JPC Takes Campaign to Schools

The Jamaica Productivity Centre (JPC), in a drive to inculcate a culture of productivity in all Jamaicans, has been engaging youth through an interactive campaign in primary and high schools, and colleges.

The In-School Productivity campaign aims to help students apply relevant productivity tools and concepts to their personal and academic goals, through the use of comprehensible language and messages.

Senior Communication Specialist with the JPC, Sashelle Gooden, told JIS News that the year-long initiative, which is part of an overarching Productive New Year Campaign, was rolled out at the start of the year.

Twelve schools have been engaged since January.

“We started to recognise that productivity in itself can be an elusive concept, and persons might not understand what it is and believe that it is something niche and for within the workplace. So we want to get the younger generation involved,” Ms. Gooden said.

She said the JPC assesses specific goals or challenges in each school ahead of a visit and tailors the message in such a way that students can apply concepts to their own experiences.

As a result, the In-School Productivity campaign will be touring five primary schools during the week of March 19, ahead of the sitting of the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), delivering sessions on how to apply GSAT lessons to the March 22 and 23 examination and how to overcome exam jitters.

“We are trying to inculcate a culture of [productivity] in Jamaica, so we have to incorporate the younger ones. Even as we teach the adults, we want the younger ones to grow up with this embedded as well. It’s a matter of sustainability,” Ms. Gooden said.

The In-School Productivity campaign was rolled out in schools following the launch of the pilot of a Productivity Club at the Immaculate Conception High School in December. Following the school visits, productivity clubs will be implemented in schools islandwide. An all-island competition will also be launched in the schools, which will help the JPC to assess how well students are applying the techniques taught to them.

Ms. Gooden said participating schools have been very receptive to the campaign, and the JPC has seen a significant increase in the number of invitations it receives to host sessions.

The In-School Productivity campaign is done through partnership with Lasco Distributors and the Gleaner Company.

The Productive New Year campaign also includes hosting sessions in private- and public-sector entities as well as in community groups and clubs.

The JPC looks at the operation of entities using a productivity audit, assesses their goals and identifies gaps in efficiency and effective use of resources, in order to help the organisations improve their level of productivity and achieve their goals.