Brown’s Town Training Centre Upgraded

Some $3 million have been spent on upgrading the Brown’s Town Training Centre, says Member of Parliament for North West St. Ann, Othneil Lawrence.
Mr. Lawrence told the House of Representatives on Tuesday (July 28) that the funds were part of a $5 million expenditure on education-related projects in the constituency last year.
The project also involved the renaming of the Brown’s Town-based facility as the North West St. Ann Training Centre. An additional $6 million is to be spent this year on the facility, the MP said. He was speaking in the 2009/10 Sectoral Debate in Gordon House on Tuesday (July 28).
Mr. Lawrence was also optimistic that branches of the Centre will be established in other areas of the constituency, “extending the educational outreach for high school leavers and unskilled young persons.”
“The trainees are drawn from virtually every corner of the constituency, as we seek to prepare them to secure full time employment in the hospitality industry, as well as in information technology,” he said.
Mr. Lawrence pointed out that the North West St. Ann Training Centre partners with the Runaway Bay HEART Hotel and Training Centre, where intense hands-on training is provided, in addition to accredited certification and job placement assistance on completion of the courses.
He expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture for assisting in providing the physical space to facilitate the establishment of the institution.
Mr. Lawrence said that focus is being placed on the provision of what he described as “robust education” at the Early Childhood level, by improving existing facilities.
“Repairs have been carried out on basic schools at Mines and Chester, while a new school was built in Queenhythe with funds from the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), and the Lift-Up Jamaica project,” he stated.
In addition, he said that most Early Childhood institutions in the constituency were assisted with the payment of registration fees to the Early Childhood Commission. Much needed assistance was also provided for the construction of new sanitary conveniences at the Keith All Age School
“I am also delighted to mention that within this fiscal year, the constituency will see the commencement of the construction of the Discovery Bay High School, which will be a state of the art institution,” he announced.
Mr. Lawrence also disclosed that students attending primary, high and tertiary institutions, who reside in the constituency, benefitted from over $1.5 million in financial assistance from his CDF funds.