Education Ministry Working On Programmes To Prepare Students For The Global Services Sector

Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Fayval Williams, says the Ministry has been working on a number of programmes to better prepare students for the fast growing and innovative Global Services Sector (GSS).

Mrs. Williams made the disclosure while addressing the Outsource2Jamaica 2021 virtual Conference, Exposition and Career Summit hosted by the Global Services Association of Jamaica (GSAJ), formerly Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica, on June 12.

She explained that the programmes include plans to improve the technical skills as well as students’ language and broader communication skills, to address the range of industries that have risen under the GSS, formerly the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector.

Mrs. Williams said these GSS industries are telecommunication, banking, insurance, healthcare, finance and accounting, gaming and tech support.

“Among our plans is the training of students in preparation for [GSS] in which fundamentals for customer engagement operations is introduced in secondary schools on a phase basis,” she outlined.

“While the HEART/NSTA Trust is the established body to conduct assessment and certification, evaluation and monitoring are to be done by the Ministry’s education officers, technical development officers and [GSS] coordinators,” she added.

Mrs. Williams further indicated that with communication skills being central to the GSS, the Ministry is to revisit strategies that will improve student performance in the English language. She said evaluation and monitoring will be critical at this juncture.

“Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) now has an oral component via School-based Assessments (SBA). City and Guilds English also has an oral component at Levels 1, 2 and 3 [and] this examination is approved and supported by the Ministry,” the Minister outlined.

“So we are being proactive in preparing our young people for employment opportunities, not only in the [GSS] sector but other areas as well,” she added.

Mrs. Williams further noted that the expo, provided a great platform to showcase what is being done in training, as well as to highlight new areas of opportunities.