Bikers Encouraged to Utilise Petersfield Vocational Centre Motorcycle Training Programme

Motorcyclists in western Jamaica are being encouraged to access the virtual motorcycle training and simulator programme, being offered at the Petersfield Vocational Training Centre in Westmoreland.

The programme, spearheaded by the Ministry of National Security, was initiated at a cost of $52 million and allows the authorities to deliver important content to riders while assessing their physical capabilities and readiness.

The Centre’s Manager, Ivolyn Kirlew McFarlane, says since the facility’s establishment, the National Road Safety Council and other partners have collaborated to raise awareness among motorcyclists in Westmoreland and neighbouring parishes.

“The training facility includes a simulator, and the simulator is really to deliver an exceptional, realistic training experience for persons, and it’s also integrated with interactive training applications,” Mrs. Kirlew McFarlane informs.

She also highlights the HEART/NSTA Trust’s Level One ‘Motorcycle Operations’ programme which, she notes, “is really for everybody who rides, all riders, bikers everywhere”.

However, Mrs. Kirlew McFarlane points to challenges experienced in getting full enrolments of the persons targeted, citing literacy issues, which a number of them are understood to have.

“We have had a group. But we accommodated everybody… those who could read and write and those who could not. We had a communication facilitator who would work with them and help them to recognise words like ‘stop’ and all the other words that are associated with the road traffic signs. So, it was successful,” she adds.

Mrs. Kirlew McFarlane notes, however, that since that initiative, “we have not had anybody from outside coming in”.

“There are high schools in and around Westmoreland [and] everybody rides because Westmoreland is known as a riding parish; and so, the programme was introduced to the schools. I started with my institution first, and then I extended to the other neighbouring high schools, the sixth-formers, the grade-eleven persons. So, we invite persons from anywhere. Once they want to learn to ride, or even if they are already riders and need to know more, need to practise safety, they can always come to the institution,” she states

Interested persons may apply online or visit the institution and fill out the application form.

“We [then] put them on the system and then we would make arrangements to interview them because then, we would have to… separate those who can manage the actual level-one programme, against those who cannot,” Mrs. Kirlew McFarlane says.

“But those who cannot really manage, we do not turn them away, because there are things for them to learn. So, they would come, fill out the application form, we screen them, we separate them accordingly of how they can manage and then we take it from there,” she adds.

Mrs. Kirlew McFarlane states that while there is currently no opportunity for a biker to just visit and use the simulator, she points out that it may be a possibility in the future.

“We have not had that yet. But I am now going to be making it available for them to come in and use the simulator. So, if I have a group of persons who want to come every evening at a certain time, I will ensure that we have somebody to accommodate them and they can utilise the simulator,” she tells JIS News.

Meanwhile, the Island Traffic Authority (ITA) visited the institution recently to undertake promotional activities.

Education and Information Officer at the ITA, Dontae Matthews, tells JIS News that during the activities, students from Petersfield High School were able to view the motorcycle simulator at the facility.

“A lot of them expressed that they are interested in riding motorcycles. So, they got an opportunity to experience what it feels like to be on a motorcycle, especially when it comes to wearing a helmet. They learned some good techniques as to riding motorcycles, they had a facilitator in the room who was informing them about what it means to ride a motorcycle and some of the safety precautions they need to take and what they need to learn… some of the manoeuvring techniques,” Mr. Matthews states.

Students and members of the community also received information on the provisional driver’s licence/learner’s permit and the process to acquire same.

In terms of partnerships with the Petersfield Vocational Training Centre, Mr. Matthews explains that this goes far back.

“When it comes to training motorcyclists in western Jamaica, as part of the National Road Safety Council’s initiative, we normally get the support of the Petersfield Vocational Training Centre. When the Council host these sessions for motorcyclists, the motorcyclists get a special consideration when it comes to getting their driver’s licence at the examination depot,” Mr. Matthews says.

“So, if they come to the trainings, we normally get them exempted from doing the yard test once they are successful in it at the motorcycle training. So that is an initiative we have when it comes to bikers, especially in that section of the island,” he adds.

The ITA also recently partnered with HEART/NSTA to have participants under the Learning and Investment for Transformation (LIFT) programme take the road code test to get their learner’s permit.

Some 428 applicants out of 450 were successful.

“The relationship with HEART is ongoing, and the Petersfield Vocational Training Centre is just one aspect,” Mr. Matthews states.

For more information on the motorcycle simulation programme at the Petersfield Vocational Training Centre, persons may call (876) 955-5148.