Gov’t Looking to Extend Support under NYS and JAMVAT

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information is moving to boost provisions to young people under the National Youth Service (NYS) and the Jamaica Values and Attitudes (JAMVAT) programme.

            Portfolio Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, told JIS News that the Ministry will be expanding the capacity of the NYS summer employment programme to enable more students to receive valuable work experience.

Senator Reid said the Ministry is also looking at increasing the financial support provided to tertiary-level students under JAMVAT.

            Currently, the Government undertakes 30 per cent of the tuition cost, not exceeding $350,000 per annum, for tertiary students, who face financial challenges.

“The fact is that there are some programmes that the costs have increased such as law and medicine, so I will have to look at extending the cap,” the Minister said.

He said the Government is committed to youth development and empowerment, and the merger of the education and youth portfolios “will give us greater capacity to serve far more youth.”

            The Minister was speaking with JIS News following the final in the series of Dialogues between Democracies youth discussion fora on April 4 at the University of the West Indies’ (UWI) Mona campus.

            The panel discussion series, organised by the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI) and the United States (US) Embassy, sought to strengthen United States-Jamaica bilateral relations in four main areas.

These are: security and law; health and prosperity; democratic governance; and the concept of equal citizenship for all. Discussion sessions were held at venues in Jamaica and the US.

            Monday’s session focused on youth employment, youth entrepreneurship and social inclusion.

US Ambassador to Jamaica, His Excellency Luis G. Moreno, in his address, emphasised the commitment of the US to the youth, Jamaica and the region.

The panellists included Senator Reid; Founder and Managing Director of Future Services International Limited, Yaneek Page; Managing Director of One-on-One Educational Services, Ricardo Allen; and outgoing UWI Guild President, Davianne Tucker.

The panel discussion was moderated by Youth Ambassador, Kemesha Kelly.