HEART Trust/NTA to Embark on Job Certification Programme

The HEART Trust/National Training Agency (HEART/NTA) is embarking on a programme of job certification, targeting persons unable to access this provision at the agency’s academies and vocational training centres islandwide.

Executive Director, Dr. Wayne Wesley, says the designation, which falls just below HEART’s flagship National Vocational Qualification of Jamaica (NVQJ) certification, will be administered through the agency’s accreditation and certification arm, the National Council on Technical Vocational Education and Training (NCTVET).

He was speaking at NCTVET’s 21^st anniversary recognition awards ceremony, at the Mona Visitors’ Lodge, University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Andrew, on November 17.

Dr. Wesley said job certification will enable HEART to accredit persons working in particular areas for which they have no certification, but are unable to access classroom instructional delivery, due to time and/or financial constraints.

“So, we are looking at how we, as an organisation, can begin to facilitate on-the-job assessment and certification, so persons can feel competent…(as well as) a sense of pride and recognition in what they are doing,” he added.

To this end, Dr. Wesley advised that facilities, such as assessment centres, which are operated by HEART and NCTVET islandwide, are being expanded to accommodate the programme.  “I think it is going to go a far way in assisting us in addressing the needs of (members of) our workforce,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Wesley hailed NCTVET’s 21 years of outstanding service to Jamaica.

He said the entity plays a pivotal role in administering HEART Trust/NTA’s quality assurance mechanism, “to ensure that the kind of certification that we give…is recognised both locally and internationally.”

“The work of the NCTVET is critical to the mission and strategic thrust of the HEART Trust/NTA…(as) we have embarked on a path to become more flexible, integrated, and responsive to what is happening in Jamaica’s economy today,” Dr. Wesley added.

Several persons who have served NCTVET with distinction over the years, as well as educational institutions which have performed outstandingly in the entity’s programmes, were honoured at the ceremony.