificates and commended the graduates.

Sutherland Global Services’ Talent Acquisition Coordinator, Somalia Francis, who delivered the main address at the graduation ceremony, urged the young people to use the opportunity provided by the training to chart their success.

“Let this be the starting point of your success. This is not the finishing line. The path to your dreams won’t be easy,” she said.

Ms. Francis also told the graduates that they should never allow themselves to be stigmatised or make the mistake of listening to negative people.

The CTC is a corporate social outreach of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company Sutherland Global Services, and involves partnership with Microsoft.

The aim is to strengthen the technical knowledge base of local, underprivileged communities. The digital literacy curriculum consists of course material provided by Microsoft Learning and is designed to increase basic computer awareness and provide students with advanced computer skills aimed at increasing their employability.

A total of 131 young people graduated from a similar training course in December 2014, with 30 of them placed in internships at the Mona offices of Sutherland Global Services.

A cohort of Monday’s graduates will also benefit from internships with the BPO. Through partnership with HEART Trust/NTA, these young people will also be trained.

Twenty-year-old Dellano Skeen, who is a graduate of the programme and is interning with Sutherland Global, is elated at the opportunity.

“It’s a pleasure being at Sutherland Global Services. It’s a company with a lot of breathing space for growth,” said Skeen, who is a resident of Chambers Lane, Kingston 6.

The CTC programme has also impacted the lives of about 10 persons with disabilities as well as 12 teenage mothers, one of whom is now interning at Sutherland Global Services.